London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Sep 12, 2025

Charity that employs Carrie Johnson faces further questions over finances

Charity that employs Carrie Johnson faces further questions over finances

Accounts for Aspinall Foundation show it paid more than £150,000 in ‘interior design services’ to chairman’s wife
The wildlife charity that employs Carrie Johnson is facing further questions over its finances, after its latest accounts show it paid more than £150,000 in “interior design services” to the chairman’s wife last year.

The Aspinall Foundation, which is currently under investigation by the Charity Commission, took in just over £1,500,000 in donations from the public and corporate donors – while in the same year they paid £150,158 in fees to Victoria Aspinall, the wife of Damian Aspinall, the chairman of the charity’s trustees.

The transaction happened in 2020, which is before Carrie Johnson, the prime minister’s wife, took on a senior role at the charity heading up communications from January 2021.

The purpose of the Aspinall Foundation is global conservation work and releasing zoo animals back into the wild, working with its sister charity, the Howletts Wild Animal Trust, which runs two wild animal parks in Kent.

Damian Aspinall, the casino owner and socialite, is the son of the charity’s founder and its board of trustees includes Ben Goldsmith, the brother of government minister Zac Goldsmith, who is a friend of Carrie Johnson and the prime minister.

It solicits donations directly from the public, employing a team of fundraisers for the purpose, as well as running a fundraising lottery and asking for animals to be sponsored.

The chairman’s wife, Victoria Aspinall, had previously been paid £12,500 for interior design services in 2019, but her fees went up by more than tenfold in 2020 to a sum equivalent to 10% of donations taken that year. The charity also has large reserves in cash, property and fine art.

In its accounts, the Aspinall Foundation said the transaction was “at arms length” and added that the fees charged by Victoria Aspinall were “subject to a rigorous benchmarking exercise to ensure the foundation received value for money”.

The charity also paid £124,231 for accountancy work undertaken by Alvarium, a company of which another trustee, Charles Filmer, was a director.

In 2020 the foundation’s trustees, Damian Aspinall, Filmer, Robin Birley and Ben Goldsmith, secured a coronavirus business interruption loan of £2m, interest free for the first year. This was passed on in the form of a loan to the Howletts Wild Animal Trust.

The Aspinall Foundation’s previous set of accounts for 2019 showed the 30-room Howletts mansion in Kent owned by the charity was rented to Damian Aspinall for £2,500 a month. In 2020, he paid just over £10,000 a month for rent of the same mansion, after the rent was calculated based on an independent professional valuation.

The Aspinall Foundation was put under investigation by the Charity Commission over potential financial mismanagement in March this year. The matters being investigated by the commission pre-date Symonds’ appointment as an employee at the foundation, and there is no suggestion she is subject to its investigation.

At the time, the commission stressed that the opening of an inquiry is not a finding of wrongdoing. However, a statutory inquiry is its most serious form of investigation, undertaken only where it is seriously concerned that a charity is at risk of wrongdoing and abuse.

Where the commission concludes serious wrongdoing has taken place it has powers to remove trustees from the board, take over the running of the charity, or even wind it up.

A separate statutory inquiry was also announced into the management of Howlett’s Wild Animal Trust, which is also chaired by Aspinall, and whose trustees include Aspinall’s daughter Tansy.

The Aspinall Foundation did not respond to a request for comment. At the time of the Charities Commission investigation, a spokesperson for the foundation said: “The Aspinall Foundation remains firmly committed to its ethical and legal duties as a charitable body. Our trustees will continue to work openly and transparently with the Charity Commission to ensure best practice governance and compliance.”
Comments

J 36 days ago
Is it odd that the Charity Commission haven't included this in their daily update as they do with other charities?

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
Starmer Establishes Economic ‘Budget Board’ to Centralise Policy and Rebuild Business Trust
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Brazilian police say ex-President Bolsonaro had planned to flee to Argentina seeking asylum
Trinidad Leader Applauds U.S. Naval Strike and Advocates Forceful Action Against Traffickers
Kim Jong Un Oversees Final Test of New High-Thrust Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump to pause billions in foreign aid
Charlie Sheen says his father, Martin Sheen, turned him in to the police: 'The greatest betrayal possible'
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
Pig Heads Left Outside Multiple Paris Mosques in Outrage-Inducing Acts
Nvidia’s ‘Wow’ Factor Is Fading. The AI chip giant used to beat Wall Street expectations for earnings by a substantial margin. That trajectory is coming down to earth.
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
On the Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s Death: Prince Harry Returns to Britain
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Murdoch Family Finalises $3.3 Billion Succession Pact, Ensuring Eldest Son’s Leadership
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
×