Charity scandal at The Air Ambulance Service: when the CEO refuses to go
Imagine it. You’re the subject of a front-page investigation in The Sunday Times. Your embarrassing behaviour and wrong decisions as head of a large charity are exposed in one of the biggest-selling newspapers in the UK.
Now it’s Monday, and you’re about to face many of the staff in your main headquarters. Do you step down, recognising that the good of the charity is worth more than trying to maintain your own personal reputation?
If you’re The Air Ambulance Service CEO Andy Williamson, do you hell.
Instead he tries to brush aside the allegations in what he laughably thinks will be a 10-minute update before the already-scheduled all-day strategy session. Senior Management Team members are present as well as staff from Supporter Care, Marketing, Individual Giving, and Fundraising. (If you’re wondering where the trustees are to be found, well that’s a bloody good question.)
How does look to breeze past the troubling and appalling allegations involving the apparently misuse of supporters’ money? By concentrating on the main headline – that he is “celebrity obsessed” — and explaining that with his existing connections he wouldn’t have needed Sincura to need Little Mix. Of course not! Apparently the charity’s contract with them had a clear financial expectation in return, and when that wasn’t met their services were cancelled, leading to acrimony detailed in Sunday’s article.
Perhaps he thinks he can get away with that. Maybe there is a chance he would have, with lots of staff members not saying a word. The atmosphere is subdued. Do they feel intimidated? Given the allegations of colleagues suddenly disappearing detailed in the Times, and the fact that their jobs which they depend on would be at risk, it’s not too hard to imagine that they are. This is not a place where people seem to benefit from putting their heads above the parapet.
Thankfully some are angry enough to speak out. Questions are asked, not just about the humiliating revelations of being a Two and a Half Men fan (and thusly using Sincura to try and meet Charlie Sheen). Subjects brought up include the bullying, the damage this may cause other air ambulances, the CEO’s seemingly dismissive attitude towards other air ambulances, what the turnover actually is at Rugby HQ — which is much higher than the article indicates, perhaps due to figures that the charity provided to the writer.
Also mentioned is the payment to a firm which secured a number of awards, all of which sound highly impressive but none of which I or my immediate colleagues have ever heard of. And what about the £27,240 payment to PR and celebrity agency Loquendi of which Andy and his wife have been directors? In his response he seems to suggest the agency was actually started by his wife, but that they were contracted by the trustees and he stepped away from the decision, so it was all above board though in retrospect he would have acted differently. There’s also something about income being lost because ties were cut.
It’s bizarre that he doesn’t realise how awful this looks to outsiders — to our supporters, volunteers, fundraisers, employees, crew, patients — and that it’s not one allegation but several different things made by a number of people including an ex-trustee plus past and current colleagues. Is he misleading us or is he merely this deluded? It seems to be made very clear that unless strong steps are taken immediately then the story will only fester, spread to other publications, and that with the amount of other disgruntled former/current employees it is extremely likely that new claims will be made.
No steps are mentioned that will be taken to resolve the issues, never mind to strengthen the charity and create a more positive angle we can push out to the media. The crisis comms agency have said to shut up and let it blow over, and they’re formulating a response which nobody has seen yet. Maybe that’s the right thing to avoid more damaging publicity for Andy and deputy CEO Alexandra Pope (who is responsible for HR and therefore will be connected to the bullying allegations). It’s without doubt the wrong thing for the charity.
Ninety minutes later, the meeting is over. It’s been far more bruising than Andy and Alexandra seem to have expected, but since they gave Director of Operations Richard Clayton the chance to talk about the many genuinely amazing things that our services do, then it bizarrely ends on something of an up note. How many present realise that it precisely this brilliant work described by Richard which is set to be continually undermined – and ultimate ruined — by those at the top refusing to step to one side before more scandal engulfs them and the charity income suffers even more?
With two new helicopters for Children’s Air Ambulance requiring a significant new income of millions this year the news couldn’t have come at a worse time. The charity commission has reopened its investigation and more media organisations will be looking to get their own publishable angle — with no shortage of people willing to help ensure the CEO and deputy CEO face justice.
They need to go. Action needs to be taken. This will not step, and it will not end well for them. I only hope they do the decent thing before it’s too late for The Air Ambulance Service to survive. We recently celebrated 30,000 Missions being flown. Currently it looks highly unlikely we will fly 30,000 more, and lives will be lost in the process thanks to their bloody-minded hubris.