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

@Mookie81

That's why I prefer doing things like donating to food banks- they can't siphon off tins and packets of food for 'costs'.

@Mookie81

Do you think food banks don't have costs? They are based in buildings. They have rent to pay, electricity and gas bills, insurance. Even if they are run by volunteers there needs to be someone in a paid role to supervise and organise.

If they want to raise money for the food bank, that takes organising, marketing, planning. You could raise money by doing sponsored walks etc but again, that needs organising. You raise much more when you pay someone who knows what they're doing to organise it. That's what ROI is. Paying a little bit to make a lot.

I really hate this spiteful, suspicious attitude towards charities and costs and paid staff. Most people who work in charities could do a similar role for a lot more elsewhere. They're not greedy people.

@user1471538283

This never sat right with me. The NHS is not a charity. I think people who donated thought it was going straight to the NHS.

I think he was used by his daughter and her husband. Of course they took money off the top. She could have donated her time.

In my experience charities always want money which I do understand but there is absolutely no control what happens to it then.

You don't control what happens to it but you can read the charity's annual report, find out what percentage of each £1 raised is spent on costs like admin and fundraising, and work out if you want to donate that way.

@lollipoprainbow

always had the impression the daughter loved the limelight, she was front row at Wimbledon last year and got a standing ovation didn't she ??

The commentator said that there were people in the Royal Box who had contributed during the pandemic. Sarah Gilbert was mentioned, who created the vaccine. She got a standing ovation but looked utterly mortified at the public attention, and shrunk into her seat. Then Captain Toms daughter was introduced. She stood up and bowed and waved and generally looked like a plonker.

@Classica

That daughter is such a grifter.

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

Whole thing is revolting.

I saw this last night on Twitter and thought it all sounds a bit iffy now. It reads like they had a brain storm to raise cash in the pandemic and thought, 'Hey, let's shove our 100-year-old dad out into the garden for charity and turn it into a money spinner for ourselves.'

The daughter exploited the situation I think...it wasn’t all let’s do good! The overseas holiday was kept very quiet until he became poorly, I was surprised at that trip as he was old and frail. I think the daughter was in it for the money ...sadly!

@jeanne16

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.

@jeanne16

Because you'd prefer a badly run charity sector that raises peanuts, but at least no one would earn a decent salary through it?

I don't know the exact details of the hospice head or other CEOs. But, I can imagine if you were in charge of an organisation that runs a large network of hospices, plus an entire fundraising operation, that's a lot of responsibility and skill. Comparable salaries for non-charity sector organisations would be much more than £600k. Do you pay less to get someone who doesn't run them as well? Isn't the problem inflated salaries for CEOs in all sectors?

As for 'keeping a business afloat' you do need other roles within a charity other than service delivery. That's how you make a competent organisation. You need people to nurture supporters and keep them giving, people to handle money to make sure it's managed correctly, people to plan what the charity will do to make the best use of funds.

Basically you can run a grassroots organisation on a shoestring and deliver a small benefit, or develop a competent organisation with professionals to ensure it's efficient and sustainable.

I've worked in multiple organisations in the charities sector. No one was paid large salaries. Everyone worked very hard and took their responsibilities seriously.

The only charities I contribute to are run entirely by volunteers, no paid staff whatsoever. The idea that paid staff have to be involved is erroneous, there are plenty of charities particularly animal rescue where people are happy to work for free. One near me operates from donated land, they have built their own stables/ other animal shelters, and everything donated goes directly to the care of the animals. There's no one at the top creaming off a salary.

I’ve never encountered anyone who has benefitted from a charitable organisation and I know people from all walks of life.

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

I’m not with the charity anymore but they’re a) still going (many aren’t post-pandemic) and b) still using it, so I would guess it’s going well.

I really hate this spiteful, suspicious attitude towards charities and costs and paid staff. Most people who work in charities could do a similar role for a lot more elsewhere. They're not greedy people.

I very much agree with this. The Chief Exec of Mencap earns £200k - so what? Mencap as an organisation pulls in over £200 MILLION a year. Thousands of staff.

People who think charities should run on fresh air are the same people who think all volunteers in charity shops are stealing, or that the next time there's a famine or earthquake, all that's needed is for Brenda who does the till on a Monday afternoon to drive a transit over.

@Malibuismysecrethome

I’ve never encountered anyone who has benefitted from a charitable organisation and I know people from all walks of life.

You don’t know anyone that’s had help/treatment from St John’s Ambulance/Macmillan/Marie Curie? I find that hard to believe.

I think they went into it with good intentions and didn’t expect to raise so much,but greed got the better of his daughter and she wheeled him out at every opportunity and is now dining out on his name.

As for Ashley Cain and safayia they’ve taken advantage of the £1.6 million,he posted months ago he had to sell his clothes, yet he is now wearing £800 trainers,£1000 coats.She’s getting a boob job,and constant Nando’s.
They took their child off medication as it was making her drowsy,bloody hell the child was days from death she must have wanted to sleep, cuddled by her parents not treated to a big party.
People have to nominate a child who can apply for money from the fund but they have to go through hoops to get it.yet people gladly without question donated to help their child.

I think go fund me should be looking into things like this,I’ve seen a few on Instagram open a go fund me to help buying beds/wheelchairs/tummy tucks and the majority of them get greedy and take advantage of peoples good nature,

No me neither. I’m sure he was a nice guy but the whole thing was over the top. All the talk of a state funeral as well!

I was very uncomfortable with the jingoistic, mawkish circus that sprang up around him. This was an unpopular opinion at the time on MN (as I remember all too well).

