Prince Harry's charity defends slow grant-making 1

Fundraising | Vibeka Mair | 1 Mar 2008

A charity set up by Prince Harry has rejected claims that the royal is angry about its lack of spending to help Aids orphans in southern Africa.

The charity Sentebale, founded by the prince two years ago, has been criticised by international media outlets for spending only £84,000 on grants in the region in its first 18 months despite having raised around £1.1m. It was also damned for paying a £90,000 salary to Sentebale’s director in southern Africa.

Some reports said the prince himself was incensed by the apparent inefficiency.

However, chief executive of Sentebale, Geoffrey Matthews, said it was necessary to use funds to start up the charity before supporting projects.

“Prince Harry was not angry about the charity’s first set of financial figures,” he said. “The prince understands the importance of establishing Sentebale on the ground in Lesotho and this is where most of the money was spent during the first 18 months.”

He added that by the end of August, Sentebale will have spent at least a further £225,000 directly on projects – a three-fold increase on the previous year.

David Emerson, the chief executive of the Association of Charitable Foundations, said it was “not wrong for a charity to spend time thinking about how to use donations” but this example was a “not very intelligent” way of operating.

“You could have sorted out how you are going to use the money before you started raising money,” he said.

Who's Who: Vibeka Mair

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Steve Morton
Secretary of the Trust
Gloucestershire Arthritis Trust
26 Mar 2008

The spending figures are way too high for my liking and Prince Harry is right to want to know more. The spend developing the website is just one example.
The Â£90,000 salary in southern Africa takes some swallowing too.

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