The Albion Foundation

£44.99 seems a very reasonable price for a (sleeveless) Baggies shirt - presumably made for a few pence in a far-off sweatshop but QUICK - you must "pre-order" to avail yourself of this marvellous "offer" from WBA! But so what, you might say - West Bromwich Albion are not a charity but a hard-nosed business entitled to make profit from mugs just like any other company. And charity? Well they do wonderful work through a real charity - The Albion Foundation - don't they? Now read on.......

Well before you start having a go at me I AM a Baggies supporter and I DO fully appreciate that the Foundation does good work. The question is whether it should be supported by the taxpayer and, if so, whether the taxpayer is getting value for money. This post carries on from my earlier blogs - Skidder Shorts No. 9 and No 13 noting further information and research.

Labour-run Sandwell Council are inflicting massive cuts upon the good folk of Sandwell and sacking large numbers of their own workers but can always find money for sports-related matters - hence the rash of multi-million pound leisure centres spreading across the Borough and other lavish "sports" spending. Of course, the joke "leader" of the Council is also obsessed with The Baggies and subjects us all to his babyish "Boing, Boing" tweets on a weekly basis. I cannot tell you at this stage whether the Foundation is being especially favoured for Council funds over other charities doing good works for the young, disabled and disadvantaged and I am still awaiting a fuller response to a Freedom of Information Act request as to how SMBC evaluates whether our money is being spent to good effect.*

In Skidder Shorts No. 13 I pointed out that in the last 3 full financial years Sandwell Council doled out £50,593.50 to the Football Club itself (!) and an enormous £476,719.27 to the Charity and large payments ARE CONTINUING.

The financial year ends of SMBC and the Foundation are 31st March and 30th June respectively and so do not overlap exactly. Nevertheless, in the last financial year of the Charity they say they received total grants of £626, 541 and in roughly the same period (2012/13) Sandwell Council gave them £138,129.68p ie a stonking 22%! But wait, it gets worse as the taxpayer is also stumping up via 4 local academy schools (Oldbury Academy, Phoenix, ACE and Bristnall Hall) who have supplied taxpayers' money of AT LEAST £60,500 (yes - sixty thousand five hundred pounds!) in just one year. Oh, and don't forget the sum of AT LEAST £54,172 paid to them from us via Sport England. The 2013/14 figure from SMBC has actually gone UP despite the whingeing about "cuts".

But what else is in the accounts? Of a total income of just under £1.6m - £1m goes straight to employees in pay, NI, pensions etc and one lucky person gets between £60 & £70k per annum. Moreover, this "local" charity wants to expand worldwide (why?) and has forked out for trips to Australia, Sweden and Nigeria. Indeed the accounts say they are planning two trips a year to Australia from now on. Nice!

At this point can I just ask you to take a moment and look at The Foundation's webpage:

http://thealbionfoundation.co.uk/

With all the blue and white, club emblems, "Sporting Club Albion" etc I would venture to say that it is not immediately apparent that this site relates to an independent charity and certainly WBA's business "brand" and image is enhanced by its association with the Foundation. What do the accounts say? Try:

"The Charity has a clear identity and highlights its charitable status and independence from West Bromwich Albion Football Club. However West Bromwich Albion Football Club remains and always will be, the main partner of the charity."

But then try this (my emphasis):

"The charity has three main strategic principles and they are as follows:

- To make a difference and raise aspirations of the local community:

- To add value to West Bromwich Albion Football Club;

- To grow our own staff and create an inspiring working environment.

What a very strange guiding "principle" to have - "to add VALUE to West Bromwich Albion Football Club"! And here is another curious comment in their own words:

"Player Development Centres, Baggies Soccer Centres and Future Baggies programmes have been introduced and have proved very popular and now show a clear progression for young players from the age of 3 to link more closely with the Football Club's Academy". And so if WBA can get some young talent on the cheap via the charity instead of paying themselves so much the better! And maybe all these foreign trips are glorified scouting missions for the benefit of the Club?

Until September, 2012 WBA did at least give the Foundation free premises at Halfords Lane but now the Charity has to fend for itself. There is a mystery sum of £30,000 in "sponsorship" for the Charity but the accounts do not say who this is from (no doubt they will hasten to tell us when this post is published). If it is from the Football Club then that is chickenfeed for all the "good" publicity.

Three employees of WBA also work closely with the Foundation and I am sure there is some pooling of resources but what is this right at the end of the accounts:

"During the year the Foundation received £20,000 by way of donation from West Bromwich Albion Football Club".

And so the final score for season 2012/2013 is:

Taxpayer £252k -v- WBAFC £20k! 

The Club just need to find 445 morons to buy the new "home" shirt to get their £20k back. Or perhaps they could just knock on the door of Sandwell's Labour "leader". Boing, boing indeed!

THE SANDWELL SKIDDER - A COMMUNITY BLOG

e   thesandwellskidder@gmail.com               t   @bcrover (Vernon Grant)

Confidential phone no: 07599 983737

* I say "our" money even though I am not personally resident in Sandwell since the fact is that, unfortunately, the Borough is mired in poverty and so SMBC gets a disproportionate amount of money from the taxpayer at large via Central Government.