Charity Commission launches probe into youth justice charity
Joe Lepper
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
An investigation has been launched into a charity that works with young people at risk of falling into crime.
The Jack Raine Foundation supports children, young adults, and their families, aiming to help them make positive choices. It also works to support children at risk of child sexual exploitation.
The Charity Commission has opened an inquiry into the charity's financial controls after it was alerted by North Yorkshire Police that a financial investigation was being conducted.
The regulator said that an unannounced visit to the charity's premises in November 2016, in order to inspect the charity's books and records, found insufficient financial records and no evidence of minutes from meetings to reflect decisions taken by the trustee board.
The commission has also frozen the charity's bank accounts and is looking in detail at its financial management, administration, governance and management and whether the trustees have fulfilled their legal duties.
The charity's work covers education welfare, health and sports programmes. This includes its boxing workshops for boys and girls, which look at topics such as sex and relationships, sexual violence and social media safety.
It also runs a mentoring programme, called We're in Your Corner, to help young people access support services.
Latest Charity Commission records show the charity had an income of £215,392 in the financial year ending February 2016.
The Jack Raine Foundation has been contacted for comment.
