Thursday, March 28, 2024

Scrap the toothless poodle

Section:

Matthew Steeples suggests the disgrace of Camila Batmanghelidjh should signal the death knell for the “do-nothing” organisation that is the Charity Commission

 

News on Sunday that the controversial Kids Company boss Camila Batmanghelidjh had a “personal private swimming pool” in a £5,000-a-month North London Grade II listed Art Deco house paid for out of the charity’s funds is shocking but not surprising. Miss Batmanghelidjh, it seems, treated the organisation as her own personal fiefdom and as has been the case with many other charities, one has to ask: “Where was the Charity Commission?”

 

Scrap the toothless poodle that is the Charity Commission – Lady Meyer CBE of Parents & Abucted Children Together (PACT) and Camila Batmanghelidjh of Kids Company
Lady Meyer CBE and Camila Batmanghelidjh CBE both received honours for their work for services to children

 

Miss Batmanghelidjh, the Mail on Sunday also revealed, allowed her charity to pay £50,000 towards contributions to the school of her chauffeur’s son, gave the same chauffeur’s sister a job making her “trademark colourful outfits” and attempted to justify her actions by snapping at a reporter: “Whoever told you this has been malicious”.

 

In the interview with Simon Walters, Batmanghelidjh bleated:

 

“I know who [the individuals who told the Charity Commission and media about what was going on at Kids Company] are and you have to question their motives. What they have done is wrong. The issue will be addressed. My heart is very clear. If I’ve shed any tears, it’s been for the kids, not for me”.

 

Reading this I found myself thinking of another once high-profile lady involved in charity, Lady Meyer. In 2009, Richard Eden – who at that time worked on The Telegraph’s ‘Mandrake’ column – revealed that “all but £9,500 of the money received in donations” by the “Chanel-clad wife of the former British ambassador to Washington’s” charity, Parents & Abducted Children Together (PACT), went to Lady Meyer herself and one member of staff who had been employed as her assistant. When questioned, Meyer attempted to justify the situation in a similar way to Batmanghelidjh and complained: “We are doing a huge amount of work for very little salary… I used to work in the City and earned much more”.

 

On this occasion and despite my reporting the matter to the Charity Commission, nothing was done. Their pathetic answer: “It’s a matter for the charity’s trustees, not for us” was no doubt used when anyone complained to them about Batmanghelidjh’s charity also. Six years on, as the case of Kids Company proves, nothing has changed and thus it is time that the toothless “do-nothing” poodle that is the Charity Commission was finally consigned to history.

 

 

Subscribe to our free once daily email newsletter here:

     

    The Steeple Times
    The Steeple Times
    We research and background check our articles. If you believe we have made and error in some detail please get in touch, we seek always to write the truth and stand against a press owned by a self selected few. Please help us, we will accept all your likes, subscriptions and anonymous suport. The Editor and his team at the Steeple Times.

    11 COMMENTS

    1. I hear Lady Meyer likes pointing her finger at people in restaurants and writing bad reviews now. You describe her as “once high-profile”. I imagine in five years, the same will be said of Camila Batmanghelidjh.

    2. Isn’t Lady Meyer a friend of William Shawcross, chief of the Charity Commission? We need to know if Camilla Batmanghelidjh is a friend of his too. Time for some proper investigations.

    3. The Charity Commision do a lot of good work too, however they have their hands full with the thousands of tiny charities they have to deal with. They did recently force the ‘Joanna Southcott’s Box’ people to stop accumulating their millions for the second coming (the ‘charity’ recently modernised Jesus’ bathroom; he can look forward to a power shower when he comes back) and spend some of it.

      • I comment from my own dealings with them. They are inept and have no interest in listening to members of the public who complain about badly run charities. They are a club that protects their own. It is time they were quashed.

        • Yes, omething needs to change. The big problem is that they have so many functions – not just the massive charities or ones with enough funding to abuse but also the plankton. I was trustee of a whole handful of local ones that had been mismanaged for the past 200 years – they actually still had Consols! The Charity Commissioners spend all their time dealing with the geriatric Mrs Grundys who run these things. But yes, I agree that the Kids’ Company is a warning sign that something needs to be done about it and a whole new approach is needed. In most of Europe, charities are just companies that file their accounts slightly differently.

