Kids 'n' Cancer UK has been criticised for saying it will not pay the legal fees of the family of Ashya King despite receiving £50,000 worth of donations for the boy’s cause, after the NHS said that it would pay for his treatment.
The charity began receiving donations for Ashya King, a five-year-old cancer patient, after his plight received mass media attention when his parents were arrested for taking him to Spain for treatment he could not get on the NHS.
Kids 'n' Cancer UK had originally said it would fund the proton therapy treatment for Ashya after his parents were arrested, however the NHS then agreed to do so. In the days following the arrest, over £50,000 was donated to a JustGiving page titled “Ashya King Proton Beam Treatment” which raised money for Kids 'n' Cancer UK. The page has since been removed.
Kids 'n' Cancer UK is currently at the centre of a Charity Commission operational compliance case which involves looking at the charity’s fundraising practices and financial controls. The Charity Commission said that these concerns were raised with them by members of the public and are separate to the issues concerning Ashya King and his family.
A spokeswoman at the Commission said it is working to determine how serious these initial issues are and what its next regulatory steps will be.
Kids 'n' Cancer UK began receiving criticism after the brother of Ashya King posted on a closed Facebook group that the charity had not given them any of the money raised on their behalf and were refusing to pay expenses such as legal fees from the custody and release of his parents from prison.
Mike Hyman, chief executive of Kids 'n' Cancer UK, posted a statement on its Facebook page which stated that the family had received £60,000 from a deal with the Daily Mail, as well as money from other charities and organisations.
He said: “Kids 'n' Cancer have helped many many families over the years and will continue to do so, there are many many families who do not get the sort of donations that the Kings have had.
“The JustGiving page was set up by Sanjay Gunatra who specified that now the treatment has been paid for that the donations will go towards helping other sick children and their families. The Kings asked us to pay their legal expenses which we cannot legally do, there has obviously been a significant amount of money raised and I reiterate that Kids 'n' Cancer were prepared to underwrite £100,000 to pay for Ashya King's treatment.”
A Charity Commission spokeswoman said: “We are aware of media reports concerning funds raised by the charity Kids ‘n’ Cancer UK for the treatment of Ashya King. We will be requesting information from the trustees about how much was raised by the Ashya King appeal and how the funds will be used, as it appears that the funds are no longer needed to fund Ashya’s medical treatment.
“Any funds raised by a charity must be applied in a way that is consistent with the charity’s objects and the nature of the appeal. More information of what we expect of trustees when appeals don’t go to plan, can be viewed on the Charity Commission website.”
