New chair of UK Charity Commission quits, Dec 2021

Mods please move or remove if not appropriate. It's not ME specific but the Charity Commission has influence on health research and health advocacy and who is in the top role has affected the direction of the CC in the past.

New charity watchdog head quits before he starts over ‘inappropriate behaviour’ claim

"The new head of the Charity Commission has stepped down after it emerged that there were several allegations of “inappropriate behaviour” made against him at his previous job.

Martin Thomas quit the role on Friday just a week after he had been appointed, and said that he had made an “error of judgment” during the application process.

He was previously chairman of Women for Women International UK, where three formal misconduct complaints were made about him.

One of the complaints alleged that Mr Thomas had sent a photo of himself in the lingerie shop Victoria’s Secret to a female employee.

In response to this allegation from 2018, Mr Thomas has said that the women’s charity – that supports war survivors – was offered a donation from the underwear company, and that he took a photo of an item to “illustrate” his “point” that the donation might not be appropriate."

More at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...ission-martin-thomas-misconduct-b1978479.html

 

Thanks for posting. Wow.

 

The job had a salary of £62,500 for “up to” two-and-a-half days a week. I can't believe how much people get paid these days.

 

There's certainly a profound mismatch between executive pay and average income, though in the case of the CC it does need to recruit a highly capable person. The Charity Commission provides regulation (not enough IMO !) for a sector valued at £15bn annually, accounting for 900,000 jobs. Somewhere between £1bn and £3bn of sector income is UK taxpayer funding recycled through Gift Aid, so there is a need for a good oversight body.

Value of the Charity Sector

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-value-of-the-charity-sector

 

You're right, and thinking about it, it's probably fair. I think I'm just really out of touch. I went from being a teacher (not brilliant pay considering the hours and responsibilities) to having ME and just scraping by. I've sort of forgotten how much many people earn!