VICTORY OUTREACH UK - AN ACCOUNT OF GRAVE CONCERNS SURROUNDING THE STAY AND RECENT DEATH OF A RESIDENT.

"For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest;

neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad."

(Luke 8:17)

This article is a direct follow-up to my post of 29 August 2020, which outlined very real and serious concerns about the Abertillery-based "Christian" re-hab. charity, Victory Outreach UK. Please see:

https://watchman4wales.blogspot.com/2020/08/victory-outreach-uk-matters-of-money.html

In that piece, I referred to the contact I'd received from the family of a gentleman who'd tragically recently died whilst in the care of VOUK. What follows below is the report that has since been compiled by Catherine Hampton, the late David Hampton's sister. Her account appears exactly as received, entirely in her own words and with her full permission to reproduce them here. As she says so poignantly, David does not have a voice now. But, in the grace of God, others can speak out for him in the name of truth and justice. And speak out we must, and will...

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Hi my name is Catherine Hampton, I’m looking for any help or advice on what I can do on the circumstances regarding my brothers death.

David has always lived in Stevenston, he was a outgoing loveable young man who was leading a good life after leaving school to go onto college and receiving a diploma which led him to become a manager and leading his own team in a call centre, David was liked by everyone he met, David had his own car and life was good however he suffered mental health issues which led him down the wrong path of taking drugs, he seeked support through caley court and cpn workers, David was in and out of hospital as a result to this, he struggled with his drug addiction and mental health while living in Stevenston and with lack of rehabilitation centres David left stevenston for few months last year to stay with my brother and dad in Glasgow and self detox himself, however David was very vulnerable and asked a worker from caley court who is now not longer there to apply to a place Victory Outreach Uk Wales, it seemed to be quite promising as it offered, support, physically and mentally, offering every aspect to help vulnerable adults who suffer from drug and alcohol abuse including help from God. However this worker didn’t follow up as to what we now know was all lies, these people haven’t been following the right protocol of care and services that adults seek. David seeked a gp and was under mental health while in wales. 

David wasn’t allowed a phone or contact home for a few weeks while there, but he seemed settled and okay at first until Covid and lockdown down began, residents started to leave which left only a couple of people. They made them work long hours everyday and although receiving a large amount of housing benefit Davids other benefits were handed over to them and they gave David £12 a fortnight to see him through, we as a family wasn’t happy and my mum posted some toiletries etc down to him. David phoned twice a week through a friend who had sneaked a mobile phone in and last few conversations David seemed very unhappy he told us there food supplies from charities were running low, they were doing nothing to pass time, my mum & dad told him to come home but travel restrictions were in place and wasn’t possible. Into July when restrictions eased David called to say he received backdated PIP from dwp and was concerned that they would take his money that’s when David and my parents thought it was time to come home and start a fresh with the help of this money.. Few days later the last we heard from David was Wednesday 29th July, David had phoned my mum complaining of being very unwell that he couldn’t stop being sick and my mum stressed to him to seek medical help or call an ambulance. Friday morning the hospital in Gwent phoned my mum to say David was took in Thursday and is in a critical condition and was in ICU. No word from VOUK to tell us David was really unwell and was away to hospital by ambulance on his own, the clothes he was wearing was his painting clothes that leaves us to believe David must have been working while unwell. Distraught my mum travelled over 4 hrs to be told she will not be allowed in and to go back home to Scotland. Saturday morning next phone call was to say David was in coma and we might not make it down, Obviously distraught and very angry I raised my concerns to the hospital after my mum travelling all that way to be told David could die. Halfway down another phone call to say David was getting air lifted to Queen Elizabeth Birmingham as they managed to stabilise him. We got there spoke with consultant in ICU to be now told David has swelling of the brain and next 24hrs were critical. We stayed over and on Sunday 2nd August Davids machine was turned off with my mum & dad beside him. I was heartbroken and distraught I wasn’t allowed to say my goodbyes. 

David died with severe brain damage & liver failure due to a accidental overdose. There is a ongoing inquest investigation as to why David had this in his system through being in a rehabilitation centre and in the care of VOUK. No one would speak to us from there until my sister and brother in law managed to track them on their twitter account to phone my mum which to they replied David passed away and my mum was seeking support through the manager. My sister was furious with their behaviour of the lies from this so called pastor and they denied sending that text to which my sister had told them she had saved there text, they then back tracked to say it was a unintentional lie and that the manager has went missing. 

