An air ambulance charity is facing a full investigation by the Charity Commission after code breaches were found by the Fundraising Regulator.
In a report published today, the Fundraising Regulator found code breaches at Stoke Air Ambulance CIO, which it said had made misleading and unsubstantiated claims, unfairly criticised other charities and had encouraged donors to cancel existing donations to other organisations.
The Charity Commission today announced it has opened a statutory inquiry into the charity, partly due to concerns over the Fundraising Regulator’s findings.
Misleading claims made on charity’s website
Stoke Air Ambulance, which registered as a charity in 2015, has been fundraising to establish an air ambulance service covering Stoke-on-Trent and its surrounding area.
The Fundraising Regulator began investigating the charity after complaints were made about its online and face-to-face fundraising activities.
It found four code breaches with regard to the Stoke Air Ambulance’s online fundraising materials but decided there was not enough evidence of problems with the charity’s face-to-face fundraising.
The regulator found that the text and images on the Stoke Air Ambulance’s website did not make it clear enough that the charity did not yet operate a functional air ambulance service.
It said that this may mislead potential donors, who might reasonably believe their gifts would be supporting a working service.
The regulator also found that the charity’s website included unevidenced statements that could suggest other local air ambulance charities were less responsive to emergencies around Stoke than to other areas they covered.
However, the charity was unable to provide evidence to substantiate these statements.
One webpage breached the code by encouraging payroll donors to redirect their donations away from other air ambulance charities in favour of Stoke Air Ambulance.
Unfair criticism of another charity
The Fundraising Regulator found that a statement posted by the charity on social media, which asked for donations, suggested without evidence that another air ambulance charity had prevented it from flying an aircraft to local events.
Stoke Air Ambulance also stated that the other organisation had intimidated the charity and had used its resources to deceive the public about where its own service was operating from.
The regulator said there was no evidence to support these claims, making the statements “unfairly critical”.
Concluding its investigation, the regulator recommended Stoke Air Ambulance Charity stop criticising other organisations and remove any historic misleading or unsubstantiated claims.
It also urged the charity to clarify its progress towards its goals to any new or potential donors, and contact all regular donors in writing to inform them of the regulator’s decision.
The regulator said that the charity has now removed the claims from its website and had agreed to comply with its other recommendations.
Charity Commission investigation opened
The Charity Commission first began engaging with Stoke Air Ambulance in November 2025, to assess concerns relating to its internal governance, management and administration after concerns were raised by the public.
These concerns were focused on the level of expenditure on fundraising and staff, the level of direct charitable delivery, concerns around the management of conflicts of interest at the charity, and payments to a company connected to a trustee.
During its engagement, the commission also identified concerns regarding the charity’s strategic planning and whether its goal of obtaining and operating an air ambulance service is viable.
Following the Fundraising Regulator’s investigation, the commission has now opened a statutory inquiry, which will examine the extent to which the trustees are complying with their legal duties in respect to the administration, governance and management of the charity.
A Stoke Air Ambulance spokesperson said: “The trustees of Stoke Air Ambulance CIO are fully aware of the findings of the Fundraising Regulator and are taking steps to address the issues raised.
“In addition to this, the trustees have been engaged with the Charity Commission since November 2025 and are cooperating fully with the statutory inquiry opened on 6 January 2026.”
The Charity Commission has additionally recently published revised guidance for trustees on charity fundraising
