Captain Tom Foundation spent more on costs than causes

[KerryWeaver]

This is a disappointing read.

"More than £240,000 of the registered charity’s expenditure went on the costs, while four grants totalling £160,000 were paid out to good causes. Of the foundation’s costs, £125,000, almost one-tenth of its income, went on fundraising consultancy fees, including to a firm run by Captain Tom’s daughter."

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/captain-tom-foundation-spent-more-on-costs-than-causes-z3b9vw0fh

[quote Grenlei]@Mookie81 absolutely. Poor Azaylia's illness and death was incredibly sad, she was a beautiful little girl and clearly loved. However I felt very uncomfortable with all the filming of her final days when she really was incredibly unwell, it felt horribly intrusive - I get the point was to raise awareness but it went too far imho. Also all the music and dancing her around when surely her poor body would have been in pain and needed rest. A lot of it felt more for the benefit of the adults than for her. Likewise the full on rave that was her funeral.[/quote]
Yes, 'full on rave' is exactly how I'd describe it aswell, I felt it was very inappropriate.

@WouldIBeATwat

I said “sites like” JustGiving. Because there are others. And people may not know how much goes to the donation site when they give. 🤷🏻‍♀️

We moved from JG to Virgin Money whose % was far lower. No need to create our own donation tools.

And how is having Virgin Money as your donation platform working out for you?

@ethelredonagoodday

I thought Captain Tom seemed like a pleasant elderly man. Thought the daughter came across as though she was trying to milk it for all it was worth. Made me feel a bit uneasy.

I agree. She was always pushing herself onto the TV. And didn’t they drag the poor old man to some Caribbean island during Covid, and the family was paraded on TV. I never warmed to her.

@PartyAtSueGrays

Surprised nobody has picked up on the part in the interview where she says after cancelling Sir Toms 100th birthday party, they offered him a pound a lap of his garden. Wow. Party us cancelled so we've saved a mint on that but you can have some money if you work for it.

As an aside, volunteers within an Ambulance service have all had a commemorative coin for working through the pandemic, paid for by Sir Toms foundation. Interested to know If this is what you donated for?

Paid members of staff also got the coin, don't know if it specifically came from Sir Tom's money but it was paid for by the trust charity. Total waste of money in the vast majority of staff members opinions. They also got a logo'ed water bottle paid for by Sir Tom, to join all the other water bottles they already have. I know this would not have been a decision made by the Sir Tom foundation but it does show that charity donations are often spent on pointless showy things.

Water bottles and coins, what a complete and utter waste of money. Everyone’s good intentions in donating to the NHS reduced to gimmicks.
Says it all that thy would rather waste the money in this way.

The Independent article is very balanced and clearly explains how the money was spent and what the costs were.
I thought Sir Tom was lovely but the whole situation spiralled and the family were built up by the media. Now sadly it’s their turn for the media to tear them down. Unfortunately for Sir Tom’s daughter, as a strong business woman then of course, the focus ( misogyny) is on her. I have no further interest in the story.

The Trust I work for spent (and still spends) the whole of its Sir Tom money on counselling for staff. To be honest, it's been needed.

@StScholastica

The Trust I work for spent (and still spends) the whole of its Sir Tom money on counselling for staff. To be honest, it's been needed.

Point is Potentially you could have received substantially more

This is why I give to big charities not tiny ones. More efficient.

I think need to be careful here.

£40m raised and £160k taken for costs - costs will have been required. Nothing in life is free. I think those costs are reasonable.

The independent lists the costs - it is far more balanced than the Times report.

@travailtotravel

Very little in life breaks even in year 1. Fundraising is one area where this is true. 125k to raise 1m is bloody amazing. I wish my ratios were that istrong in the small charity I'm a fundraiser for. I can only imagine what my trustees are going to expect me to pluck out of my arse now they've seen that.

This

@Classica

That daughter is such a grifter.

They'll be looking into Captain tom NFT's next.

Whole thing is revolting.

Not read the full thread yet, but that has to be parady??? Surely

Was not a fan of the entire thing. Horribly cringey to watch him on his zimmer frame for the cameras.

Even odder than many/most people thought the money was going to NHS frontline services. It wasn't, it was going to NHS charities.

In any case, the NHS itself is not a charity and nor should it be. Suggesting that in times of need that the NHS should be propped up with donations instead of being properly funded from the public purse plays into the hands of those who would like to cut NHS funding.

I’m afraid the whole charity world has turned into a massive industry. It employs tens of thousands of people who are paid for various roles including fund raising. A lot of the fund raising is needed to keep their whole business afloat, not to give to good causes.

The salaries of the CEOs are also enormous, Ivor example £600k pa to the head of the Hospice movement. I’ve become very cynical about charities over the years.

It wasn’t Captain Tim’s first brush with Dane either he appeared on Blankety Blank way back!

With *fame

*Tom

I knew something was up when I accidentally discovered childrens books written by him

In defence of charity staff, I have a friend who has held senior positions in a number of charities. She is hard working, genuine, competent and one of the most kind and generous people I've ever met. There are good people working in the charity sector just as there are some who are not there for the right reasons.

Charity threads are always the same. Lots of posters who think charities run themselves, that nobody should be paid, or if they are paid it should be minimum wage.

The Foundation raised £33 million and that was just to Feb 2021. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52758683 It's now an ongoing charity and it's obvious that cost is going to be higher in the first year with set-up.

Whether his family should be both trustees and paid staff is another matter - but the Charities Commission are clearly happy with it.

Well, we now know what happened to £20M

@Joystir59

I don't know why on earth people gave money to an old man pushing a shopping trolley around his garden for the NHS. Just stop voting Tory.

Quite. But when you said similar at the time you got shouted down. The hero worship was insane to me.

You could tell at the time the family was being quite exploitative. Wonder how much they will be making off the film of his life

@VivX

Was not a fan of the entire thing. Horribly cringey to watch him on his zimmer frame for the cameras.

Even odder than many/most people thought the money was going to NHS frontline services. It wasn't, it was going to NHS charities.

In any case, the NHS itself is not a charity and nor should it be. Suggesting that in times of need that the NHS should be propped up with donations instead of being properly funded from the public purse plays into the hands of those who would like to cut NHS funding.

Yes, this. The whole idea of giving money to the NHS annoyed me (I work for the NHS) as it isn't a charity. People seemed to think they were actually helping the health service with their donations.

The Cpt Tom thing, I just avoided as cringe and rolled my eyes. I'm not at all surprised it turns out to have been so manufactured, but saddened that it was his own daughter exploiting him.