Portsmouth charity Forgotten Veterans UK suspends all operations as investigation hangs over its head

Forgotten Veterans UK, based in Fort Cumberland, Southsea, announced the decision on social media on Tuesday. The statement said it has been “extremely difficult for the charity to run effectively”.

“Unfortunately, the reputational damage to both the CEO and the charity has been severe and as such has made operating very difficult,” they added. FVUK is being investigated by the Charity Commission, with an independent examiner’s report scrutinising the non-profit organisation’s finances.

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Available online to the public, the report – produced by independent examiner Helena Wilkinson of Price Bailey LLP chartered accountants – said the charity received £150,903 but “no records have been provided to match the record of the donations received to the deposits made of cash deposited, and cash balances may have been retained and not deposited at the CIO’s [Charitable incorporated organisation’s] bank account.”

The financial accounts were filed 279 days late. FVUK’s compliance case remains ongoing. A Charity Commission spokesman said: “We have an ongoing regulatory compliance case into Forgotten Veterans UK to assess concerns raised with us. We are engaging with the trustees.”

Further Allegations

Also, allegations about the safeguarding of veterans have been made. One former volunteer, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of their own safety, said beer was handed to people with alcohol dependencies, and the charity’s credit card was regularly used to buy booze.

“The camps were supposed to be dry”, they told The News, “People were not supposed to come to the camps if they were drinking.

“It was believed that people would be more harmful to others if they were made to go cold turkey. There were people not drinking mixing with those who had started drinking again.”

They added that veterans with complex mental and physical health needs were left unsupervised “on many occasions” and were left “wandering aimlessly around”. “There was a mantra of no blue lights on the site”, they said.

"No emergency services were called if something happened.” The ex-volunteer added that the Fort Cumberland camps were split into categories, with C1 being for those with the most complex needs, but veterans were still mixed together.

"It was a toxic and chronically unsafe place,” they said. “Many volunteers did not have the professional skills or the qualifications to support them.

“It was shocking and just not acceptable. Some women were in tears about being forced to sleep in dormitories with other men. They complained about the behaviour towards women and wanted to leave.”

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The volunteer said many people who helped veterans at the site did not go through disclosure and barring service (DBS) checks, or if they had the appropriate paperwork, it was not verified. They said veterans’ backstories were often shared on Facebook livestreams and posts without permission, adding that “confidentiality was zero”.

Speaking about FVUK suspending operations, they added: “There are no winners. There are a lot of victims and angry people out there.

“There needs to be some understanding, because a lot of damage has been done.” Prior to FVUK’s announcement, volunteers were seen collecting money at Gunwharf Quays on Saturday, July 29.

A complaint was made to the shopping centre amid claims that authorisation for these collections was granted after the director was mislead. A Gunwharf Quays spokesperson said: “We know Gunwharf Quays is an important part of our community and we’re proud to support local charities and good causes.

"We understand the concern from a guest in this specific case and Forgotten Veterans UK will not be fundraising on-site in the future while the Charity Commission investigation is ongoing.”

FVUK Response

Chair of the trustees Anthony Reid said he has been back involved with the charity since January 2023, after helping to found it in 2016 and taking a step back in 2019.

He added: “It’s a very fluid situation and we’ve just decided to close down the fort for a while. We’re considering all the options for the way forward..

"We’ve suffered a lot over the last six months amid a lot of malice online. There are a lot of things going on in the background. We’ll come to a final decision soon.”

Responding to the claims that veterans were handed booze, he said: “The place has always been drug free and alcohol free. That has always been the rule and I’ve never known it to have changed, and have never witnessed anything myself.

“I would find it hard to believe if that happened.” Mr Reid declined to comment about veterans being unsupervised and being split across camps with different categories of safety, DBS checks and the charity’s broad use of social media, saying he was only present at the charity during a specific time-frame.

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He said there was a plan for a mixed dorm on site, but once concerns were raised, the ideas was dropped. Mr Reid added the charity once livestreamed a funeral for a veteran at the request of their family, and said there were no instances of social media misuse.

The chair of trustees said Gunwharf Quays invited the charity to have a stall and added that “nothing shady” happened on their side.

He described social media as a “cesspit” and said the online attacks on the charity have been “relentless” – resulting in volunteers not attending Armed Forces Day due to fear of backlash. Mr Reid said the dialogue with the Charity Commission has been “positive” and hopes the charity can rebuild.

“The charity has saved lives and there are local people still supporting us,” he said. “There are official organisations and bodies looking at us, which is fine, we have nothing to hide.

"It has affected the income streams. It was an organised effort by several detractors to damage us, which has succeeded. A lie travels around the world twice before the truth has gotten out of bed.

"I’m just hopeful we can keep everything going.”