Virgin U- turn on NHS charity fees

VIRGIN has agreed to waive the controversial admin fees on its fundraising site following claims that it was benefiting from money donated to NHS charities.

Almost £ 30 million has been donated to health service causes through Virgin Money Giving since the Covid-19 crisis began, but the firm faced criticism for taking a two per cent cut – a total of nearly £133,000.

Amid rising social media protests about the fees, chief executive David Duffy vowed to scrap them for the duration of the lockdown and to donate part of his reported £5 million-a-year earnings to cover the cost of running the site. He made that pledge on April 9, but the fees were still being charged six days later and only ceased when The Mail on Sunday contacted the company.

In a statement relaxing the charges yesterday, Mr Duffy noted that ‘many charities [are] seeing a large drop in their fundraising contributions during lockdown,’ adding: ‘In this extraordinary and challenging time we wanted to do more to support the generosity of the public.’

The company is part-owned by Sir Richard Branson, whose wealth is estimated at more than $4 billion. The tycoon has been criticised for demanding a £500 million bailout from the UK Government for his airline Virgin Atlantic.

Critics point out that he has paid no personal income tax since moving to the British Virgin Islands 14 years ago and that his Virgin Care firm sued the NHS after losing out on an £82 million contract in 2016 – a fact that some on social media have used to discourage donations through Virgin Money Giving.

The firm’s decision to drop its fee will renew scrutiny of the levies charged by donation websites. Last week, rival Just Giving was criticised for its fees on donations to Captain Tom Moore, the 99-year-old war veteran who has raised more than £23 million for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden.

Virgin Money Giving said last night they implemented Mr Duffy’s pledge to waive the fees ‘as soon as this was technically possible’.