Taboo subject......

[mk1]

Is the Red Dreams meeting to be held on Feb 14 going to be about voting out the present Trustees and installing some more suitable to the owners and making it  like those run by The Cranney Clan?

[factualandroid]

Is the Red Dreams meeting to be held on Feb 14 going to be about voting out the present Trustees and installing some more suitable to the owners and making it  like those run by The Cranney Clan?

Yes, apparently so. However, whilst their is an ongoing alleged investigation, I don't think the Charity Commission would look to fondly on this.

[factualandroid]

Lord Elpus ... Is it true you are the same Geoff Lilley from Hartlepool Ukulele Group who used Red Dreams for a recording session?

Was this, or was this not, at, or around the same time as your ward budget shows a £250 donation to the same charity for 'Employment Extension of 3 Interns' ...Was this done to sweeten a deal? Or was this part of an attempt to reduce the bill the Hartlepool Ukulele Club would be charged? Furthermore, why did you choose to donate some of your ward budget to 'extend employment' of interns at a Charity that in the previous financial year showed a surplus of £26,804?

[steveL]

I think that you're getting a bit carried away, Factual.

Starting off with a few interesting observations is all very well but you're falling into the trap that many conspiracy theorists eventually fall into which is to think that anyone not fully signed up to your own train of thought must also be guilty.

You have highlighted some things curious enough to get the interest of many of the posters on here and which warrant further examination - so well done you. However,  this is not a court of law, no one is on trial and as a poster, you really need to stop pretending to be the prosecuting counsel. As things stand, no one owes you personally an answer to anything. You are not a Trustee; you are not from the Charity Commission and you're certainly not from the Police.

What you are is someone who comes across as being a little too obsessed with one subject and we're all wondering why that should be.

You are not quite the White Knight of truth here, are you? It is not possible, for example, to throw up some of the facts and figures that you have while still maintaining that you have no personal connection to Red Dreams  - doesn't ring true, my friend. Dishonesty is not a good base from which to question the honesty of others.

So if you want some credibility on this forum, then a little bit of honesty on your own part is what is needed next. Otherwise, alleged exposures of people pretending to be someone else start to look a little thin and hypocritical.

[factualandroid]

SteveL - that's a perfectly fine observation. I just noticed that some people on here are very pro this charity. And having people contact me telling me they donated ward budgets to them, could explain that. They must believe in the charity in the first place to donate. Which is fine and admirable. However, when someone they contacts to say the same ex councillor who is pro the charity and donated also got work done from the charity at the same time as donating ward budget. Could ring alarm bells.

[The Great Dictator]

Was it Massive attack that released a record called Paranoid Android ?

[Lord Elpus]

Lord Elpus ... Is it true you are the same Geoff Lilley from Hartlepool Ukulele Group who used Red Dreams for a recording session?

Was this, or was this not, at, or around the same time as your ward budget shows a £250 donation to the same charity for 'Employment Extension of 3 Interns' ...Was this done to sweeten a deal? Or was this part of an attempt to reduce the bill the Hartlepool Ukulele Club would be charged? Furthermore, why did you choose to donate some of your ward budget to 'extend employment' of interns at a Charity that in the previous financial year showed a surplus of £26,804?

HUG used Red Dreams to record a charity CD a few years ago.  HUG had two quotes both the same price for the actual recording of the CD.  (One from the Studio and one from Red Dreams, it was the same price because we had a limited budget).  The Trustees of HUG accepted Red Dreams quote, because they offered better facilities.  The cost of the actual recording sessions was sponsored by a local business, (that info is on the cover of the CD, well worth the money). 

Both The Studio and Red Dream understood that the purpose of this CD was to raise money to help support Hartlepool Hospice.  Nobody wanted to make any personal profit out of this CD, nor did they.

The production costs of the CD was paid for from HUG funds and ALL, every penny made from the sales (that means when someone bought the CD for £5 all of that) went to Hartlepool Hospice.  This CD raised well over £1000 for the Hospice

The production (pressing) and printing of the CD was carried out by a national company based in Essex.  I'm very proud to have been involved in that project.

I've seen how well Red Dream support and nurture young talent, in my opinion there request to extend and support 3 interns was ward budget money well spent and would have helped those young people.



