Did the captain Tom foundation charity really use the money to build their own spa pool??

Probably where he caught covid too. Fully paid for family holiday though.

Why take an old boy of 100 on a long haul flight to Barbados

Like many charities, most of the money goes on the ‘staff’ not the cause. Legal.

Charity law lets you fundraise millions and only give away £1 if you show that you’re spending the bulk of the donations on ‘running the charity’.

That includes buying buildings and/or homes for the staff, private pensions, private medical care, years of paid sick leave, entertainment, hotel bills, flights abroad, you name it.

Now Big Charities have got used to this life, they argue indignantly that it should continue.

Anyone who asks why it costs £92 to give £8 away (irl example) gets shouted down coz charidee. Oh and ‘charity provides jobs’. Doing what? Asking for more money, you don’t say.

His daughter is a grifter who exploited her father for her own gain. The charity commission is still investigating hopefully the truth will come out (a lot is already out there).

The whole thing was iffy from the start. The public and media reaction was embarrassing.

I didn’t understand the hype at the time. I never warmed to him. Didn’t ever get that feeling

@Plbrookes eh ?

I would never have said this at the time but I never liked the Man ! Something just seemed off. Felt validated when he wrote in his memoirs that he left his first wife as marriage was sexless & went off with a younger wife. Tells you everything you need to know really about this character.

I read it on the BBC news site yesterday. I never ever click a DM link. I don’t think this is a story the DM broke.

And me. I thought my husband and me were the only people not interested in Captain Tom

Can't say I'm surprised about this at all

It has been reported in other papers too and it’s not just a planning issue.

...and yes, I think Tom's charity was a grift. At least from the faily's pov.

As PP have said, wait and see what the investigation uncovers. However this is not the first time fingers have been pointed at his daughter so this article was not shocking.

It is true that they have been investigated. Appropriation of funds or such like.
Not sure what the outcome waa

someone abusing a charity for their own profit is no different to someone donating to the charity in the first place, in terms of human behaviour.

Even following your logic to get here (which I don't totally disagree with) - there is a difference.

The difference, if you want to boil it down to cold practicalities is this:

• When I donate money to charity, I am entering an agreement with that charity. I give them money, and get to feel good about myself. They use that money for the cause I gave it to. If any money is required to go to something other than the cause, there is an agreement they will keep this to a minimum and it will still be in the spirit of furthering the cause. For example, paying market rate wages for someone to do a job. That's the agreement. We both know we're entering into it and both agree with the terms. It's clear to us both what we get from it and what we need to deliver.
• When someone abuses the money for their own end, they are breaking that agreement. They are obtaining the money fruadulently and forcing me into the situation of funding their spa (or whatever) against my will. They are lying and stealing. That's a massive difference in human behaviour from 'buying' a good feeling. imo.

This gets to the heart of the underlying issue - there is absolutely no need for so many charities to be set-up when something in existence already does that job, it just increases administration costs and divides donations and their impact. I often think that when charities are set up in memory of someone but I understand the need for a legacy to be felt.

With the wealthier people, it is about having control over where the money goes and if it is just donated to x existing charity they don't have that. I'd probably be the same tbh!

I didn’t mean successful in terms of money as such, more that she knew exactly what she might be able to achieve with CT. Definitely saw huge potential for money making to generate more wealth.

You’d have to assume the paper is in possession of some information that they’re pretty sure about to make such inference, otherwise they’re wiiiiiiiide open to an expensive defamation case. Inference is dangerous.

Of course it was but Jesus if you dared say anything at the time you were pilloried. It was all absolutely bonkers, nation losing the plot over someone walking round their garden and the inference he was just some normal old chap who’d just happened to get some publicity.

They were absolutely mad times in general though.

She was quite a successful recruitment agent if I recall.

The money (I think) comes from her husband's property/ building business.
Companies House always yields a lot of info.

I also wondered why they just didn't give it to the NHS. I read an article the other day about philanthropy, especially with the ultra-rich, where they seem to be unable or unwilling to just donate to a charity - they have to create their own trust, named after themselves or their family, etc - they can't seem to do anything anonymously. It's very "the ego has landed" type stuff. Then it ends up either not being as successful as someone who is already doing it and wastes loads of money, or challenges the existing charity's work.

I was eaten alive on here for pointing out that I thought there was something dodgy going on with the money and the front and centre daughter (I didn't think he had anything to do with it I'll add). Even my husband thought I was awful for saying "I'm not convinced where this money is going... why aren't people questioning any of this" bbc breakfast were so far up their arses with their coverage. My husband was telling me about their spa last night and we had a good laugh, I did told you so face! Bit of a running joke in our house the captain Tom saga, my friend bought one of my children the kids book, 🤣 my face when he opened it! So many people taken in by it all. Who knows whether they paid for their own spa, the media have done a 360 and are insinuating it wasn't paid for by them, either way bbc breakfast aren't having them back on 🤣.

I.think it wss just a feel.good thing
People were bored with nothing to.do and worried about the Covid situation and then there was dear old msn taking laps around his very substantial garden to." Raise" money for the.NHS,people bought into.it .

My understanding of some of this is that her husband is a builder/ property developer (he's listed as a company director) and that's where their wealth comes from. Perhaps they know their way around the planning process. Some people do apply for planning permission for one thing and then it's changed into something else (and may escape scrutiny.)