Great Ormond Street may retain cash from scandal-hit fundraiser

Britain’s best-known children’s hospital charity is debating whether to retain hundreds of thousands of pounds raised at a scandal-hit event, weeks after insisting that it would hand the money back.

Sky News has learnt that the trustees of the fundraising arm of Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) are discussing whether to overturn a pledge made hours after the Financial Times exposed improper behaviour at a men-only dinner arranged by the Presidents Club Charitable Trust.

Sources said on Monday that GOSH had received feedback from “a wide range” of donors opposing the decision to return the funds – a commitment which has in any way been made more complex by the Presidents Club’s closure following the scandal.

Many of those donors are said to have been furious at the charity’s original statement, with some apparently threatening to withhold future funding unless it is overturned.

Some trustees of the hospital itself are also said to have objected to a 24 January announcement made by the GOSH children’s charity committing to return earlier donations.

GOSH received £530,000 from three Presidents Club events held between 2009 and 2016, although it was not a beneficiary of the dinner held at London’s Dorchester Hotel on 18 January, according to a person close to the charity.

The decision is expected to be the focus of a meeting that GOSH executives are scheduled to hold with the Charity Commission on Thursday, according to an insider.

The board of trustees of GOSH’s charity – which is chaired by John Connolly, a heavyweight business figure who chairs G4S, the outsourcing giant – is then expected to decide whether to overturn the original decision at a meeting on 27 March.

In a statement issued to Sky News on Monday, a spokesperson for GOSH Children’s Charity said: “Guiding all our thinking is our aim to maximise the support to the hospital and the families it cares for.

“We can confirm that we are in discussions with the Charity Commission and are scheduled to meet them later this week.

“Following this meeting and taking into account the latest developments with the Presidents Club Charitable Trust and feedback from our supporters, we will consider our position at our March Trustee meeting.”

Although the feedback from donors has been far from unanimous, with some praising the world-renowned children’s hospital for its stance, the balance of views is said to have been in favour of keeping the funds.

The trustees of GOSH’s charitable arm sit on a different board to the trustees of the hospital itself, who are chaired by Sir Mike Rake, the former chairman of BT Group.

This week’s meeting with the Charity Commission is expected to address the complexities associated with returning donations made via an organisation which is being wound down, and where the identities of the individual donors may be hard to ascertain.

Some attendees at last month’s dinner are reported to have behaved inappropriately towards female staff.

The all-male dinner was waited on by scores of ‘hostesses’ who were given instructions about the colour and style of underwear they were permitted to wear.

They were also obliged to sign non-disclosure agreements relating to the behaviour of guests attending the dinner, who included dozens of executives from the property and financial services industries.

The fallout from the FT’s investigation led to the resignation of David Meller – the Presidents Club’s chairman – from the board of the Department for Education.

The Bank of England was among the organisations which cancelled events auctioned at the Dorchester, while Nadhim Zahawi, the Chilldren and Families Minister, was rebuked for his brief attendance at the dinner.

The news comes at a torrid time for the voluntary sector, which has been rocked by a sexual abuse scandal involving former Oxfam workers who used prostitutes after the earthquake in Haiti in 2011.

In its statement hours after the FT story was published, GOSH’s charitable wing said: “We are shocked to hear of the behaviour reported at the Presidents Club Charitable Trust fundraising dinner. We would never knowingly accept donations raised in this way.

“We have had no involvement in the organisation of this event, nor did we attend and we were never due to receive any money from it.

“All monies raised in our name go to support vital work.

“However, due to the wholly unacceptable nature of the event we are returning previous donations and will no longer accept gifts from The Presidents Club Charitable Trust.”

A number of other charities, including the Evelina London Children’s Hospital, also said it would return previous Presidents Club donations.

(c) Sky News 2018: Great Ormond Street may retain cash from scandal-hit fundraiser