Profit Over Charity

Jay7dee7

Please Help Us Be Heard — Our Charity Is Suffering

We are a small, grassroots charity serving vulnerable children, isolated elderly residents, and families facing food insecurity across the Midlands. Our work depends on compassion, community and one minibus. That vehicle, purchased from M4 Minibus Centre and financed through Close Brothers, was meant to be a lifeline. Instead, it has become a source of distress, debt, and despair.

From the outset, the minibus was plagued with serious mechanical faults: ABS failures, sensor issues, AdBlue and DPF breakdowns. It was only operational for a few weeks before becoming undrivable. We raised concerns with M4 in good faith but were met with deflection. A staff member acknowledged that pre-2019 models may carry known issues yet these vehicles continue to be sold without transparent warnings.

We later discovered that at least three other organisations had experienced similar problems with vehicles from the same supplier. This is not an isolated case. It reflects a pattern that undermines the safety and reliability of transport meant for vulnerable groups.

The financial impact has been devastating. Repairs may exceed £8,000. Meanwhile, Close Brothers continue to demand over £500 a month in payments, offering no flexibility or alternative. We pleaded for compassion for recognition of the hardship and safeguarding risk but were met with silence.

Our summer programme in ruins. Children missed out. Elderly residents were left stranded. Food deliveries stopped. And still, no action. We are answering heartbreaking questions from children asking why they can’t go out

and the answer is this: the companies involved have chosen profit over people.

Please help amplify this story. We are not asking for sympathy—we are asking for accountability. Community organisations deserve better. Safety, reliability, and transparency must be non-negotiable especially when lives and wellbeing are at stake.

If you are an organisation affected by similar issues, please reach out. We are stronger together. And for those considering a purchase: please, do your due diligence. The cost of getting it wrong is far more than financial.