Investigator drafted in to probe fundraising concerns
THE investigator brought in to probe a supposed armed forces charity must be experiencing feelings of deja vu.
The Charity Commission has banned Blackpool-based Support The Heroes from collecting money and installed chartered accountant Brian Johnson as interim manager.
“The charity’s fundraising activities have ceased while the investigation goes on, and its bank account has been frozen,” said Mr Johnson.
“The inquiry will focus on two main areas: whether there were conflicts of interest in the way Support The Heroes issued contracts, and whether there was a lack of transparency.
“I’ll also be investigating whether all monies have been properly accounted for.”
Mr Johnson has got a track record for this – he was sent in to take over another charity, Afghan Heroes, when the Charity Commission launched an investigation in 2014.
That’s not the only link. Support The Heroes, Afghan Heroes and a third forces charity, Our Local Heroes Foundation, are connected to the same fundraiser, Tony Chadwick. Charity 1
I first came across the 48-year-old from Blackpool when looking at Afghan Heroes, also called True Heroes.
This was founded by Denise Harris, whose son, Corporal Lee Scott, was killed in Helmand province in 2009. Its stated aims were to support returning soldiers and Army families.
But in 2012 it spent just £15,000 on help, despite donations of £555,000 – that’s less than 3%. In 2014, the Commission sent in Mr Johnson of accountants HW Fisher & Company to take it over.
The fundraising was carried out by Prize Promotions Limited – its director was Chadwick. The company has since been wound-up. Charity 2
Chadwick is also a director of Targeted Management Limited which was taken on by Our Local Heroes Foundation. This was founded by 54-year-old Steve Pearson of Chorley, Lancs, who has a fondness for taking pictures of himself posing with soldiers.
A Charity Commission report published in March last year revealed that only £10,000 of £500,000 donated to Our Local Heroes was spent on charitable work – that’s 2%.
It highlighted an agreement under which Targeted Management would invoice the charity for 80% of the funds that had been raised.
After I wrote about this, Chadwick contacted me “in the interest of truth and factual accuracy” to insist that his company was not a professional fundraiser but “provides outsourced services” and 80% was the maximum the charity might pay for a fundraising activity, with his company fees being less than 20%.
In November, the Commission opened an inquiry into Our Local Heroes, citing “clear ongoing serious regulatory concerns”. Charity 3
This brings us to Support The Heroes, which claims to help services personnel suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.
There’s an extraordinary page on its website that blames “evil and vindictive” people for spreading falsehoods about its work.
“All contributions are accounted for, none are, or ever have been, misappropriated,” it says, adding, “we do all our own fundraising and have never used a professional fundraising company.”
The Charity Commission thinks otherwise. “The Commission has serious concerns about an agreement the charity has entered with a commercial fundraising company,” it says.
“It is particularly concerned about the transparency of the charity’s fundraising arrangements and the ability of the public to make an informed decision about donating to the charity.”
Chadwick did not respond to emails.
It spent just £15,000 of £555,000 donations on its cause