The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into the international children’s charity The Cradle Child Trust, over concerns of potential mismanagement of funds by trustees.

The Trust claims to “relieve the suffering of disabled children in impoverished areas of Nepal, Bhutan and the Philippines through the provision of physical and mental health aid”, according to its Facebook page.

The charity’s accounts for the year ending 31 January 2014, show that it generated an income of £29,531, consisting entirely of grants and donations. But 83 per cent of its income was spent on generating funds – at £24,531. Just £3,251 was spent on charitable activities.

In the previous year, the charity spent £6,496 on generating voluntary income and another £9,567 on charitable activity.

The regulator said today it was “investigating concerns raised by a member of the public" about the charity’s fundraising activities as well as “possible impropriety by the charity’s trustees in connection with funds being raised”.

In particular, the Commission will investigate “potential unauthorised trustee remuneration, failure to keep sufficient accounting records, inability to fully account for charitable expenditure, failure to submit annual returns to the Commission and allegations that charity funds may have been mismanaged by the trustees,” according to a statement released today.

The charity was set up in 2010 and provides grants to both individuals and organisations with the aim of developing housing, sanitation, clean water, heating, insulation and financial assistance to its beneficiaries. It currently helps more than 150 children around the world, according to its Facebook page and its profile on the Charity Commission website.

The Cradle Child Trust was approached by Civil Society News for comment but did not respond. The charity’s website is currently offline. The last post on its Facebook page was October 24, 2014.