Fundraising banned for Baby Bank after probe is launched

SPECIAL REPORT

BY PAUL HUTCHEON

FUNDRAISING in schools for the controversial Lanarkshire Baby Bank has been banned by a local authority after a series of allegations were made about it.

Staff at North Lanarkshire council have also been instructed not to make referrals to the Baby Bank, run by ex-bankrupt Bernadette Murphy, while a probe is under way.

The baby bank receives essential items such as prams and nappies from the public and gives them to parents in desperate financial need. It also accepts financial donations for its own running costs and has taken in around £6,000 through a PayPal account.

Murphy, the founder, won a Kelly’s Hero award – named after TV celebrity Lorraine Kelly – for her role in the initiative and she also made a high-profile plea last month for new premises.

However, the baby bank suffered a blow when a watchdog turned down its application to become a charity.

The Sunday Herald also revealed Murphy’s troubled financial past, such as her co-ownership of an estate agency business that went bust in 2011 after it was unable to pay its debts to HMRC.

The company had previously been the subject of an unflattering article in a tabloid newspaper about its alleged business dealings. Murphy was sequestrated – the Scots word for bankruptcy – in 2012 over debts totalling £453,234.

It is understood that allegations were made this year to North Lanarkshire Council, which covers Coatbridge, where the baby bank’s premises used to be.

The council is examining the concerns and emailed schools in the local authority: “The council has received allegations in respect of this organi- sation. While these are investigated, and until further notice, no fundraising on behalf of Lanarkshire Baby Bank should take place within schools.”

The baby bank recently applied to the council for a community grant, but a spokesman said the local authority asked for more information and the application was not progressed.

Gary O’Rorke, an independent councillor in North Lanarkshire, said he and others had asked the council to clarify whether any social work clients had been referred to the baby bank and, if so, whether volunteers had been disclosure checked.

A spokesperson for North Lanarkshire Council said: “As Lanarkshire Baby Bank has no formal relationship with the council, staff have been instructed not to signpost or refer people to Lanarkshire Baby Bank until further notice. In addition, head teachers have been asked that no new fundraising activity should take place for the time being.”

Murphy did not respond to a request for comment. She had previously said of her involvement in the baby bank: “I’ve got nothing to do with the financial side of things.”