Ormond St plan to keep £530k from scandal-hit fund-raiser

GREAT Ormond Street Hospital will keep hundreds of thousands of pounds from the scandal-hit Presidents Club.

The children’s hospital agreed yesterday to overturn its original decision to return £530,000 donated by the Presidents Club Charitable Trust.

After alleged inappropriate behaviour by some guests at a men-only Presidents Club dinner, the hospital’s charity trustees said they would give back funds raised at the club’s events between 2009 and 2016, even though the hospital was not a beneficiary of this year’s dinner. But the decision sparked anger from some hospital supporters, who forced a rethink.

A spokesman for the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity said last night: ‘Our thinking is always guided by our aim to maximise the sup-

‘Thinking guided by support to families’

port we give to the hospital and the families it cares for.

‘Following feedback from our supporters, guidance from the Charity Commission and taking into account the impending closure of the Presidents Club Charitable Trust, the trustees have decided to retain the funds donated by the trust.’

The Presidents Club gala in January was hit by claims of groping and sexual harassment of ‘hostesses’ by male guests, after an undercover Financial Times reporter attended.

The hostesses were given instructions about the underwear they were permitted to wear, and forced to sign nondisclosure agreements relating to the behaviour of guests.

The backlash led to David Meller, then a leading light of the club, resigning from the board of the Department for Education.

Other charities pledged to return funds, including Evelina children’s hospital, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust, and the Clatterbridge cancer charity.