Shady Forces mag sellers fight dirty
Cops called on councillor who confronted street collectors
STREET vendors flogging a £3 magazine apparently to help Armed Forces veterans were confronted by a local councillor.
Tony Lywood, a Labour councillor for Cumbria County Council, had seen an article I wrote in 2014 exposing vendor Michael Figg, and spotted him and others selling Awareness News in Keswick last week.
He asked Figg to prove how much money went to help veterans and warned passing members of the public that the magazine was not a charity publication, showing them a copy of my previous article that he called up on his smart phone.
Then the police got involved. Not, as you might think, question Figg.
They told Councillor Lywood that a complaint had been made about his behaviour by Figg, and he must attend the police station to be interviewed about possible harassment.
I first came across 59-year-old Figg when he was the director of TVT Fundraising Limited, which traded as The Veterans Trust from Lytham St Annes, Lancs.
He would not tell me how much of the money it raised went to charity, saying “We don’t give a percentage”, while insisting “I graft my tripe out” to help veterans.
A co-founder of The Veterans Trust was 52-year-old Charles Sandbach. He was also a director of PTSD Action Ltd, now dissolved, and the short-lived VAUK Fundraising Ltd, set-up apparently to raise money for the Veterans Association to UK. Now there’s Great War Exhibitions Limited, which publishes Awareness News.
According to the cover it’s the favourite magazine of Armed Forces veterans, which I doubt.
It claims to provide work for the three veterans who sell it, although since around 10% of Big Issue sellers are ex-Forces I’m not sure why another magazine is needed in this field.
Mr Sandbach Michael Figg, and inset, Charles Sandbach
told me that he was furious with claims on the website The Walter Mitty Hunters Club that his sellers fake being wounded veterans. He said that one seller, ex-RAF, “was injured in a car accident – he does not claim to be a wounded pilot,” another “uses a walking stick occasionally because he has arthritis”, while the third has posttraumatic stress disorder from Councillor Tony Lywood serving in Northern Ireland. I asked if there was a danger that the public might think that Awareness News was a charity publication.
“There was a slight concern over that,” he said, adding that the next issue “states categorically that 75% of the monies taken by the veterans who sell the magazine go to the veterans themselves. It also states there’s no charity connection whatsover”.
He added: “There’s no profit in this”, and accused Councillor Lywood of swearing when confronting Figg, who has not got back to me.
Councillor Lywood responded: “Nothing could be further from the truth. All the swearing and commotion was from Figg and his associates.”
He added: “This may be just within the bounds of legality but it is not ethical, and unless they can show clear evidence of consistent giving to the causes they espouse then they are not welcome in our town.
“I find it incredible that I am the person on the end of an accusation from this man and his companions whose methods of business are highly questionable and who are not charity workers.”
Update: Since I started looking into this the police have dropped their request for Councillor Lywood to be formally interviewed.
Common sense, it seems, has prevailed.
‘‘ This may be just within the bounds of legality but it is not ethical