Local charity asking for PayPal donations but won’t help people in need

[user1471462428]

I’m wondering how to go about reporting a local charity? They aren’t registered with the charity commission. Local health visitors give their number out of you have things to donate or would like to receive a donation of used baby goods. However, several of my friends have asked for help but not received anything. There is a shed full of goods (they appeared on local media). Nothing seems to be given out but the organisation often ask for PayPal donations to buy food parcels. There seems to be no transparency in where funds go!

Do the friends meet their criteria for receiving help?

I would start by talking to the HV to ask them to check before they suggest it.

There doesn’t seem to be any criteria or than being in need. The friends included someone in a refuge fleeing domestic violence and another with five children who had her benefits stopped due to a system error. The only people I know who have been helped are friends of the leaders of the charity and a local primary school.

You can report them for not being registered.

Speak to local media maybe, they could dig a little deeper and get to the bottom of what's going on.

Sure if there is anything sinister about them it would flag up ?

A charity with income under £5k a year doesn't need to be registered.

If the HV are recommending them I would go back to them and ask why.

The health visitor seemed surprised that I questioned how the charity works. The charity works on a basis of giving secretly, purportedly to give recipients anonymity. I am becoming more concerned that it’s quite shady as local parenting site took down a thread by other people saying that they had been turned away.

I’ve just been having a look at their twitter feed and they seem to get support from our local radio stations and the aforementioned parenting website. They also use their charity Twitter feed to do fundraising for themselves

If they have a website take a look and search under the charity number.
They may use a different trading name to registered name?

Sort of thing your regional newspaper might be interested in, maybe try that line.

They don’t have a website just Twitter and Facebook. Think I will contact the papers. We live in area where everyone knows each other and because this couple are popular they seem to get away with it.

It's not giving secretly if people are ringing them up to ask for support - that's self referral. Most charities respect anonymity of beneficiaries - that in itself is not shady.

They don’t need to be registered as a charity

However the Paypal will be questionable. As they are not a registered charity they can’t make use of the reduced fees. So I assume they are using someone’s personal Paypal account, which will be highly inappropriate

I find the fundraising for themselves and for the charity on the same twitter feed quite unsettling.

Link it, we can take a look. Not sure what you mean about fundraising for themselves as well?

What are the reasons they have given for turning people away?

Food banks near me require people to have been referred by a GP/SS/etc and have a referral code to prove it.

If they are not registered as a charity, then they are not a charity and not governed by the Charity Commission rules...

They are just a local community group someone has set up, nothing to stop them doing that. Not sure there's much you can do about reporting them anywhere to be honest if people are giving to them willingly and don't ask where the donations go...

I think in this case it would be best for your friends to go back to the health visitors and say they haven't been able to get anything they needed.

Trusted figures like Health visitors shouldn’t be peddling dodgy charities. I would complain to the council about this.

mobile.twitter.com/shysecrethelpe1 This is their Twitter feed.

Quick glance through that Twitter feed reads a bit of an ego vanity project.

I've had a poke around; they aren't stating they are a charity and have a social mission - I think you seem concerned about their method of allocation but I wouldn't be upset/worried by their presentation.

I don't know, back story sounds rough and like many many people each year they set up a small org/charity rather than join the big ones

Yes it is their method of allocation that bothers as well as getting any criticism of them hushed up really concerns me. I feel people wouldn’t donate goods to them if they realised that it is just them handing things out to their friends.

They aren't saying they are a charity though. They are just an unincorporated organisation which really has no regulation. Fraud maybe - if you had proof but they seem to be making some donations to schools/individuals. I'd just leave it and let them get on with it tbh.

The donation of balance bikes to local school is funny. Other people donated and they take the credit - rather than saying thank you to the people that donated .
We have something similar locally but seems to be run a bit better. My concern about our local one though is that they have started to run a food bank. They have stated on Facebook that anyone can use it - you don't need a referral. I bet they get a few people who don't really need it.