The mannequin Naomi Campbell’s Style for Reduction undertaking was the topic of a “severe incident” report filed with the Charity Fee after it claimed to be a fundraising associate of Unicef, it has emerged.
Style for Reduction placed on a spectacular star-studded style present and charity public sale held on the British Museum in 2019 at which it stated it was working with the worldwide youngsters’s charity to boost funds for it and a 3rd charity, the Mayor’s Fund for London.
Nevertheless, Unicef UK stated it had by no means been a associate of Style for Reduction, had been unaware of the occasion, and acquired no proceeds from the fundraiser. It submitted a severe incident report about Campbell’s charity to the fee in 2022. That is understood to stipulate considerations that the Unicef model had been used on the occasion with out the settlement of the charity and in a method that misled potential donors.
Unicef has additionally requested for clarification as to why Campbell was known as a Unicef “envoy” at an official authorities assembly with the then overseas secretary, Boris Johnson, in 2018. It stated Campbell had by no means held an official position with the charity.
Campbell acquired a five-year ban from operating a charity final week after a extremely important fee inquiry revealed monetary misconduct and chaotic administration at Style for Reduction, the charity she based and was a trustee for.
The inquiry report revealed Style for Reduction had raised almost £4.8m in 5 years as much as 2020 however gave only a fraction of the £4.6m it spent on charitable actions – 10% – to associate charities within the type of grants. It stated Campbell had run up payments for resorts rooms, flights and spa remedies that had been inappropriately charged to the charity.
Campbell criticised the report’s findings on the time, saying it was flawed and “incomplete and deceptive”. She added: “I’ve by no means undertaken philanthropic work for private acquire, nor will I ever achieve this.”
In an announcement, Unicef UK stated: “We take fundraising compliance very significantly and Unicef UK reported Style for Reduction 2019 to the Charity Fee, as per our statutory necessities. We’ve got by no means held any official partnership with Style for Reduction and we’ve by no means acquired any funds from the 2019 occasion.”
Requested why Style for Reduction had stated it was elevating funds for Unicef with out Unicef’s settlement, a spokesperson for Campbell stated: “Naomi Campbell by no means held herself out as a consultant of Unicef though she labored with them.”
In a brochure for the occasion, held throughout London style week in September 2019, Style for Reduction stated the funds raised would “assist Unicef’s efforts” to guard and remodel youngsters’s lives.
On a web page prominently displaying the Unicef model brand, the brochure stated: “Working collectively, funds raised will assist Unicef’s efforts to offer the important interventions to guard, save lives and make sure the rights of all youngsters, in all places.”
It added: “Via uniting the style business for this very particular occasion by constructing a group of supporters to boost very important funds and consciousness, Style for Reduction is contributing to assist Unicef proceed to remodel youngsters’s lives worldwide.”
The Mayor’s Fund for London acquired £100,000 from Style for Reduction from the 2019 British Museum occasion. Nevertheless, it subsequently submitted a severe incident report to the fee after it stated £50,000 promised to it from the proceeds of a Style for Reduction pop-up store fundraiser in November 2019 by no means materialised.
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Save the Kids threatened authorized motion in opposition to Style for Reduction in 2019 over sums it stated it was owed from two earlier gala fundraising occasions held in Cannes in 2017 and 2018. Save the Kids and the Mayor’s Fund for London had been paid £200,000 and £50,000 respectively when Campbell’s charity was wound up in December 2023.
It’s understood Unicef held exploratory talks a couple of potential link-up with Style for Reduction in 2018 however determined to not go forward. Like many large charities, it requires any fundraising companions to signal a proper licensing settlement setting out clear parameters for the usage of its title and brand.
Charities are required to make severe incident stories to the Charity Fee once they expertise “antagonistic occasions” that end in hurt to beneficiaries, monetary loss, or harm to the charity’s repute.
Questions have additionally been raised about a gathering between Campbell and Johnson in 2018 to debate women’ training in growing international locations. A Overseas Workplace (FCDO) press launch dated 15 June 2018 described Campbell as a “Unicef ladies’s empowerment envoy”.
Unicef stated that Campbell had by no means been a Unicef envoy – a title that the charity doesn’t use. It stated: “Naomi Campbell has by no means held an official position or title with Unicef or Unicef UK and we’re in contact with the FCDO to grasp what occurred.”
A spokesperson for Campbell stated: “Since this was a authorities press launch, we’re undecided why they referred to her as being an ‘envoy’.”
The FCDO was approached for remark.
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