Blackpool Hospice says sorry for spending £50,000 of donations on artwork

Fundraising | Vibeka Mair | 24 Feb 2010

Bispham’s Trinity Hospice has apologised for spending £50,000 of donations on seven pieces of artwork.

A row erupted after supporters of the Hospice voiced anger over the decision to spend £50,000 from general charitable funds on the seven-piece work ‘The Dance’ (pictured) by Penny Warden, to add to the artwork in the Trinity’s Chapel.

Donors and fundraisers for the Hospice complained to the Charity Commission over the move, and also set up a Facebook group entitled 'Blackpool Trinity Hospice - £50,000 of donations wasted'.

In response, the Hospice released a statement asserting that “creating a therapeutic space in the chapel was the right thing to do” and that directors thought 'The Dance' would be a significant purchase in Trinity's 25th anniversary year, but admitted: “We realise we got it wrong in using the general charitable fund and sincerely apologise.”

In a bid to make amends, a Hospice spokesman said the charity planned to set up a retrospective fund to raise money for the paintings, which will be used to replenish general funds.

Directory: Charity Commission

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.