COUNCIL bosses have vowed to stay “committed to transparency” after it was revealed the boss of a charity which works with Colchester Council loaned herself more than £200,000.

Accounts filed by the Colchester-based charity Community360 for the year ending March 2023 reveal the charity loaned its chief executive, Tracy Rudling, £206,341.

The charity also paid more than £65,000 to a construction company owned by Mrs Rudling’s husband in the same financial year.

Colchester Council confirmed it is “aware of the recent allegations” regarding Mrs Rudling.

Gazette: Charity boss - Tracy Rudling, chief executive of Community360Charity boss - Tracy Rudling, chief executive of Community360 (Image: Newsquest)

A spokesman for the council said: “Community360 has provided valuable services to thousands in Colchester and has been a partner to One Colchester and the North East Essex Health and Wellbeing Alliance in supporting residents through the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.

“We have worked closely with them on various projects, including providing Winter Resilience support, housing assistance, and refugee aid.

“We remain committed to transparency and responsible partnership. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates if and when necessary.”

The charity works with partners, including the council, to support education and health services and to relieve poverty, distress, and sickness.

Gazette: HQ - Community360's office in Colchester High StreetHQ - Community360's office in Colchester High Street (Image: Google)

The payments to the chief executive and her husband’s company were agreed by the charity’s board of trustees, but the Charity Commission said on Monday it was now assessing concerns raised about the £200,000 loan to Mrs Rudling.

The regulator also confirmed to the Gazette that although they had not uncovered any wrongdoing, they had previously engaged with Community360 about conflicts of interest and related party transactions.

'Personal attack'

A letter published earlier this week and signed by the chairman of the board, Elisabeth Feltham, and deputy chairman, Stewart Thomson, said they considered the allegations as a personal attack on Mrs Rudling and her family.

It read: “I write to assure you all, as chair of trustees and on behalf of the board of trustees, that we are not under investigation by the Charity Commission.

“I can assure you that the accounts posted online on the article, are already in the public domain as we are required to submit them to the Charity Commission and Companies House.

“In addition, our auditors Edmund Carr, robustly scrutinise our accounts every year as part of their audit sign off.”

The trustees also quoted a statement from the Charity Commission from April 2022 when they said they had no regulatory concerns, though this was before £104,960 was paid to Gordon Rudling’s building firm the next year.

The statement continued: “Our Trustee Board scrutinises all potential conflict of interest issues before contractors are appointed.

“We consider these allegations to be a personal attack on the CEO and her family and thereby an attack on C360 itself.

“As the CEO’s line manager, I am proud of the quality of her professionalism, her commitment to the aims and values of the organisation and her leadership, without which we are unlikely to have made the contributions we have.”