 

[Inspector Knacker]

Android is very thorough and persistent in their pursuit of their goal.
Will they be applying the same pedantic effort to other causes that may warrant deeper examination, or is this a just a one off event ?

[factualandroid]

@Lord Elpus - I am happy to hear that your CD proved successful for the Hospice. I am merely asking, as, if this was SAB in your Ukulele club, I'm sure other people may be more suspicious, if he then used Ward Budget to donate. Entirely your choice, but would you mind sharing with us how much the recording session was charged at? I appreciate a business covered this cost as part of their donation to your fundraising efforts which is very admirable.

[steveL]

SteveL - that's a perfectly fine observation. I just noticed that some people on here are very pro this charity. And having people contact me telling me they donated ward budgets to them, could explain that. They must believe in the charity in the first place to donate. Which is fine and admirable. However, when someone they contacts to say the same ex councillor who is pro the charity and donated also got work done from the charity at the same time as donating ward budget. Could ring alarm bells.

Most people are pro-charity by default and we should all be proud of that. It's only natural therefore that people should hesitate before accepting that something may not be quite right in a particular charity. I would have been happy to donate £250 to Red Dreams myself up until a few weeks ago.

Personally, I think the financial control mechanisms surrounding all Charities are something of a joke. People who are only used to handling a family budget can suddenly find themselves controlling the flow of tens of thousands of pounds and, unless proper controls are in place, they can quickly find themselves in a complete mess. From experience, the complete separation of general management from the book-keeping/accounts within an organisation seems to be an essential pre-requisite.

The people on this forum who have followed the Manor Residents story do not need to be lectured to on how charitable organisations can sometimes go wrong; with Wilcox we found ourselves looking into an abyss of pure wickedness. Whatever the circumstances surrounding the accounts of Red Dreams, far too much good has been done by that organisation to make any comparison with Manor Residents. If things have gone wrong then it needs to be put right - and quickly. Hopefully, things can then return to normal and the organisation can get back to doing what it does best.   

As I said, I don't believe for one minute that your zealot-like focus on Red Dreams can be the behaviour of someone entirely unconnected with the organisation and it's hard to take you seriously until you come clean about your own motives.

[Lord Elpus]

@Lord Elpus - I am happy to hear that your CD proved successful for the Hospice. I am merely asking, as, if this was SAB in your Ukulele club, I'm sure other people may be more suspicious, if he then used Ward Budget to donate. Entirely your choice, but would you mind sharing with us how much the recording session was charged at? I appreciate a business covered this cost as part of their donation to your fundraising efforts which is very admirable.

I think I'm been more than open on all questions asked.  I think its about time you were just as open as to your identity and motives.

[factualandroid]

@Lord Elpus - I think their is more here than you let on. However, you are held with high respect on this forum, so am conscious to try and not discredit you. I am merely asking the questions, not accusing you.

So as you are not willing to share any more information, which is 100% fine, I accept that, none of us a obliged to share what we don't feel comfortable with.

However, was the overall fee from Red Dreams for your recording meant to be around £600? Was a payment of £150 paid to Red Dreams in January 2015 for the 'Part Payment' recording, however, their accounts show the remaining balance of that initial £600 as never settled.

I am not saying they or you used your Ward Donation directly as part of that, however, if the true value was around £600, and the business who supported the CD campaign paid that, again another £450 is missing in their accounts?

[steveL]

There you go again.

How can you imply reluctance on the part of others to answer questions when you yourself refuse to answer questions asked of you? The account detail you provide is not available from the accounts that appeared on the Charity Commission website. That suggests intimate knowledge of the organisation and especially its accounts which you could only have if you yourself were connected in some way to the organisation.

Denying it is just as bad as someone posting on here while pretending to be someone else; someone who also claimed to have no connection.

[pensionater]

Factualandroid,they will applaud your work until you use it to question the integrity of one of their own.

[steveL]

Factualandroid,they will applaud your work until you use it to question the integrity of one of their own.

Silly man. When dealing with such things it's facts and figures which count and not opinions. FA has got us all thinking with his figures but wandering off into conjecture only serves to obscure the issue.