We haven’t spoken to them since as they have blocked my sister from any contact and numerous times we tried to phone but wasn’t getting answered. We also are speaking with the friend that David made who informed us the manager left and never came back that they were advertising for a new manager, he stated that there was only 2 residents left and he hated the place, he also said he was receiving £12 a fortnight and had no money to go elsewhere, he said it was like a hostel. Also that David was really ill and he had pressured the manager to actually phone a ambulance for David but obviously too late. He also told my oldest brother that all medicine was never locked away signed for or monitored. He added that David caught the manager taking drugs. We questioned Davids money as just over £1500 had been lifted each day 5 days prior to davids death from different ATM machines as far as 36mins drive away and nothing has been accounted for. Davids bank statements that we have reports about £2000 spent over 20 days. He told us David didn’t buy anything at all and was keeping his money to come home. I’ve phoned police, who weren’t very helpful about davids money as lack of proof, I’ve tried every person I can think of, I’m now talking with care commission who have raised concerns to local authorities, I’ve spoke with ex residents, who have stated these people are fake liars, steal money, treat them like slaves, use god as a cover up. Pastor Andrew Parson & co live high luxury lifestyles of fancy cars, holidays and big houses but yet are a charity who portray to have nothing, but yet have all residents money. 

We as a family have been treated terrible from this place who we thought were liget that David would be safe. My sister and I are trying to do everything we can to raise our concerns and at least our questions be answered. David has been let down not only from them but the system. I also advised caley court do not send anyone else down there, to which they replied they had never heard of this place. I would be very grateful of any help or advice you could give.  

Sorry for the long report but I need to tell his story as David doesn’t have a voice now. This should never have happened to David, 39years of age who had a lot of years to look forward to. 

Thankyou. 

Catherine Hampton 

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I know first hand from other contacts I've had, just how extremely difficult it can prove to be for those with similarly disturbing experiences of VOUK and the regime that runs it, to speak out openly. There is unquestionably a very real climate of fear surrounding this organization. Anyone with a story to tell, who feels able to share it, is free and encouraged to use the comments section below. (Or email me if you wish at watchman4wales@yahoo.co.uk). Both my own and the Hampton family's pressing desire is for as much testimony to be obtained as is possible, in order to help bring these most grievous matters to a proper conclusion, one that is right in the sight of both God and men. Please assist if you possibly can!

WHEN LIGHT IS SHONE UPON IT, DARKNESS HAS NO PLACE TO HIDE!

'VICTORY OUTREACH UK' - MATTERS OF MONEY AND MORALITY.

"For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed;

neither hid, that shall not be known."

(Luke 12:2)

That there are pertinent and indeed most serious questions to be asked of the 'Victory Outreach UK' organization based in Abertillery, Blaenau Gwent, Wales, and the regime that runs it, has been the case for several years now. Concerns have not diminished with the passage of time; if anything they have only intensified.

Two completely independent communications received by myself in recent weeks have served to trigger the publishing of this article. The first contact prompted me to look afresh at Victory Outreach UK's accounts, and make the notes and observations that appear below. The second contact was disturbing in the extreme, referencing the very recent death of a resident; this decided me that unanswered questions about this charity's operations most urgently need to be posed, and just some of these - focusing upon VOUK's finances - are openly given voice to here.


THE 'VICTORY OUTREACH UK' ACCOUNTS

To quote from the accounts, under the heading 'Objectives and activities' -

The objects of the charity, as contained in the Declaration of The Trust, are:
To provide a secure Christian home for ex-offenders and those excluded by social disadvantage.
To offer rehabilitation.
To offer holistic treatment through both practical and spiritual programmes.
To help prepare clients back into society.
To alleviate poverty.

Its charitable status requires that a Board of Trustees is charged with responsibility for the maintenance and integrity of the charity, any financial information appearing on its website, and preparing the Trustees Report and financial statements that are submitted to the Charity Commission and duly published by them and available for public scrutiny. ALL THE INFORMATION COLLATED HERE HAS BEEN GLEANED FROM SAID TRUSTEES REPORTS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, AND CAN BE VERIFIED BY VIEWING THEM HERE:
https://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=291611&SubsidiaryNumber=0

The Trustees appoint the Director, but responsibility for all appointments (and attendant salaries) below this position is delegated to that Director, who is one Andrew Parsons. This is more than interesting, as it means that Mr. Parsons can appoint someone of his exclusive choosing to a salaried position in the Charity, and can determine their wage for doing that job. As it happens, his wife Susan is on that payroll as Victory Outreach UK's Finance Manager no less, one of only four people named on the most recent annual accounts as Key Management Personnel. The other three are Mr. Parsons himself, naturally, Mr. Lee Garland the General Manager and Mr. Robert Hart, who we'll come back to shortly. 

