TRUSTEES have called criticism of a charity boss's decision to loan herself £200,000 as “a personal attack on the CEO and her family”.

On Monday the Gazette reported Tracy Rudling, the chief executive of Colchester's Community 360, received a £200,000 loan from her own charity.

According to public accounts, payments were also made to a building firm run by Tracy Rudling’s husband, Gordon Rudling, with £65,571 given to Godden and Rudling Building Services for renting office space in the financial year ending 2023.

These payments were agreed by the board, but the Charity Commission said on Monday it was now assessing concerns raised about the £200,000 loan to Mrs Rudling.

Gazette: Long-standing – the charity has operated in Colchester since 1968Long-standing – the charity has operated in Colchester since 1968 (Image: Pexels)

The Charity Commission also confirmed to the Gazette that although they had not uncovered any wrongdoing, they had previously engaged with Community 360 about conflicts of interest and related party transactions.

In a letter signed by the chair of trustees Elisabeth Feltham and deputy chair Stewart Thomson, a statement read 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.”

Gazette: Proud – Chair of trustees Elisabeth Feltham said she was proud of the work Tracy Rudling had done as chief executive Proud – Chair of trustees Elisabeth Feltham said she was proud of the work Tracy Rudling had done as chief executive (Image: Pexels)

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 and his building firm the following 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.”