SHAME OF POPPY DAY PROFITEERS
Charity is banned in crackdown on rogues ripping off our heroes
A MILITARY charity has been banned from collecting donations amid growing concerns that rogue fundraisers are pocketing millions of pounds intended to help wounded war veterans.
Support The Heroes was dramatically closed down on the eve of Remembrance Sunday after it was exposed for allegedly misleading the public over how much money it gives to good causes. Two more military charities are also being investigated after failing to pass on to veterans the vast majority of money they collected.
According to the Charity Commission, which regulates fundraising,
one group – Our Local Heroes Foundation – received £500,000 in donations in 2015 but spent only £10,000 on projects to help veterans.
As the nation prepared to remember the fallen today, Conservative MP James Heappey described the activities of these charities and their fundraisers as ‘deceiving the public on an industrial scale’.
And former Army commander General Sir Mike Jackson called for a clampdown. He said: ‘It is very alarming to learn so much of the money given so generously by the British public has gone to fundraising companies and on administration costs.’
Charity Commission chairman William Shawcross added: ‘There are unscrupulous people who seek to pervert and exploit the generosity of the public for their personal benefit. We have warned charities that this dishonest or unethical behaviour by their fundraisers damages public trust and confidence.’ Support The Heroes was set up in 2014 to help veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
It has been ordered to suspend operations after BBC investigators filmed collectors falsely telling members of the public that every penny they donated went to good causes. In fact, the charity pays 33 per cent of everything it collects to a professional fund raising company, Targeted Management Ltd.
The firm is run by Tony Chadwick, from Blackpool, who is linked to a network of veterans’ charities that have raised mil- lions from the public but spent almost nothing on veterans.
Mr Chadwick last night denied any wrongdoing.
An alleged conflict of interest is also being investigated because Support The Heroes is run by two of Mr Chadwick’s former business partners.
According to the most recent accounts, the charity has raised £191,948. More than £60,000 was paid to Targeted Management.
The same company had a contract that guaranteed it up to 80 per cent of the money collected for Our Local Heroes Foundation over five years, according to the Charity Commission.
Another company run by Mr Chadwick, called Prize Promotions Ltd, was used by Afghan Heroes, a charity backed by Prince Harry. The charity, set up by mothers of troops killed in Afghanistan, raised £3.1million but passed on only £250,000 to projects supporting veterans.
The Charity Commission is trying to claw back £2.9million from Prize Promotions.
Mr Chadwick’s firm sold raffle tickets in aid of Afghan Heroes at stalls in shopping centres across the country. One of Afghan Heroes founding members, Lucy Aldridge – whose son William, 18, was the youngest UK soldier to die in Afghanistan – said: ‘Any Tom, Dick or Harry can set up a military charity.
‘This has allowed some very unsavoury individuals to exploit the generosity of the British public. It has gone on unchecked up and down the country for many years.’
Mr Heappey backed Mrs Aldridge and said: ‘On Remembrance Sunday it is disgusting that the sacrifices of our soldiers are being used to justify these rackets.’
The conduct of these charities is in stark contrast to the fundraising practices of the Royal British Legion, which in the weeks before Remembrance Sunday deploys an army of more than 150,000 volunteers who bring in £40million.
Mr Chadwick denied he owed any money to Afghan Heroes and said his firm’s fundraising contract with charities was ‘agreed verbally and via emails.’ He said last night: ‘The Charity Commission has taken no action against me, Prize Promotions or Targeted Management, or has even been in touch with me. All the fundraising followed standard practices within the fundraising industry.’
Asked about income from Support The Heroes, he said: ‘All the monies received at the promotions, whether through donation or sales of products, is paid to the charity.’
Support the Heroes trustee Pauline White denied breaking charity rules and claimed it had donated more than £220,000 to good causes.