Hospitals charity distributing less than 50pc of the money it has raised

The Hospitals Charity’s marketing has caused concern among NHS charity fundraisers, who have asked for their hospitals’ names to be removed from the organisation’s website. A list of hospitals – which has now been taken down after hospitals contacted the charity – included misspellings, hospitals which had closed and hospitals listed in the wrong geographical area.

The charity describes itself as “the charity which gives back to regional hospitals”. Its website asks donors to “help us raise £750,000 for critical care wards in your region” and says it is raising the same amount for 470 hospitals in the UK.

“Your donations mean more equipment, beds and PPE at a time when it is vital, saving countless lives in your area,” it goes on to say, encouraging donors to fundraise through skydiving and bake sales. The charity also gets people to sign up to regular donations outside supermarkets.

In answer to HSJ’s questions, the Hospitals Charity said that £30,000 of the £128,000 it had raised by the end of October was being distributed to hospitals and another £25,000 had been earmarked for distribution. It provided HSJ with a list of the 49 hospitals where it said it was distributing funds (see below).

However, two of the trusts contacted by HSJ – Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells, Medway and East Kent – said they have no record of receiving funds from the charity.

The £55,000 earmarked for distribution would amount to 43 per cent of the money it had raised. Over five years it aims for 70 per cent of the money it raises to be distributed with administration expenses accounting for 30 per cent, it said, but it expected costs to be frontloaded in the early years.

The charity’s website carries no details of the organisation’ staff or trustees. It uses a boilerplate set of terms and conditions which, for example, include clauses such as: ”We will take reasonable steps to display as accurately as possible the colours, appearance and other detailing of our Products (and their packaging) in the images that appear on the Website and in our catalogues and other media.”

The charity said that this was in anticipation of being able to offer merchandise in the future, 

The website’s ‘contact us’ page includes an 0300 number and an email address, but no physical address. However, the charity’s privacy policy page says its registered address is 36-38 Cornhill, in the City of London.

Lall Singh, chair of the charity, admitted that some of the hospitals listed might not have heard of the charity but said it “aspired to raise funds for the 470 hospitals we identified covering the UK”.

Ian Lush, Chair of NHS Charities Together, said: “As the membership body representing and supporting the UK’s 240 NHS charities, some of our members have previously shared concerns about Hospital Charity’s ways of working. We have raised these concerns with the relevant regulatory bodies, who will investigate them as appropriate.”

The Hospitals Charity’s accounts covering the period to 31 August 2020 should have been filed with the Charity Commission 146 days ago (as of 24 November). A Charity Commission spokeswoman said: “We have opened a regulatory compliance case to examine concerns relating to this charity and we are currently engaging with the trustees. We cannot comment further at this stage.”

The Charity Commission’s website was updated to show that the accounts were received on 23 November but they have not, however, yet been made public.

A regulatory compliance case seeks to establish facts about a charity. The Hospitals Charity was only registered in September 2019 so the August 2020 accounts were the first it was required to submit.

 Updated 18,00 24 Nov with comments from NHS Charities Together