Author Topic: Blencathra bid group to return £246k donations  (Read 2574 times)

bricam2096

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Let's hope for their own sake that they still have all the money and nothing dodgy has been going on  :D

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-38263675
LDWs done - 32 in total including 16 National Trails and 3 C2C

Wainwrights 176
www.brians-walks.co.uk

Glyno

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Re: Blencathra bid group to return £246k donations
« Reply #1 on: 19:09:44, 09/12/16 »
oh dear, this could be interesting  ::)

fernman

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Re: Blencathra bid group to return £246k donations
« Reply #2 on: 23:08:49, 09/12/16 »
There must be a great many people who anonymously put money into collecting tins, and if I was one of them (I wasn't on this occasion, but I have contributed to other similar things in the past) I would feel just a tiny bit put out that it was simply going to a charity instead of what I donated it for. Personally I think the Earl is a bit of an ar$e for putting it up for sale, letting all that money be raised for the purchase, and then changing his mind.

Mel

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Re: Blencathra bid group to return £246k donations
« Reply #3 on: 15:16:12, 10/12/16 »
I don't think the Earl did it on purpose to annoy "Friends of Blencathra".  They're just a group of people who thought it would be a nice idea to be able to say they "owned" a mountain seeing as the conditions attached to the sale meant nothing would change apart from who owned the land.  They weren't the highest bidders and couldn't raise the funds to be real contenders....if their articles/terms and conditions of setting up "Friends of Blencathra" have been worded in such a way that the funds raised can't be used for anything else (such as buying Stickle Tarn, which is/was up for sale)....
 
It's only right that they pay contributors back. 
 
 
 
« Last Edit: 15:28:27, 10/12/16 by Mel »

fernman

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Re: Blencathra bid group to return £246k donations
« Reply #4 on: 15:54:17, 10/12/16 »
No, he didn't do it on purpose, but to withdraw Blencathra from sale after he had raised the money elsewhere to pay the tax suggests that he didn't give much thought to, or perhaps didn't even care about, the efforts the Friends had gone to to try and save it, and what would happen as a result..

Another thing, if the T&Cs stipulated that the funds can't be used for anything else, doesn't that include giving to charity what they are unable to reallocate?

Mel

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Re: Blencathra bid group to return £246k donations
« Reply #5 on: 17:00:05, 10/12/16 »
I don't suppose the Earl did give much thought to or particularly care about the efforts of FoB... or the other bidders who were unsuccessful.  Why should he?  It was their choices to bid.
 
Regarding FoB's T&Cs, if they were set up as a charity, legally, I don't think a charity can donate money to another charity without first stating that is what they are fundraising for  :-\   It really does depend on what it says in their T&Cs in the event of their bid being unsuccessful.

bricam2096

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Re: Blencathra bid group to return £246k donations
« Reply #6 on: 17:53:03, 10/12/16 »
From their website...

Failure to acquire the mountain:

fundraising has been conducted on very clear terms: in the event that the mountain cannot be acquired, all funds in excess of £10 donations will be returned to the donor. A database has been compiled with all relevant details to facilitate this taking place. Second, in the case of donations of less than £10, the trustees have publicised the fact that these donations are too small to return. It has been made clear that those sums will be donated to a range of other charities. The selection will be within the discretion of the trustee directors but they have indicated that they are more than prepared to consider suggestions from the public who have made donations
LDWs done - 32 in total including 16 National Trails and 3 C2C

Wainwrights 176
www.brians-walks.co.uk

happyhiker

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Re: Blencathra bid group to return £246k donations
« Reply #7 on: 10:03:36, 11/12/16 »
From their website...

