The Charity Commission has said it is looking into a food bank’s decision to refuse donations from a Doctor Who convention.
The event, hosted by Bedford Who Charity Convention on 6 April, raised more than £17,000 for local charities including Bedford Foodbank.
Bedford Foodbank initially thanked the convention for raising an “amazing” amount of money.
But according to social media posts published by the convention organisers yesterday, the charity has since said it will “refuse to accept any more donations” after this year.
The charity said it made the decision because of “logistical challenges,” as Bedford Who Convention had donated vouchers instead of money or food in the previous year.
The charity said: “We’re very grateful to Bedford Who Charity Con for the generous support that they have previously provided to us.
“Last year, Bedford Who Charity Con’s donation was in the form of gift cards for a specific supermarket, which caused logistical challenges when it came to distributing them.
“We are aware of other local charities, providing vital support to people, who would be better placed to use the gift cards.
“Therefore our trustees recommended that future donations would be better used by other charities.”
The charity added the decision was “not made lightly” and said is “committed to ensuring that all donations [it receives] are used effectively”.
The organisers of the convention responded with a further post on social media that alleged the food bank had “agreed beforehand” that it would accept the vouchers.
It said: “We had agreed with them that the Aldi vouchers would be given out to their clients in addition to the usual food parcels.
“So, clients with large families might receive their food parcel plus £40 worth of Aldi vouchers; individuals might receive a £10 voucher – and so on.
“The Foodbank does something similar because they sometimes hand out phone cards when they’ve been donated (so people can have a phone card if they’d like one, as well as their food parcel).
The organisers said: “It’s very hard to see how handing out a few vouchers causes ‘logistical problems’, then.”
The Charity Commission said it was currently “assessing information” regarding the dispute, but said that the “law is clear” that charities should accept donations unless there is a “good reason not to”.
A spokesperson for the regulator said: “We are aware of concerns relating to a donation decision by Bedford Foodbank and are currently assessing information to determine if there is a role for the Commission.”