Taxpayers' money given to help lonely veterans spent on revamping branch building
Summary
Nearly £100,000 of public money meant to help veterans with activities to reduce loneliness was instead spent on renovating a building used by a Royal British Legion (RBL) branch in Tandragee. An internal investigation found only about £41,000 of the £140,000 grant went to the approved projects, leading to the branch's closure.Key Facts
- The Royal British Legion Tandragee branch received £140,000 in grants from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust (AFCF) in 2020.
- The money was intended for three projects supporting veterans: craft and drama workshops and a food delivery service to tackle loneliness.
- Documents show that large parts of the funds were used to refurbish a building shared with the Tandragee Veterans Support Centre.
- £31,000 of the £35,000 for the embroidery project went to building work instead of training 40 veterans. Only 10 veterans were trained.
- Almost all of the £35,000 for the drama project was spent on building refurbishment, with little spent on the actual project.
- About £34,000 of the £70,000 for the loneliness project was spent on refurbishing the property, though some funding did support activities like a hot food service.
- The AFCF said mismanagement was due to poor financial skills, not intentional fraud.
- After an internal RBL investigation, the Tandragee branch was formally closed.
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