OXFAM now to be investigated

Trinity
Jun 28, 2018
2 min read

Updated: Jul 1, 2018

13feb18

As we expected, the Oxfam story is uncovering the inadequacies of the Charity Commission.

Firstly, it must be said that millions of people still believe that OXFAM performs a much needed and gallant task in delivering focused aid around the world.

This Blog would NOT support a reduction in financial support of its work, by the public, the UK government or by the EU.

It would be ridiculous to reduce aid to those who desperately need it;

1. because some employees have acted totally inappropriately

2. because some persons in authority are not up to the post

The beneficiaries are NOT the guilty ones!

The truly guilty ones, whether they be [past or present] at Oxfam, the government or in the Charity Commission, should be dealt with as necessary.

Cathy Newman [Channel 4 News – 12Feb18] interviewed Helen Evans about her contact with the Charity Commission to report her deep-felt concerns.

Cathy Newman:

Let’s now talk about the Charity Commission.

You first went to them in June 2015.

What was their response?

Helen Evans:

When I went to them I assumed they would want to make contact with me.

They didn’t ask to meet with me.

They didn’t ask to speak with me.

I had limited email exchanges and…

I pushed and pushed and pushed and they stopped replying to me.

And to say I felt disappointed just…

these are meant to be the people that you go to when…

in these circumstances and I trusted them.

And I just didn’t understand why they didn’t take action.

Cathy Newman:

The Charity Commission did carry out an inquiry after some allegations appeared in the press, in December last year and that inquiry said, to quote, “many of the allegations were not substantiated.”

So they did do a thorough check at that point and found that a lot of it didn’t stack up, in their view.

How do you respond to that?

Helen Evans:

So that is a matter for public record that with any allegations, there will be some that are proven and some that are not proven, and that wasn’t the point that I took to them.

My concern was the extent to which we were not adequately resourcing the safeguarding function and doing everything we should do to safeguard our beneficiaries and child volunteers.

I think on that, the point is, in the press there’s been a lot of coverage about Oxfam and how shocking and surprising this is.

It isn’t surprising.

I went in 2015 to the Charity Commission.

I went back again in 2017.

Everything that I am saying today, the Charity Commission knew.

So why is the government saying that this is a surprise?

The above exchange is an extract from the interview on 12feb18

Stories from today include the report by Civil Society

Trinity

#oxfam #oxfamgb #charitycommission #charity #whistleblowing