SHAME OF CHARITIES THAT DROVE OLIVE TO HER DEATH

charities last night admitted sending begging letters to a grandmother who killed herself because she was overwhelmed by demands for money.

Amnesty International, Save the Children and the Alzheimer’s Society insisted their actions were not to blame for Olive Cooke’s death. But her family accused the charities of exploiting the poppy seller’s kind heart. And David Cameron called for watchdogs to probe the barrage of letters sent to the 92-year-old.

‘ Olive Cooke was an incredible woman who worked tirelessly for the charities she supported,’ said the Prime Minister. ‘There is a code that is meant to protect people from feeling pressured by charities and I hope the Fundraising Standards Board will look at whether any more could have been done to prevent this.’

Mrs Cooke, who had direct debits to 27 charities, threw herself to her death in the Avon Gorge in Bristol last week after telling friends and family she ‘couldn’t give any more’. The Mail has discovered her name was on a list of

donors maintained by shadowy data firms and sold on to charities. This led to her being swamped by phone calls and receiving up to 260 begging letters a month. As MPs and campaigners demanded action to protect the vulnerable, the Mail investigation reveals how:

Big charities bought access to Mrs Cooke’s personal data;

The personal details of millions of charity supporters are being traded for just 15p;

Action on Hearing Loss and the Blue Cross animal charity are among those passing donors’ details to data firms;

One data firm proudly claims to sell the names of 45million charity supporters a year.

A string of household names – including Amnesty, the Alzheimer’s Society, Save the Children, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, Prostate Cancer UK and Breast Cancer Care – were yesterday revealed to be among those that sent Mrs Cooke letters before her suicide.

All the charities said they had adhered to the highest ethical standards. But a week after Mrs Cooke’s death, and in a grim reminder of her tormentors’ persistence, begging letters were still being delivered to her home in Fishponds, Bristol.

The latest batch included one from the Christian relief charity Tearfund and another from the rights group Womankind.

Politicians and campaigners said last night it was appalling that the frail great-grandmother had felt under siege.

‘The fact charities like these are selling these people’s details for profit is grubby and absolutely appalling,’ said Tory MP Sarah Wollaston. ‘The Information Commissioner needs to step in and stop this.

‘When you give to a charity it is reasonable to expect that information isn’t being sold on. They have a duty to look after those who are donating.’

Another Conservative MP, Andrew Percy, said: ‘It’s shocking that people’s goodwill is being harvested in such a clinical and corporate manner – particularly when they are often vulnerable and elderly.’ Mrs Cooke’s grandson believes her name was traded by charities because she was so generous.

‘I heard rumours they were passing her number around, saying “This person is really generous, give this number a try”,’ said Kevin King, 38, from Redland, Bristol.

‘I’m not sure of the number of calls but it was one or two a day at least. When people phoned up and asked over the phone she ended up feeling guilty.

‘She would give them everything that she had. They were pestering her too much. It was like they were trying to milk her.’

Mrs Cooke was forced to cut her number of direct debits and those close to her say she threw herself to her death because she felt she ‘couldn’t give any more’.

Relatives say she had suffered from depression and lack of sleep and the constant phone calls and letters made her health worse.

Her friend Michael Earley, 72, joined calls for greater protection from begging charity letters. He said: ‘She was hooked, she couldn’t get out of it. If they thought you were a soft target they wouldn’t let you go. Olive was a soft target.’

The data broker Response One admitted to the Mail that it had bought a list that included Mrs Cooke’s name from a data holding firm. The list was used in a marketing campaign for Battersea Dogs & Cats Home – which is why Mrs Cooke had letters from the charity.

But, incredibly, Response One refused to name the data holder because of a non-disclosure agreement.

Earlier this year Mail reporters posed as coldcalling firm workers to discover that they could buy sensitive details of the pensions and medical conditions of millions of people, for as little as 5p each.

But the details of charity donors – the majority of whom are elderly – are a particularly valuable commodity because they are seen as a ‘soft touch’, the Mail has learned.

A spokesman for Battersea Dogs & Cats Home said: ‘We are deeply sorry to hear about the death of Olive Cooke and our thoughts go

out to her family and friends. Mrs Cooke wasn’t a supporter of our charity and had never given to us, either by direct debit or as a one- off donation. We’ve never contacted Mrs Cooke by phone and our only contact was by mail, asking her to give, to which we received no response.’

A spokesman for the Alzheimer’s Society said: ‘We have undertaken a full investigation of all of our databases and can find no record of Olive Cooke. It’s likely that the mailing Mrs Cooke received came from a third party list of potential donors for a one- off campaign which was then subsequently deleted. Our representatives did not call Mrs Cooke on our behalf at any point.’

Kate Allen of Amnesty said: ‘I am deeply saddened by the news of Olive’s tragic death – our thoughts go out to her family at this time.

‘We are taking this issue very seriously and are looking into the details. Olive was a long-standing and valued supporter of Amnesty. Our team last telephoned Olive in April.

‘During that call, even though Olive did not say so explicitly, we sensed she would prefer not to be called again. We then amended our details immediately. This was the last and only call we made.’

Save The Children did not respond to requests for comment.

Mrs Cooke, whose husband died fighting in the Second World War, had sold an estimated 30,000 poppies over 76 years and Mr Cameron gave her an award last November for being Britain’s longest serving poppy seller. Police recovered her body from the Avon Gorge on May 6. An inquest into her death is expected to be opened next week.

Comment – Page 18 Emma Cowing – Page 21