Jimmy Savile charities announce closure1

Governance | Niki May Young | 23 Oct 2012

Two charities bearing the name of Jimmy Savile will wind up following the TV personality's abuse scandal, their trustees announced today.

In a statement released this morning the trustees, three of which are shared by both the Jimmy Savile Charitable Trust and the Jimmy Savile Stoke Mandeville Hospital Trust, advised they met yesterday to discuss the charities' futures.

"The trustees have given much consideration to a possible change of name," the statement says. "However the trustees feel that, whatever new name they may adopt, the charities will always be linked in the public's mind with the late Jimmy Savile. The trustees cannot see a future for either charity."

According to the Jimmy Savile Charitable Trust's latest accounts it had £3.7m carried forward from 31 March 2012. The Jimmy Savile Stoke Mandevile Hospital Trust reported reserves of £1.7m at 31 March 2011.

The remaining funds are to be distributed between charitable beneficiaries the trustees have committed to support, but the recipients will not be publicly announced by the charities. "The trustees have already chosen how to distribute the funds in each charity...It will be for each charitable organisation to decide whether to publicise any donation received. No future requests for funding will be considered," the charities advised.

The news of the charities' closure comes after the second documentary into the Jimmy Savile child abuse scandal. BBC's Panorama broadcast last night with an investigation into why the BBC had refused to go ahead with a Newsnight documentary that would have outed Savile's behaviour last year. It followed ITV's Exposure documentary aired on 3 October that documented a number of incidents where the now-deceased television personality and DJ had allegedly sexually abused underage girls.

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Graham Jones
23 Oct 2012

Dear trustees of The Jimmy Saville Charitable Trust and Stoke Mandaville Trust.
My name is Graham Jones and I am a school caretaker and lollypop man in West Byfleet, Surrey and I offer an idea for your combined charities.
I believe a charity named 'Peers Of The Realm' could be established in order to help limit, preferably banish, the wide ranges of abuse and neglect to children within the UK. As Trustees already, you are more than aware of the problems which exist out there in the real world.
My own young experience is of a drunken father and a mother who was a punchbag when the mood took him. This has caused numerous problems as I stumble through life but I have been strong enough to address issues and emerge a better person for it. Not everyone is that fortunate as you are all aware. I would therefore like to put something back to society to make a difference and help others in that or other difficult cercumstances.
I have written a story entitled The Shadowed Tricorn. It is already in book and screenplay formats. I would willingly donate this and all the ownership of my creation to this new charity.
The charity title I have chosen is for a simple but specific reason - the involvement of as many titled individuals and people as possible who have been awarded Honours by Her Majesty The Queen, OBE, CBE, KBE, etc.
How many other countries in the world could put together a film with the cast of extras being made up from this group of talented human beings? Possibly, a young Royal could be interested in becomming Patron? Perhaps all existing Trustees would concider keeping these possitions within the new charity to continue the excellent work already acheived and utilise the experience and contacts that you all have built up?
If you would like to seriously concider this as an oppotunity to possibly generating an emence ammount of ongoing monies and wonderful legacy, I would be very willing to discuss this matter further. Just closing down and dishing out existing funds would obviously do good but only short term. My notion is wild and adventurous I agree - but very acheivable.
Please discuss and concider this idea with thought and I look forward to hearing from you very soon.
Many thanks for you time and concideration. And for all the extremely great work you have all achieved so far, A VERY BIG THANK YOU on behalf of all those bennefitted over the years.
Yours hopefully
Graham Jones

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