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Sick Kids Friends Foundation warns on redundancies

Fundraising | Vibeka Mair | 17 Feb 2010

The Sick Kids Friends Foundation has confirmed the possibility of redundancies as it reviews its failed New Pyjamas campaign.

The Foundation is currently being investigated by OSCR following the disastrous management of its campaign to secure £15m for a new NHS children’s hospital.

The New Pyjamas campaign has cost £500,000 over two years but has only raised £60,000. The campaign’s director Elaine McGonigle is currently suspended.

In a statement, the Foundation said there seemed “little prospect of substantial sums being achieved for the Campaign in the immediate future”.

“Amongst the options being considered to best position the entire organisation for the future is a consolidation of the New Pyjamas campaign into the main body of the Sick Kids Friends Foundation,” he said. The New Pyjamas campaign employs ten staff.

David Reith, the charity's chair, said the trustees would  consult with staff in an effort to find a way to move the campaign forward and eventually achieve the fundraising target.

Charity 'still independent'

Reith also strongly denied press reports that NHS Lothian had stripped the charity of its independence:

“I would like to emphasise strongly that this decision has been taken solely by the trustees of the Sick Kids Friends Foundation.

“Contrary to recent inaccurate reports, we have not been stripped of our independence by NHS Lothian and, whilst we will continue our close working partnership, we will do so as a fully independent charity.”

The charity, which fundraises for the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, is in talks with NHS Lothian on the situation.

An NHS spokeswoman said the Foundation had agreed to raise £15m above the NHS budget for a new hospital, and the money had been factored into their accounts:

"We are discussing new potentials for fundraising," she said.

Last week, Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Pringle warned against bringing the Sick Kids Friends Foundation under the control of NHS Lothian, saying the “unprecedented” move could endanger charitable giving from the general public, who might be unwilling further to fund a source that is paid for through public taxation.

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Directory: Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR)