The Charity Commission has seized over £800,000 from an international development charity and appointed an interim manager as part of an ongoing investigation.
In a corporate report published last week, the commission said it received £819,000 in 2025-26 in respect of the We Care Foundation, which provides support to victims of war or natural disasters overseas, as well as aid for refugees based in Bristol.
Of this, £18,700 was paid to the charity’s appointed interim manager, meaning that just over £800,000 was still held by the commission’s official custodian as of 31 March 2026.
The regulator began engaging with the charity in June 2022 before opening a statutory inquiry in January 2024, after identifying concerns in its governance and financial management.
The concerns included substantial undisclosed and unexplained payments from the charity to its trustees and companies for which they were directors.
Shortly after opening the inquiry, the regulator froze We Care Foundation’s bank accounts to “safeguard its funds”.
In January 2025, UK Lawyers for Israel raised concerns with the commission that the charity had funded the Qawafil AlKhair Association, a not-for-profit organisation based in Gaza which it alleged had links to Hamas military activists.
According to OpenSanctions, the Qawafil AlKhair Association has been sanctioned in both Israel and the US but not by the UK government.
The commission confirmed last year that it was investigating We Care Foundation’s past payments to organisations including the Qawafil AlKhair Association.
It has now confirmed to Civil Society that it appointed an interim manager at the charity in July 2025.
Established in 2018, We Care Foundation’s annual reports for the years ending April 2024 and 2025 are overdue by 527 and 162 days, respectively.
Last year, before an interim manager was appointed, a spokesperson for the charity denied the “unfounded allegations suggesting that we have knowingly funded any organisation linked to terrorism”.
When the inquiry opened in 2024, a spokesperson said the charity was fully cooperating with the commission.
The charity’s appointed manager declined to comment.