Failure to acquire the mountain:

fundraising has been conducted on very clear terms: in the event that the mountain cannot be acquired, all funds in excess of £10 donations will be returned to the donor. A database has been compiled with all relevant details to facilitate this taking place. Second, in the case of donations of less than £10, the trustees have publicised the fact that these donations are too small to return. It has been made clear that those sums will be donated to a range of other charities. The selection will be within the discretion of the trustee directors but they have indicated that they are more than prepared to consider suggestions from the public who have made donations


I don't think this is right. Unfortunately, Friends of Blencathra publish on their website and on Facebook and the two are often not in sync. I attach below a text of their Facebook entry.



"December 2016 Update
It has been determined that we will have to include all donations that can be identified in the refund process including those for £10 or less.
We are now in the process of estimating the additional costs that this will entail and whether we have the resources to manage the potentially substantial increase in the workload this could invoke. We also need to agree how administration costs will be allocated. The Trustees will agree the best course of action and submit a proposal to the Charity Commission next week for approval. Once this is agreed we will initiate the three month claim period for the return of donations.
.
We have been considering the potential destinations for unclaimed, disclaimed or for any residual funds following the advice from both our solicitors and the commission, however we will not be able to specify which Charities this could include until we have submitted a cy pres scheme made under s67 (in particular sub-section (3)) for agreement with the commission. The timescale for submission of a cy pres scheme is following the three months from the start of the claim period in order to permit decisions to be made after it is clear what sort of amounts remain unclaimed, and available for allocation by the scheme.
The application will need to reflect the use of funds specifically for “recreational and landscape conservation purposes which are both charitable and specifically within the Lake District”. This would rule out the Air Ambulance services and the National Trust for instance, as the remit could not be confined to the Lake District.
We therefore feel that it would be inappropriate to discuss the allocation of residual funds until after the initial claim period has expired. We will however be discussing potential donations with relevant charities in order to establish specific fundable projects that would have the potential to match the criteria agreed.
.
Further details will be posted after we have a response from the commission.


Dave Wheeler
On behalf of Friends of Blencathra Ltd"

route2rock

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Re: Blencathra bid group to return £246k donations
« Reply #8 on: 12:48:42, 11/12/16 »

I don't think this is right. Unfortunately, Friends of Blencathra publish on their website and on Facebook and the two are often not in sync. I attach below a text of their Facebook entry.



"December 2016 Update
It has been determined that we will have to include all donations that can be identified in the refund process including those for £10 or less.
We are now in the process of estimating the additional costs that this will entail and whether we have the resources to manage the potentially substantial increase in the workload this could invoke. We also need to agree how administration costs will be allocated. The Trustees will agree the best course of action and submit a proposal to the Charity Commission next week for approval. Once this is agreed we will initiate the three month claim period for the return of donations.
.
We have been considering the potential destinations for unclaimed, disclaimed or for any residual funds following the advice from both our solicitors and the commission, however we will not be able to specify which Charities this could include until we have submitted a cy pres scheme made under s67 (in particular sub-section (3)) for agreement with the commission. The timescale for submission of a cy pres scheme is following the three months from the start of the claim period in order to permit decisions to be made after it is clear what sort of amounts remain unclaimed, and available for allocation by the scheme.
The application will need to reflect the use of funds specifically for “recreational and landscape conservation purposes which are both charitable and specifically within the Lake District”. This would rule out the Air Ambulance services and the National Trust for instance, as the remit could not be confined to the Lake District.
We therefore feel that it would be inappropriate to discuss the allocation of residual funds until after the initial claim period has expired. We will however be discussing potential donations with relevant charities in order to establish specific fundable projects that would have the potential to match the criteria agreed.
.
Further details will be posted after we have a response from the commission.


Dave Wheeler
On behalf of Friends of Blencathra Ltd"
Find out what I've been up to @ http://www.instagram.com/route2rock :)

happyhiker

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Re: Blencathra bid group to return £246k donations
« Reply #9 on: 00:03:28, 15/12/16 »
route2rock
You have quoted my post, which without comment and on its own without the post to which it refers does not actually make much sense. Did you forget to comment?

 

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