Amirah Foundation Permanent Closure

While we were initially shocked and distressed by the allegations, which had been made against the CEO of the charity, our response has been robust and proactive.

Immediately after the allegations were put to us, the board took the unanimous decision to suspend the CEO, pending a thorough and in-depth investigation.

As key evidence of financial irregularities came to light, the Chair of Trustees took absence without leave and removed their name from the Charity Commission website upon release of the Board’s preliminary report. It was discovered that both the CEO and Chair of Trustees were explicitly implicated in the investigation into financial irregularities; and almost immediately became uncooperative throughout the entire internal process.

The internal investigation was conducted by Amirah Foundation Trustee Farzan Ahmed, while Trustee Gurpal Kaur took command of charity operations and implementing a rescue package following the withdrawal of Chair of Trustees.

Following the internal investigation, the Amirah Foundation CEO was permanently dismissed by the Board of Trustees, and removed from having any dealings with the charity organisation. The Chair of Trustees absconded from their duties as Chair, and removed themselves from the Charity Commission website upon release of a preliminary report to the Trustees by the lead investigator.

While the overall investigation will continue at the behest of external parties and law enforcement, the internal investigation has now been concluded. The Amirah Foundation Trustees are continuing to cooperate with external bodies and police authorities in ensuring a fair and just outcome.

The allegations have been reported by the Trustees of the Amirah Foundation to The Charity Commission, the Big Lottery Fund, West Midlands Police, West Yorkshire Police and Action Fraud.

From the very outset of this process, The Charity Commission has been informed throughout and has been accordingly notified of any identifiable breaches as they were identified.

These breaches will now be studied thoroughly by an external and independent investigation, to guarantee a swift, fair and final response to these findings.

As part of the investigation, access to funds was temporarily locked down to ensure accountability, security and transparency remained a priority; while allowing the Amirah Foundation to continue to provide vital services to assist and aid vulnerable women and service users during this period, with respect to our apparent limitations.

The staff team remained dedicated to their projects, clients and outreach work throughout November and December, as we continued to work closely with all of our funders, supporters and partners in resolving the issue.

We remained committed to ensuring that the Amirah Foundation operated to the highest standards, and we acted with honesty and integrity at all times.

While our services remained available and active, we have spent much of the last three months liaising with all of our funders, legal, government and official bodies; as well as our external partners and supporters to source a resolution to secure the future of the Amirah Foundation.

Unfortunately, due to the severity of the financial mismanagement and fraud committed by staff members against the organisation, we have been unable to secure a permanent solution for the continuation of the registered charity.

It is therefore with regret and a heavy heart that we announce the immediate dissolution of Amirah Foundation, as the organisation undergoes insolvency.

In all of this, we’d like to take the opportunity to recognise the support and assistance provided by colleagues at Penny Appeal in what was and continues to be an incredibly difficult time. We’re pleased that they will be continuing the core work of Amirah Foundation as part of their national Domestic Abuse Services, ensuring assistance to our medium and high risk cases. Our Trustees continue to work with their leadership in an appropriate handover as and where our service users consent.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincerest apologies to anyone who may have been negatively impacted by any unlawful conduct and misrepresentation of our organisation and its good work, by the few who were held in positions of trust but chose to abuse this responsibility.

We would also like to take this opportunity to share deepest and heartfelt gratitude to all of our tirelessly hardworking and committed staff team, volunteers, partners and supporters; and hope the work to assist and aid vulnerable women and victims of domestic abuse continues in this city.

CONTACT: For any urgent queries, please contact [email protected]