The flim flam charity man

[TerracingTomas]

Given we shortly are going to be asked to subscribe to the erection of a statue to Mcgoofey in front of the stand in recognition of his services to charity, not surprisingly fans are asking questions about where the charity money goes. When you actually look at the charities involved I would argue that not as much as you think goes on charity as you and I understand it. So there are 2 charities based at NDP. Blameless, Mcgoofeys’ personal charity and the Accies Community Trust. Facts and figures for both charities can be found on the site of the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator. The latest accounts for Blameless to January 22, tells us that it is affiliated to HAFC and the Accies Community Trust. Now that is important cos I imagine the Community Trust organises events during the year but sticks a Blameless badge on the poster so funds raised can be diverted/divided.

Those accounts show Blameless took in income of £103,000. This amount included 30k which came by way of grants and 68k from ‘donations’. Grants have in the past included money from the Lottery or other similar sources. As there are no details for donations they could have come via the Accies Community Trust or direct from one of the clubs ‘sponsors’ like Nero Vodka perhaps? Anyway for a charity that brings in £103,000 the accounts show only £33,000 (31%) is spent on charitable activity. Channel 4 have calculated that charities in the UK spend on average between 60/70% of monies raised on charitable activities. So at 31% Blameless are way off the mark. In fact they spend £44,000 on salaries (43%) and for the privilege of being based in the stadium they pay the stadium company 4k in rent plus take on £1800 of the rates burden from the stadium company. You really have to question the worth of Blameless other than to act as some sort of employment scheme, a revenue stream for the stadium company and one mans’ vanity project.

So what about the community trust. Mcgoofey tells us in his most recent interview that it’s supporting 200 individuals and costs 300k a year. The latest accounts show it takes in £219,441 (not 300k) from grants,e.g. the SFA, and donations. The community trust is primarily the vehicle to run the youth academy. That’s where the figure of 200 comes from. As well as George Cairns and the volunteer coaches he’s counted all the kids from 10 upwards who are on the academy books . Salaries
(67k), volunteer coaches expenses(102k) and other associated costs of running the academy all flow through its books including another 4k rent to the stadium company. There is NO separate figure for monies spent on charitable activities presumably the academy = that. How much goes on charitable activity other than the youth academy it’s impossible to tell perhaps the Easter and summer kids programmes.

What about other charitable activities for example the food bank, well if you read the press coverage it’s not actually a food bank it’s a food collection point for someone else’s food bank. Then there’s the Cruyff pitch. Launched in a blaze of glory never to be heard of again. It’s all smoke and mirrors if you ask me. A newspaper headline here and there with a few school drugs talks thrown in for good measure. Meanwhile Mcgoofey and others continue to make money out of HOPE CBD. Charity begins at home alright.

[EarnockAccie]

I’m not an advocate of charity begins at home. We need to have a much broader view of charitable giving and that oft parroted line actually diminishes us as a people. Let’s be clear here. Charitable giving is good, and most decent people who earn a good wage are happy to support genuine charities with a good track record. We all know what the pet projects at the stadium are for. We should be getting into Channel 4, or some other credible documentary maker, and OSCR (Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator) to get McGowan struck off.