The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into a charity that was set up to help improve the lives of residents in Kirkdale, one of the poorest areas of Liverpool. The commission announced the decision to open the statutory inquiry, its most serious form of investigation, into the Eldonian Community Trust Limited on Friday following an 18-month investigation into concerns over the governance of the charity. The charity is part of a wider network of organisations linked to the Eldonian community village, which was set up by residents in 1978 to cater for their needs from the cradle to the grave. The commission said it was only investigating Eldonian Community Trust Limited and there were several other Eldonian entities that were not charitable and not within its remit to investigate. The trust was incorporated in 1987 as part of the unique housing cooperative, which rose from the post-industrial wasteland brought about by the decline of both the empire and Liverpool’s significance as a leading global port. The village was founded to provide an alternative to the decaying and overcrowded tenement blocks where residents had been living. For many of the Eldonians, as they came to be known, having their own gardens for the first time felt like a dream come true. The housing development, complete with its own village hall, nursery and leisure facilities, was once held up as an example of what community-led regeneration could deliver, and described as a “model of inner city tranquility”. The quiet streets are just a stone’s throw from Everton football club’s £500m new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock, and close to Liverpool’s waterfront, where luxury apartments can sell for upwards of £1m. The commission said investigators would look at the extent to which the trustees were complying with their legal duties in governing and managing the charity, whether the charity had enough trustees willing and capable of managing it, and whether the trustees were complying with their legal obligations in relation to the charity’s accounts. Investigators will assess whether the charity’s governance is appropriate in relation to its aims to improve education outcomes and promote social welfare. A report is expected to be published once the inquiry has been concluded. The commission said it understood the trustees of Eldonian Community Trust Limited intended to challenge its decision to open an inquiry. However, a spokesperson for the trust said it had been engaged with the commission since 2022 and would continue to cooperate. “The focus of this inquiry centres around an issue [of] if the charity rules were fully followed with the election of three members at an AGM in November 2023,” the spokesperson said. “There had not been any AGMs for several years due to the previous trustees’ advanced ageing, and of course the Covid pandemic. “The trust would like to clarify there are no financial concerns by the commission, and will of course continue to cooperate with the regulatory body.” The watchdog regulates 170,056 charities on the register and has an annual budget of £32.25m. In 2023-24, it concluded 65 statutory inquiries, which it describes as its “most serious type of regulatory engagement”, and 89 new inquiries were opened. It issued 39 official warnings and disqualified 34 trustees as a result.