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

I didn’t donate when he was doing his walls. I nearly did, then I remembered I’d read previously that you can’t give money to the NHS itself to pay for more doctors & nurses, but you can donate to “friends of X Hospital” style charities.

That money can be used for new furniture in waiting rooms etc, which does benefit staff and patients, but £30 million is a lot of new chairs.

I think the public donated thinking the money would either benefit existing medical staff or pay for more medical staff. It’s a shame that legally that money couldn’t go to where the people donating thought it was going to.

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.

What a massive reach. It's different morally, legally, and practically.

he started going for a daily walk as recommended by his consultant after a hip operation, this was stated in the early reports when it was taken-over as a PR run exercise to 'raise money for the NHS' and that bit was quickly dropped.

All charity ultimately boils down to self-interest. I'm not specifically commenting on the Captain Tom Foundation but more generally. Anyone who gives to, works for or benefits from a charity is motivated by self-interest. It's human nature - we can try to kid ourselves that we're trying to help others but why on earth would we be doing that if we didn't think it was to make the world a better place? It's selfishness, an attempt to mould the world into a shape we like better.

We shouldn't be surprised when we hear about other forms of selfishness creeping into the sphere of charity either, 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.

She was quite a successful recruitment agent if I recall. So she knew exactly what she had in her father and what she might be able to send him up for, the potential in him to be an national treasure etc etc, and then get a big whack of commission for it. Which she absolutely has. Rather shrewd to put it mildly.

Glad to hear planning are doing their job - so unfair if chancers wheedle their way round the laws.

I want tobknow exactly what the money was spent on. The original money 💰.

Because all these charity's and nothing has changed.

At least Rod Stewart paid for some scans. I want to know where all this money has gone.

Same for Grenfell, I live in the area and knew people there. Where had all the money gone? The donation, the charity single. They could've build house for everyone with all that money.
And the council is still the same.

The story reads as if planning permission was requested for a building to be used by the charity and then a large additional pool house was either built instead or tacked on. It doesn't say they used the charity's money, just the charity's name as implying it was being done on the charity's behalf.

This

Ah OK thank you.

The BBC are running the same story.

It was, they are investigating what came afterwards, when the foundation was set up.

The public who got caught up in the hype need to know a full break down of exactly where all the money raised has gone don't they .

Bet we will never see that though

Posts on here validate the Daily Fail running with what is essentially a planning permission issue the family have with their local council, but the Fail know it’ll get the clicks and comments from ‘disgusted of Home Counties, who never trusted that charity anyway’ and all those people who seem to know lots of Captain Tom’s inner thoughts too.
Keep funding the Daily Fail, folks 🙄

Oh absolutely! Wasn’t excusing them at all. But there isn’t any suggestion they used the funds raised for the nhs to build it.

the money from all the marketing ties ins (the gin etc 🙄)…well who knows.

I don't understand why the money wasn't just distributed to the NHS together charity either, ?

How extraordinarily entitled.

They are grifters. I've seen people questioning their ethics right from the very beginning. Lengths not laps!

The part I don’t understand is they raised about £33 million for the NHS so why wasn’t this amount just handed over? I realise it might have taken off far beyond their expectations but they had time to decide how the money went to the NHS and cut out the need for charity managers etc..

@Plbrookes tbf I'd like to know how my trust has benefited from the money raised. Our unit would love a nice new staff room.
From what I understand the planning permission was for an annexe to display all the cards and memorabilia they'd received but then turned into a home spa complex in reality.

It was a money making exercise by his daughter. She blatantly used her charming elderly father whom the media loved. A very thorough forensic trawl through the charities accounts are needed. It’s scams like this that make people wary about giving to genuine charities in the future.

They are an awful family and always made me feel uncomfortable. As others have said Hannah runs a PR company and she IMO exploited her father for her own gain. They have milked and used his memory to promote everything from gin to Children’s books.

And you know they brought him to try and blag flight upgrades and better rooms in hotels.

^^ This.

My adult DCs and me were very sceptical. The daughter was so full on in her money making efforts and we have followed what has gone on since. Then they take him over to Barbados for cricket (not legal at the time I believe) where he catches covid and dies. (Not accusing them of doing this deliberately but it was a bonkers decision by the family)

Then come the T shirts, Gin, baseball caps and it all starts looking very very murky.

I do criticise the BBC because they were relentless in their coverage on Breakfast News, the family, Captain Tom, and all were on every single morning. Duping us into thinking how wonderful it all was.

The other sister has distanced herself and I have a feeling there's been a family fall out.

I think the enquiry will show there has been a lot of wrongdoings. We, as a family, were dubious very early on.