* Little Treasures Children's Trust Collections *

thescruff

Hi,

In my opinion the whole set up is a con.

ELT clothing collect for several so called charities if you look on the bags they continually post through the door.

As for Little Treasures Children's Trust, I suspected them some time ago when I complained to the Council etc.

Little Children's trust told me they get over a Million pounds each year from ELT.

However any doubts came via an email today 06/03/13.


Hello,


I'm sorry i didn't inform you before leaving, Few days back my family and I made an unannounced vacation trip to Naples Italy. Everything was going fine until last night when we were mugged on our way back to the hotel.They Stole all our cash,credit cards and cellphone but thank God we still have our lives and passports safe. The hotel manager has been unhelpful to us for reasons i don't know.I'm writing you from a local library.

I've reported to the police and after writing down some statements that's the last i had from them.i contacted the consulate and all i keep hearing is they will get back to me. Our return flight leaves soon...I need you to help me out with a fast loan to settle our bills here so we can get back home . I'll refund the money as soon as we get back. All i need is €1,850 Euro..Let me know what you can do so I can tell you how to get the money to me.

I owe you alot.

[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Emmalene Ratcliffe[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Fundraising/Advocacy Manager[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Little Treasures Children's Trust[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Tel: (01708) ******[/FONT]

vuvuzela

thescruff wrote: »

Hi,

In my opinion the whole set up is a con.

ELT clothing collect for several so called charities if you look on the bags they continually post through the door.

As for Little Treasures Children's Trust, I suspected them some time ago when I complained to the Council etc.

Little Children's trust told me they get over a Million pounds each year from ELT.

However any doubts came via an email today 06/03/13.


Hello,


I'm sorry i didn't inform you before leaving, Few days back my family and I made an unannounced vacation trip to Naples Italy. Everything was going fine until last night when we were mugged on our way back to the hotel.They Stole all our cash,credit cards and cellphone but thank God we still have our lives and passports safe. The hotel manager has been unhelpful to us for reasons i don't know.I'm writing you from a local library.

I've reported to the police and after writing down some statements that's the last i had from them.i contacted the consulate and all i keep hearing is they will get back to me. Our return flight leaves soon...I need you to help me out with a fast loan to settle our bills here so we can get back home . I'll refund the money as soon as we get back. All i need is €1,850 Euro..Let me know what you can do so I can tell you how to get the money to me.

I owe you alot.

[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Emmalene Ratcliffe[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Fundraising/Advocacy Manager[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Little Treasures Children's Trust[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Tel: (01708) ******[/FONT]

That just means that their email has been hacked. A very common scam, it comes from someone you have had email contact with who has had their account compromised and the scammers will be asking for (untraceable) payment via western union. Nigerians possibly, a variant of their 409 scam.

I wouldn't not trust them because of this.
I would not trust them because of everything else in the thread though...

sue222

There is a whole raft of these children's charities based in Essex (I posted about one of them "Kids in Crisis" yesterday in another thread). The problem seems to be that they spend most of their income on wages and other admin. They seem to be run by the same people. I can't post a link here, but if you google

"little treasures" "david gordon" company director check

the first item should be a list of companies this person has been a director of and it includes Little Treasures and several charities with similar names.

battleborn

Wow! this thread was started in 2011.

kingfisherblue

battleborn wrote: »

Wow! this thread was started in 2011.

The thread started in 2011, but the scam is still going on two years later, so very relevant for posters to update it.

nannytone_2

i know this is a really old thread, but just feel the need to defend Kittke Treasures. I am sure there are many 'charities' aound that need seeper scruitany, but i dont consider little treasures to be amongs them. ( i am assuming that the charity has folded now as I dont seem to be able to find their webpage)
anyway ....

in 2008, my 18 month old grandson, Aiden, contracted viral encephalitis. he was in PICU, on life support, at St Mary's Paddington for 6 weeks, followed by another 6 weeks in high dependency and general wards.
He was classed by the medical professionals as a body in a bed. he was tive fed, but that was the extent of the care he received ( not in st mary's, but once he was returned to his local hospital)
he wasnt even receiving physio.
as he was left with full body cerebral palsy, physo wasnt desireable but necessary!
we complained, pleases, shouted, even threatened but werenignored by all but a few of the nurses that could see the desperate situation that my grandson was in. then one nurse suggested we contact little treasures.
for a year, the provided a specialist paediatric nuero physio to work with Aiden twice a week at the cost to the charity of £120 every week.
they supplied equipment and specialist toys.
roll on 2 years and 'the body in the bed' was walking with a frame and attending an able bodied nursery. he couldnt talk, but was communicationg using switches.
none of this would have happened if it hadnt been for little treasures. not only did they assist financially, but they provided emotional support and advocacy. stepping in on Aiden's behalf when the family delt we were banging our heads against a brick wall.
sadly Aiden unexpectedly passed away on May 22 2010, 4 weeks short of his 4th birthday.
we had a precious 2 years with him, and we were able to spend that time 'enjoying him' rather than having to fight the continuous battle to get the help that he needed.
and i believe that most of that is due to little treasures and the dedication they showed not only to Aiden, but to the family as a whole

ThumbRemote

From Little Treasures Children's Trust annual report for year end 31st January 2012 (the last one filed with the charity commission).


£163497 raised, from
£58503 donations
£17495 fundraising events
£87499 clothing collections


£175255 spent, of which:
£23362 spent on fundraising
£118487 spent on support work
£33406 spent on admin and governance


As such about two-thirds of the money given is used for their charitable purposes. Not the worst figure, but not the best either. I'd question why a fairly small charity needs to spend so much on admin costs though.

Free_Spirit_31

Any bags that come through the letterbox now, I just use as bin liners.

Dusan_T

The people that came up the the Little Treasures charity scam have now managed to secure the biggest deal with a reputable charity.

I used to distribute bags for this charity so I know how much money was made.

E.L.T textiles are also now part of the TRA for a number of years they were blocked because they were deemed dodgy but now they are accepted as they have more money behind them.

Looks like they have put their ill gotten means to good use. I can remember when the directors of this company used to compare charities in the UK to prostitutes and I think someone in Cystic Fibrosis has received a very large payment as the contract is worth over one million but they paid only £250,000 for five years.

My advice is not to give any donations to this charity when their bags come in your door!

nwc389

Unless the charity is one I recognise and uses my donations in their shops then all bags are put to good use as bin bags in my house.
Anything I think might be suitable for a proper charity shop I keep in a cupboard until I get one of their bags.