    4. I think that it is time for a proper and serious review of charities and the charity laws. Are there too many charities, should the rules of governance be tightened, should those offering benefits to members remain as charities, should bodies which are really lobbying groups have charitable status? We need a Royal Commission. Sadly the charity industry with its powerful leaders who earn obscene salaries will block any effort at change and the government will not want to confront them.

    5. Quite agree with you Matthew. I am glad that this serious situation is now being taken up by the mainstream media. It is shame that Shawcross might appear not have been as independent minded as everyone had hoped.

      I read somewhere that Bono the pop star raised huge amounts for his well publicised charity but very little was spent on causes..allegedly.

    6. You could use something like the Charity Navigator site in use in the U.S. which investigates and rates charities.

    7. I watched the leaders of the Charity Commission being grilled by a despairing but ultimately powerless HOC select committee. It was’ head in the hands with disbelief’ territory for all on the panel. Lady Meyers networking skills mirror the MO of the US ‘charity’ NCMEC . She was/is a close associate of it’s former CEO who now heads up the European version. Google it and weep at the findings of a congressional hearing into its activities which led to -er-nothing at all. Childrens charidees are no longer on my approved donations list sadly. Ask ‘missing people ‘ how many children they have personally found .They have no powers of investigation and twitter alerts from the general public are faster, more efficient and FREE!

    8. There is a self serving clique which hands out sinecures to political/other friends…it’s known as the Establishment.
      It’s very fluid….one decade Oxbridge people; the next Labour greasers.
      It was the same in the last century…the one before that etc

    LEAVE A REPLY

    Please enter your comment!
    Please enter your name here

    £1 per week Supports The Steeple Times

    Help journalism to remain honest & independent. You can make a difference to the world today.

    3,573FansLike
    2,068FollowersFollow
    16,731FollowersFollow
    4,962SubscribersSubscribe

    Subscribe For DAILY NEWS

    Please subscribe, like and share this unique site, it helps us tremendously. The Steeple Times in return will send you an email at noon each and everyday, that we sincerely hope you will enjoy & look forward to seeing in your inbox.

    AD
    Advertisement

    Trending Now

    Getting One’s Goat – A Cheesy Conundrum – Goat vs Goats vs Goat’s vs Goats’ Cheese

    Matthew Steeples explores conundrum of how to describe cheese made from goat’s milk and shares thoughts of Susie Dent to Alan Rusbridger, Christine Hamilton, Jay Rayner, Matthew Jukes, Mic Wright, Nigella Lawson, Matthew Wright, Tom Parker Bowles and Samantha Markle on goat cheese.

    Most Popular Articles

    The Phil & Matt Show

    Phillip Schofield filmed smoking shisha with his alleged ex-lover Matt McGreevy (and pictured in bed thereafter); another image shows the pair together in photograph...

    Was Mucky Minx Meghan Markle A ‘Yacht Girl’ For ‘Randy Andy’?

    As author Kirby Sommers suggests that the then Meghan Markle likely spent time with Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein before she met Prince Harry, we again highlight the mucky, murkiness and mendacious manner of this alleged “yacht girl.”

    SchofieldLite

    ‘Politicalite’ suggest Phillip Schofield orchestrated his ‘mass coming out’ after a former ‘This Morning’ runner had gone to the press about a supposed relationship...

    Meddling Meghan Markle Expose – Attwood, Hopkins & Steeples

    Expose interview with Matthew Steeples by Shaun Attwood and Jennifer Hopkins about the former Meghan Markle watched over 73,000 times in 16 hours since it aired; Steeples condemns hapless Prince Harry and his meddling menace wife.

    Ampika Pickston

    Oldham born divorcee and former glamour model Ampika Pickston describes herself as “feisty, fun loving and warm hearted”. Now based in Hale Barns, Cheshire...

    Justice for James Scurlock

    Power of social media proven after senseless killing of James Scurlock in Omaha, Nebraska allegedly by a controversial bar owner named Jake Gardner who has been photographed with Donald Trump.

    Nasty NestSeekers

    Entitled Hamptons brat Jonathan Davis exposed for allegedly squatting in Sag Harbor during the coronavirus lockdown; it turns out he’s a realtor with NestSeekers.
    [td_block_6 custom_title="Most Liked..." sort="popular7"]