To be feel that some of the public have been mislead and a charity have lost out?

[JoanHickson]

I just had a look at Dax's tale of New York on facebook. I now see the £13k they promised of the publics money to Ronald Mcdonald House isn't going there now. They raised the money by advising the public, funds were to cover medical bills, then they were going to give to the charity.

Lots of people were bothered about the money, but every comment that concerned that or questioned anything was deleted.

The woman who asked for her money back was "named and shamed" and got horrendous abuse. IIRC the bloke who runs the page was threatening to report her to employer (NHS) but fuck knows what for!

They will have had expenses to meet in the uk whilst they weren't working eg mortgage, council tax, water rates as well.
I was stuck abroad with a sick child a few years ago and the insurance only pay flights and accommodation for 1 parent and meals for nobody.We had to eat out every meal because we had no cooking facilities plus transport costs.It all adds up.
This witch hunt sickens me to be honest.

It's hardly a witch hunt. The grabbiness and dishonesty sickens me.

Absolutely disgusting. I couldn't even stay at RMH when my dying newborn was at a London hospital, i either slept by his bed or got the last train home and then the first train back the next day. They need all the donations they can get.

they are under no legal obligation to use it as promised

Exactly. I don't see that they have done anything illegal.

If some dope wants to give me money then presumably I can take it. The guy who set up the fb page seems a fairly unpleasant and ill educated wideboy, but presumably unpleasant wideboys can set up facebook donation sites in the same way that anyone can?

If the people who donated want to chuck their money away then its their loss. It was obvious to me from when I first read the story in the papers that the expenses must be covered under the terms of the travel insurance, so I didn't donate.

It is a witch hunt.

Hoardes of MNers piling onto the fb page and attempting to pick apart everything they said, including some fairly unpleasant allegations about money grubbing and caring more about money than the baby was pretty unpleasant.

Particularly when you think that behind all this is a couple 1000s of miles from home with a baby in SCBU.

Yes agreed
if you question the requests for funds for medical bills after it was confirmed that there would be a payout or the need for 'mummy's booby sucker' (I think the phrase was) which was £2,000, or flight for uncle 'Dean" (not sure of that's the right name)... you are witch hunting or picking apart..

If you notice the fund raising done for the disabled gentleman, no dodgy dealing seen or questions

And then you have the LHR2. .

It isn't a witch hunt.

As well as staying in the RMH, being transported on the bus a member of staff came on to the Fb group and said they had their meals provided too!

Richard said they needed "everything for Dax" because they hadn't bought anything. A woman offered a Moses basket and was turned down. It was all about money. Last week in the DM they said the nursery was all done before they went to NYC!

The point is that people who gave, gave willingly, even after it was clear that the medical expenses were covered, and they were entitled to do what they wanted with the money.

So what if they spent the money on a breast pump?

Post on the page says they will donate soon and post about it, imo it was very naught of them to not donate immediately. They have the money why do they need to sit on it :/

Out of interest how do you know RMH hasn't received anything?

The parents have commented on the page this morning. HERE

For anyone not wanting to click the link they have said:

Hey guys, we haven't wrote in a while. As you can appreciate,we have been very busy as a new family. Becoming parents for the first time and having to deal with all we have has kept us busy. We have now got into a routine for our little Dax to make him feel safe and at home.
Our friend Richard has informed us of several comments, as have we, with regards to how much we are donating to the Ronald McDonald House NY. We would like to confirm that we will be donating to them very soon. We will receive confirmation from the charity that we have donated, and will post this for all to see. Also RMHNY will post on the page confirming this. Please do not be asking Richard who has ran the page for us out of kindness, as it is not anything to do with him.
Once again we would like to thank all those that kindly donated and helped us, and brought attention to the fantastic Ronald Macdonald Charity. We hope we can help them to help others. We will be forever grateful to them and to all of you guys that helped us get through such a tough time.
Lee, Katie and Dax
Xxx

assessment read above, The parents have confirmed that nothing yet has been donated.

Welcome to MN assessment, are you one of their friends?

The point is people started to donate because they said their medical bills weren't covered wnich wasn't true. It was on the TV news that they were before Richard knew, according to him which I think is bullshit.

They carried on giving because they so say had living costs in NYC, again not true.

They needed "everything for Dax", not true.

They needed a £2k Breast pump because it "has to be a special one for prem babies" which is absolute bollocks.

They lied and lied to appeal to better nature and stupidity of some people to part with their cash and I bet not all of them could really afford it.

hahaha Fairy I bet I've been here longer than you :)

The very first article I read said that the medical bills "might not be" covered. It's rather different from a definite statement that they aren't.

If people give money they can't afford to people they don't know then more fool them.

They've been too busy to donate to RMH, but not too busy to buy white goods and furniture, not too busy to do an exclusive with the DM and not too busy to go down to London, stay overnight and appear on This Morning.