Britain’s biggest military charities have been accused of “hoarding money” as the annual poppy appeal begins.
The nation’s ten biggest military charities have combined assets of £1.4bn and cash reserves of £275m, The Times reports, prompting fears of a “major funding scandal”.
The Royal British Legion, the wealthiest military charity, recorded a total income of £163.2m last year. Its reserves totalled £70m, about 40% of its annual income and enough to bankroll its operations for six months. The charity claimed that its reserves were in line with most charities of its size.
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The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, the UK’s fifth largest military charity, enjoyed an income of £22.5m last year. At the end of 2018 it had £37.4m in unrestricted reserves — 165% of its income.
It is five years since Britain last had regular troops deployed on the ground overseas in a combat mission, which was in Afghanistan. During this period the total assets of the top ten military charities have soared by 27%.
The executive director of Action on Armed Violence, which seeks to reduce conflict worldwide, said that due to recent anniversaries of both world wars, there’s been a “significant uptick in donations to military charities, at a time when the number of veterans is declining due to old age”.
He added: “The unique status of military charities in public means many are uncomfortable to scrutinise them. Without such scrutiny we could be sleepwalking into a major funding scandal of charities hoarding money.”
Hugh Milroy, chief executive of the charity Veterans Aid, said he was “shocked and saddened” to learn how much money is in charity reserves. “I’m at a loss to understand why those with vast reserves seem to attract more money,” he added.
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