An elderly man walking around his garden to raise money for the NHS? Great, a lovely story.

The biscuit tins with Union Jacks, the (awful) charity single with Michael Ball, the numerous books and greetings cards, the 'Pride of Britain' Hornby trains, the candles, the gin, the hats, the t-shirts, the flags, the keyrings and badges, all invariably with some sort of 'Our Hero' slogan, the (almost unrecognisable) dolls and art prints, the wristbands, the coasters, the mugs, the fucking cushions with him shown as an actual Saint... It's atrocious. A fiesta of exploitation. Of him and the people gullible enough to buy into it.

Agree that the Michael Ball thing was UNFORGIVEABLE.

At this stage it all feels like part of the spring 2020 mass manipulation and therefore I shudder when I think of it.

My cousin works for a large well known local charity that gets a lot of national coverage as it's very niche.

I've never given them a penny after seeing what he gets "on the firm".

I now only support small local charities as a result.

@Grenlei

The only charities I contribute to are run entirely by volunteers, no paid staff whatsoever. The idea that paid staff have to be involved is erroneous, there are plenty of charities particularly animal rescue where people are happy to work for free. One near me operates from donated land, they have built their own stables/ other animal shelters, and everything donated goes directly to the care of the animals. There's no one at the top creaming off a salary.

Well, that's great and it's good that you give to them. There will be someone organising insurance and costs and fundraising for free. When that person or people step away, if there's no one to fill the gap by taking on responsibilities for free then it will fold. Or if an animal attacks a volunteer and the insurance won't pay out because no one was carrying out the risk assessments they needed to. Etc etc.

Small charities can be great. But they are also quite inefficient. Say you have ten little animal rescue centres like yours across a 100 mile radius. Each one will have bureaucracy to deal with, costs like vet bills and animal feed, insurance, maintenance of buildings etc. Not to mention fundraising of some sort, even if it's done by volunteers.

If the 10 rescue centres joined into a single organisation with one person arranging all the boring stuff like ordering supplies and fixing the roof, it would save time. You would also be able to buy in bulk and agree discounts. You could also pay a fundraiser to organise fundraising that would tell more people about the charity and raise more funds. These funds would be more predictable than volunteer-led efforts (one year you might raise £10k, the next year the same volunteers might be sick or uninterested and you only raise £1k).

If you have predictable income, you can plan to build new stables or fund hydrotherapy or whatever it is you need. It gives stability and ensures that the whole thing doesn't close when a handful of people who were giving their time for free decide to walk away. Yes, there might be 'someone at the top' receiving a salary. Charities publish accounts showing what percentage of their income is spent on admin costs. It's not hidden. Why is it wrong to pay people to do a job that ensures the good work can continue?

People are really, really weird and illogical about charities. Sometimes you spend a bit of money on salaries to ensure the charity can function well. That's not a bad thing.

@SomePosters

Eh?

Why is everyone getting distracted arguing about this when our actual fucking government is shamelessly siphoning off huge amounts into fake companies for goods and services never received?

Totally agree.

Charities also do have costs.

This feels suspiciously like a squirrel to me, a bit of a distraction from the billions lining the pockets of friends and family of the government from the covid contracts.

@HesterShaw1 spot on all part of the mass manipulation we were subjected to then

I have no problem with people earning a decent wage from a charity, when they're recruited because they're the best person for the job and can help the charity to best fulfill its charitable ends. But that's not what happened here. The family set the charity up then exploited it for their own ends.

@HesterShaw1

At this stage it all feels like part of the spring 2020 mass manipulation and therefore I shudder when I think of it.

👍👍

I used to be a campaigns officer for a charity. I lobbied governments about animal welfare. There’s little to no commercial gain in lobbying for higher welfare standards, so if charities didn’t do it, no one would. No one would be speaking out purely for animal welfare to government.

There is legislation in existence right now which protects animal welfare that is there because my colleagues and I worked really hard to get it. It doesn’t benefit any businesses, just the animals in question. It has undoubtedly saved animals from grim situations. And it wouldn’t be there without us. I worked for ten years developing my skills and knowledge and I did all of that and never got a single pay rise beyond occasional increases for inflation, or earned more than the average wage in this country. I lived in a cold house because I couldn’t afford to heat it properly on my salary. I never stayed in a five star hotel, and I can tell you exactly how many times I got to travel first class - once, because there was a deal on that made it cheaper than standard class. I shared a room - even a bed once! - with colleagues to save the charity money, took flights in the small hours because they were cheaper. And credit where it’s due - the CEO did the same.

I didn’t return to the sector after mat leave because I was burnt out. Attitudes like some of those on this thread played a part in that.

@BestKnitterInScotland

Agree that the Michael Ball thing was UNFORGIVEABLE.

It was the pinnacle of the exploitation of a vulnerable old man. He may have been lovely, he may have been a war hero, he may have been vile. I have no idea but I felt he was paraded out like some performing bear and yes the Michael Ball record was just the icing on the cake of making a fool of him.

I hope the money does some good but I wouldn't want a loved one of mine to be used like that.

On a personal note, I used to live in the same village as the family, Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire. Its a sprawling village / mini town with one massive housing estate after another after another, not that nice really.

They lived in the tiny old part of the original village near the church, in the big old house that every old village has. Its surrounded by high fences and trees (always has been, even before their fame) and the whole family had absolutely NOTHING TO DO with anything in the village, or any of the people. They just used to swoop in and out of their electric gates and that was it. (I lived in a little cottage opposite for a few years).