Charity appeals for donations amid legal action brought by daughter of actress
The community support charity Bernera Community Association has said it needs donations “more than ever” as it faces legal action from the daughter of an Oscar-nominated actress over her right to bring her dog to its café.
Claire Kellerman, the adoptive daughter of the late Sally Kellerman, who played Major ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan in the 1970 Robert Altman film M*A*S*H, is suing the Bernera Community Association, claiming the charity was “illegally discriminating” and created a hostile environment for those using assistance dogs.
In a previous LinkedIn post, Kellerman alleged the charity had created “an environment of vile, intentional, targeted hostility and unwelcome for those who are disabled with assistance dogs”.
This week, the BCA – which would not comment further on the allegations due to ongoing proceedings – issued an appeal for donations on its Facebook page, saying it was facing legal costs against its community centre.
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Lottery donations from person with dementia breached fundraising code, regulator finds
The British Limbless Ex-Service Men’s Association, St Helena’s Hospice and the company SKW Southeast breached the Code of Fundraising Practice’s requirements around treating donors fairly and house-to-house collections, an investigation by the Fundraising Regulator found.
The breaches were made when a partially-sighted individual with dementia was signed up for regular charity lottery donations by a fundraiser who was employed by the now-dissolved SKW Southeast, which was contracted by St Helena Hospice to fundraise for Blesma’s charity lottery.
The complainant said the donor – their parent – lived in accommodation for over-50s where signs said no cold calling was permitted, adding that the individual could not remember the visit.
St Helena Hospice, which handled the complaint, has apologised to the resident and their family, returned the payments and wrote on behalf of Blesma to every donor recruited in the same residential area to offer the chance to cancel.
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Care charity loses half its workforce after unsuccessful £3m council contract bid
Crossroads Care Kent, which had a total of 153 employees, lost 75 staff as a result of the unsuccessful bid.
The charity had held the Kent County Council carers contract, which was worth £3.3m annually, in some form since 1995, with the most recent renewal having taken place in 2018.
The contract is set to transfer to another care charity, Involve Kent, on 1 September, meaning Crossroads will stop providing home care for disabled service users and council-funded short breaks from the end of this month.
Third Sector understands that 57 of the affected staff are currently in redundancy consultation with Involve, while Crossroads has made seven voluntary redundancies, three compulsory redundancies and has found alternative roles within the charity for a further eight staff.
Crossroads said the change would be “substantial” for the charity, saying: “It is hard to put into words what a loss this is: not just for Crossroads Care Kent, but for the tens of thousands of families we have supported over the years and the thousands of professionals who have referred into our service.”
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