We need salvation
Sally Army’s officers left in despair and two bosses quit after computer meltdown causes unpaid bills chaos
FOR more than a century the Salvation Army has been helping desperate people who have fallen on hard times.
But now the Christian charity is facing an investigation after leaving its own officers in ‘despair’ over a computer system failure that led to thousands of pounds worth of bills going unpaid.
The chaos has been caused by a new digital accounting system called SAASY – introduced by the charity at the start of the financial year in April to ‘centralise’ its finances – which has been failing to process payments on time.
Last night a source from the Salvation Army said the charity’s finances were currently in ‘a massive mess’.
She also revealed that officers, who are not paid and receive a modest allowance each month for their work, were being bombarded with final demand letters because the unpaid bills were in their names – even though it was the charity’s responsibility to pay them.
The Salvation Army source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘We’ve had hundreds of court demands and final pay demands.
‘Red letters are arriving every day. The officers are being pushed to the edge by the sheer stress of the situation. Some are so fed up with the financial pressure they are being put under that they even are thinking about leaving the Salvation Army. It is completely out of hand, an utter shambles and just one massive mess.’ In an email Salvation Army trustee Lieutenant-Colonel Alan Read sent to the Salvation Army’s 1,000 officers last month – which has been leaked to The Mail on Sunday – he wrote: ‘I am horrified to learn of the difficulties many of you have encountered during these long weeks and despite the distress and anxiety this has caused and the depths of despair some of you have plumbed, you have continued your mission work. ‘I applaud you and say that it is against the difficult backdrop of SAASY that you have continued working. Sorry will never be a big enough word.’
Lieut-Col Read further revealed in the email that two senior Salvation Army finance officers, territorial finance director Caroline Emerton and chief accountant Hilary Pearson, had resigned on August 11. Last night it also emerged that the joint heads of the Salvation Army in the UK, commissioners Clive and Marianne Adams, are being moved to positions in Sweden and Latvia.
The charity’s problems with its computer system are being looked at by the Charity Commission.
A Commission spokeswoman said: ‘The Salvation Army has reported a serious incident to us. We will assess the information to determine whether regulatory advice or other action from the Commission is required.’
A Salvation Army spokesman said: ‘We want to take this opportunity to unreservedly apologise for the delay in some of our suppliers receiving payment for invoices and the added pressure this has had on some of our officers and staff.
‘We recognise that as we strive for stringent accounting processes across the country, there have been issues that have slowed us down, but we remain committed to accountability and fair business and we want to reassure people that we are taking all actions necessary, to ensure smooth operations going forward.’
The spokesman said it would be ‘inappropriate’ to speculate on the reasons for staff leaving their posts, but revealed that a new finance director had been appointed. He added that the relocation of the heads of the UK Salvation Army to positions abroad were ‘unrelated to the issues relating to our new accounting system’.