Chief executive of troubled Wakefield charity steps down

Aamer Naeem has led the humanitarian charity for the last seven years but has quit amid a potential investigation into the running of the charity.

A statement on the Penny Appeal website Interim Chair of Trustees Rizwan Khaliq, read: "We would like to thank Aamer for his leadership, hard work, and dedication.

"He has played a vitally important role, alongside notable others, in helping to grow and transform Penny Appeal into a household name.

"We wish him well for the future. We would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Harris Iqbal, who takes over as interim CEO."

Penny Appeal, now based on Cross Street, was set up in 2009 to offer assistance for providing food, water and medical supplies to countries across the world.

The charity has a multi-million pound annual turnover.

But in October of this year it was announced that regulatory body, the Charity Commission, was looking into "potential financial concerns" after the trustees of Penny Appeal has submitted a serious incident report.

A spokesman for the Charity Commission said this week :"We are currently engaging with the trustees of Penny Appeal, in relation to potential financial concerns at the charity, to determine our next steps. We cannot comment further at this time.”