The founding trustee of the Dove Trust, Keith Colman, has had his name removed from two appeals to the Charity Tribunal concerning the charity, and replaced with two other appellants.

Bryan Gunn, a former footballer and current trustee, and Donna Naghshineh, who recently resigned as a trustee, have now become the parties in the two appeals. 

The Dove Trust is the parent organisation of CharityGiving, which was shut down last year by the Charity Commission over concerns that funds given by members of the public might not reach the 1,800 charities they were intended for.

Colman had made two separate appeals with the Charity Tribunal, referring to the Commission’s decisions to freeze the assets of the charity, and to appoint an interim manager.

In 2011 the Commission opened an inquiry into the Trust and last year froze its bank accounts and appointed Pesh Framjee, a partner at accountancy firm Crowe Clark Whitehill, as interim manager.

The Charity Tribunal has today published a ruling on Colman’s two appeals. It has found that the Commission’s actions around the Dove Trust had no impact on Colman’s legal rights at the time they were made because he had ceased to be a trustee and so had no role in the administration of the charity capable of being affected by the Commission’s decisions.

Colman had argued that the Commission’s actions had exposed him to risks of financial loss and of damage to his reputation. However, the Tribunal was not satisfied the actions of the Commission – freezing the assets of the charity and appointing an interim manager– had sufficient impact on Colman.

It said that if the Commission’s orders were quashed then the risks to Colman’s finances and reputation would remain in place as they relate to the wider issues of the outcome of the Commission’s inquiry not the order.