Now, VOUK is a Christian organization, run by honest Christians for honest Christian purposes is it not? So we may safely assume, may we not, that all is totally above board and there's nothing untoward going on in the way of - perish the thought! - worldly things like nepotism and playing the system that one is a very powerful part of for personal advancement and gain. No, of course there's not. God-fearing Christians just wouldn't do such things, now would they? Curious though, that of their four highlighted risks to the charity, one of their fears is of all things litigation! How could any such worthy institution possibly be at risk of being sued? How could those worthy individuals who run it worry that "objectors to the work of the charity can involve litigation from a number of sources and can impact the charity's work and finance." Money could only be lost, of course, if any legal challenge was upheld in the Courts, but there can't be any real risk of such an unthinkable thing happening, can there now! Can there? What grounds could there ever possibly be for a lawsuit, and a successful one at that? Yes, quite unthinkable!

Are there real financial concerns? How healthy are the finances of VOUK, we might well ask. Is the charity stumbling along on the verge of collapse? Breaking even? Well, actually it's doing rather well, as we'll see if we look at the latest accounts, one might even say very well indeed considering its dependence upon the benefits contributions of the homes' residents. Income was over half a million pounds, with an expenditure of only 73% of that sum, the surplus 27% of that being "retained for future use." This operating surplus allowed the "free reserves" - these being monies not ring-fenced for anything - to swell to no less than £242,856. The reason for having such reserves is explained as allowing the charity to continue its current activities in the event of a significant drop in funding. Of course the cynic might suggest that having nearly a quarter of a million tucked away to one side would rather comfortably safeguard the positions and salaries of the key management personnel given a downward spiral in income. But we must bear in mind that their Christian ethics would always cause them to put the residents' interests first...

What sort of salaries are we talking about, anyway? Well, the accounts inform us that  the total amount paid to the charity's key management personnel for that financial year was £127,319 (a figure including costs relating to external staff fees, whatever that might mean). The only key management personnel as noted above are Mr. and Mrs. Parsons, Mr. Garland and Mr. Hart; the last named is Chair of the Board of Trustees and receives no payment for this role. Individual salaries are not listed, though interestingly the statement is made that "there were no employees whose annual remuneration was £60,000 or more." With the ceiling thus being set at this figure, obviously the Director cannot be earning more than £59,999 per annum (a few pence shy of five grand a month), but no-one knows the exact amount, apart from a tiny number of people at the top of the tree and presumably the Inland Revenue. With their actual remuneration not being a matter of public record, all we can reasonably deduce from the supplied figures is that Mr. and Mrs. Parsons are in no way being expected to be taking home the minimum wage, but - being the good Christian overseers that they are - are being well blessed and prospering as a couple for their services to a charity whose stated objectives includes "to alleviate poverty." (Prospering enough, apparently, to reportedly run a Porsche and a BMW; no doubt such little things as these help alleviate the stresses of working to improve the lives of some of the most struggling members of society, whose State benefits very largely go towards the unpublicized salaries of the key management personnel).

Trustees of VOUK currently number just three, the least amount allowed. These are Mr. Robert Hart (Chair), Mr. David Ceriboto and Mr. John Williams, the last-named only serving from 19/9/18, some halfway through the last documented financial year. No Trustee receives payment for their acting in that capacity, but as the official records clearly show, a Trustee can receive payment for other services provided to the Charity. This proviso certainly applies in the case of the Chair, Mr. Hart, who between 2014 and 2018 received over £70,000 in "consultancy fees!" Oddly enough, after his obviously extremely important consultations, valued at £15,000+ (averaging £1,250+ a month) for each of the 4 successive years 2014-2017 (dropping to a mere £9,006 in 2018), he was not apparently required to be consulted at all during 2019 as his payments were entered as nil! Must be some good reason for that, naturally.

Another interesting note that raises a little eyebrow can be found in the 2019 accounts appertaining to the Trusteeship. That year, the charity advanced a loan of £2,000 (at 15% interest) to Mr. David Ceriboto. Since when, the cynic might ask, do the aims of the charity include providing personal loans to members of the Board, loans authorized by that same Board? No reasons are given... Ah, but perhaps it was to alleviate poverty?

SO, MY FRIENDS, THESE ARE SOME OF MY NOTES AND THOUGHTS CONCERNING MATTERS OF MONEY AND MORALITY AT THE 'VICTORY OUTREACH UK' CHARITY. YOU MAY DRAW YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS...

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On this (or any other matter of concern) anyone may contact me confidentially at: watchman4wales@yahoo.co.uk

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Addendum: Lee Garland, the Manager at the time of the accounts as quoted above, died October 4 2019, I understand to be succeeded in this position by Mr. Ian Reid.

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