As you may be aware, a person formerly employed by the charity as a trusts and foundations fundraiser was charged and pleaded guilty to fraud by false misrepresentation at the Crown Court and sentenced to two years in prison. This false representation included fabricating references (including fabricating the email addresses for those references), and false claims regarding the funding applications they had made.
She went on to claim a cancer diagnosis and it was ascertained in court that the Employee had not been diagnosed with cancer and this had been a lie. The matter was investigated by the police and CPS and has now been concluded through the courts with a custodial prison sentence.
There was no theft or misappropriation of charitable funds, donations or grant monies. The individual received salary through their employment, however other than her salary, donor funds were not diverted or stolen. The charities commission have been kept updated throughout the police investigation and sentencing.
This was a deliberate and sustained attempt to deceive the charity. However, the charity has acted quickly, cooperated fully with the authorities, and has used this experience to strengthen our governance for the future. We have introduced a number of additional controls, including:
• Enhanced recruitment and reference checking procedures, with independent verification of referees and employment history via telephone as well as written proof.
• Updates to our fraud, whistleblowing and risk management policies.
• Regular governance reviews by the trustee board to ensure controls remain effective.
Most importantly, our front-line music therapy services have not only been unaffected but have grown to include two further hospitals. We have also doubled the level of provision at our largest children’s hospital in Southampton. This has been made possible through the exceptional leadership, resilience and determination of our CEO, Amy, who steered the charity through an extremely difficult period while ensuring our focus remained firmly on the children and families we serve.
With the court proceedings concluded, this matter is thankfully behind us. We remain in a strong position to continue growing our fundraising, expanding our music therapy services and reaching more children than ever before.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, our staff and volunteers, and most importantly the children whose lives you help us to change, thank you for your continued support.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Robinson
Chair of Trustees
Georges Rockstars