A PETITION has been launched against plans to bring a charity shop to the former Marks & Spencer branch in Wokingham.
Last week, Wokingham Borough Council announced that Forces Support would open a pop-up furniture store in the Peach Street site while its longer term future was ascertained. A day later, the petition was set up.
Local resident and former soldier David McMullen alleges that the charity Forces Support raised nearly £2.6million in 2016, but “only used £300,000 on charity projects”. The charity denies the allegations.
As we went to press, almost 1,500 people had signed, which could be enough to trigger a council debate.
Forces Support already runs a number of furniture stores across the country and as part of its service offer house clearances.
In return, it offers bereaved families professional maintenance personnel for their homes.
Its website states: “We complete the jobs that have built up over time while a family grieves or the work the lost family member would have done for his or her family”.
Mr McMullen alleges that the charity is a “scam”, and accuses it of having a small team of guys that go round and trim a few hedges and provide poppy themed benches that aren’t approved by the British Legion.
He told The Wokingham Paper that his supporters would picket the store and said the charity’s leaders were “morally corrupt”.
“We would have veterans outside the store to tell the public about it. We have done this at other stores.”
Earlier this week he met with Wokingham Borough Council to air his concerns.
“What I’m asking them to do is to look at what might be underneath the surface [with Forces Support],” he said. “I’d like them to use their break clause and tell Forces Support that they are not welcome to use this site anymore.
“I don’t want to ruin the reputation of Wokingham any more than the councillors do. The last thing it needs is this. I can’t let the good nature of residents be used in this way and give to a charity that only gives 12p in the pound to charity.”
Cllr Stuart Munro, executive member for business and economic development and regeneration, defended the decision to team up with the charity.
He said: “As with all potential lettings the council followed a due diligence process before entering into a lease agreement with Forces Support. No issues were flagged during this process.
“We cannot comment on the allegations made by the petition organiser. However, we are reviewing the allegations with discussion with the charity themselves as well as the Charity Commission. We also met with the petition organiser to discuss his concerns.”
Forces Support chair of trustees Ronald Spurs issued a statement refuting the allegations.
He said: “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to make a comment on the allegations made.
“Forces Support does support low level charity projects for bereaved families and we will continue to do this.
“We are also currently looking to enter into a partnership agreement with another charity with same objective as Forces Support to invest funds to support service personnel who have been injured in service and have fallen on hard times.
“We will be looking at providing them with accommodation and care to get them back into the workplace.
“As the 2017 accounts submitted shows we have fresh Trustees in place and the Charity Commission are more than content with the services our charity provides.”
The petition can be seen at www.change.org/p/wokingham-borough-council-stop-forces-support-coming-to-wokingham
