The closing submissions to the Inquiry brought the curtain down on what has been an extraordinary year so it seems the right time to thank everyone who has supported the Fund in whatever way they can this year.
With our donors' help, we have been able to distribute grants totalling over £120,000 since we started. This year, to cite a few, hardship grants have helped pay off onerous fuel bills, enabled a daughter to visit her ex-SPM mother who lives abroad but who can no longer travel due to illness, and cleared rent arrears so another victim can remain in their house while awaiting some interim compensation. Alongside those grants we fund longer term counselling and psychiatric help for dozens of SPMs and their family members who are still struggling with the aftermath of the scandal. All this could not have been possible without the generosity of our donors, which continues to exceed anything we could have imagined. We would also like to thank those volunteers who stepped up with offers to help after being outraged by watching Mr Bates vs The Post Office, whether that be through singing, running or social media posting. Particular thanks go to Hilary Strong who has been working as first point of contact with applicants, a role she excels at, while Jamie Price designed our brilliant logo for free. Looking ahead, the delays in the redress schemes stretch out before us so we will remain active in 2025, continuing to fund mental health care and supporting those awaiting their rightful compensation. Another goal is to provide opportunities for SPMs and families to meet in person. This year we have hosted events in London and Belfast which, we have been told, were enormously helpful in reducing the isolation still felt by many. Now the regular gatherings at the Inquiry have come to a close, we will look to fill the gap where we can, either by arranging events ourselves or funding ones arranged by a local group. So have the best festive break you can and perhaps, just perhaps, 2025 will be the year when this scandal can become past tense for all those trampled on by the Post Office. David, Helen, Nick, Nic, Sandra, Varchas, El and Helen Trustees of the Horizon Scandal Fund If you would like to donate you can do so online here. Eleanor Shaikh, recent recipient of mySociety’s Campaigning for Justice award, has become the Horizon Scandal Fund’s newest trustee.
Eleanor is known to hundreds of former Subpostmasters for her outstanding investigative research into the Post Office Horizon scandal and the care and empathy she brings to her work. El is the author of the document Origins of a Disaster, which painstakingly digs into the detail of the government’s involvement in procuring Fujitsu’s Horizon IT system for the Post Office, and she has become a past master at using Freedom of Information requests to extract crucial documents from public bodies. Eleanor said: “My own ex-Sub-Postmaster, Chirag Sidhpura, got caught up in the scandal in 2017. I began investigating, raised a petition and started badgering our local MP, Jeremy Hunt, to get involved. When Chirag and I attended the High Court as observers during the Bates v Post Office group litigation, I met many other remarkable survivors. It was a turning point. I realised you can’t support one and not them all.” Before becoming involved in helping Chirag, El worked for nine years as a one-to-one special needs learning assistant in a mainstream infants school. She now works in a Primary/Secondary Special School in Surrey supporting youngsters with a range of complex learning difficulties including speech and language and those with additional diagnoses such as Autistic Spectrum Condition. El added: “I’m totally honoured to be joining the trustees of the Horizon Scandal Fund and look forward to doing whatever I can to contribute to their vital work. Countless people have suffered unimaginable harm as a result of this scandal. Each grant may seem a drop in the ocean but it can be an absolute lifeline to a family or single individual.” Lord Arbuthnot, patron of the Horizon Scandal Fund charity said: “Eleanor Shaikh has been a key part of the campaign to bring out the true story of what has been done to the sub-Postmasters. Her Freedom of Information requests, which have been informed by her deep forensic and investigatory skills as well as by her compassion, have made it impossible for those responsible to hide their actions. She will bring immense value as a trustee of the Horizon Scandal Fund.” David Chaplin, chair of the Horizon Scandal Fund board of trustees said: “We are delighted Eleanor has agreed to join the trustees. She has been a truly inspirational figure in the fight for justice for Subpostmasters and her inside knowledge of the scandal will help us better respond to the many requests for help we are, regrettably, still receiving on a weekly basis.” Further information The Horizon Scandal Fund exists to help former Subpostmasters, managers, assistants, Crown Office workers and their families whose lives have been impacted by the Horizon scandal. It is a registered Charity (no 1199595). We are funded by generous individuals, charitable trusts and a percentage of income from sales of The Great Post Office scandal book. Since its inception in November 2021, the Horizon Scandal Fund has disbursed grants totalling £36,487 to many former Subpostmasters in desperate need. As well as Eleanor, the Horizon Scandal Fund’s trustees are David Chaplin (Chair), Helen Lacey (Treasurer), Varchas Patel, Sandra Tizzard, Helen Baker, Nick Wallis and Nicola Wallis. The Horizon Scandal Fund is delighted to have received registered charitable status ten months after its launch.
The Fund is celebrating the occasion by formally welcoming a substantial donation made by Flora Page, one of the barristers who represented three Subpostmasters in their successful quest to overturn their criminal convictions at the Court of Appeal last year. Flora has donated her net fees of £3256 for working on the case to the Horizon Scandal Fund. The Horizon Scandal Fund supports Subpostmasters who are struggling financially, emotionally and physically as a result of the Post Office Horizon Scandal and/or the Post Office’s punitive methods in the first two decades of this century. During this period more than 700 people were criminally prosecuted using unreliable IT evidence and thousands more were sacked and/or forced to use their own income and savings to make good balancing errors. Flora Page, barrister, said: “When I offered to act for Seema Misra, Janet Skinner and Tracy Felstead, I wanted them to know that I would not profit from their appeals. It seemed important, because most of the multi-million settlement in the Bates litigation went to the lawyers and litigation funders. My clients are yet to receive anything like proper compensation. To keep my promise to three courageous women, I have donated my net fee for working on their appeals to the Horizon Scandal Fund. While the Post Office’s victims wait and wait for proper compensation, the Fund will offer some help, and try to keep people going.” David Chaplin, chair of the trustees, said: “Flora’s generous donation of £3256 is a welcome boost to the fund’s coffers. We have already helped several victims through short-term financial issues, for example paying rent. Significantly, we have also made grants to help with counselling and psychiatric services. It is a sharp reminder that the damage done by these wrongful convictions and arbitrary sackings was not just financial.” Nick Wallis, trustee, said: “Founding trustees Helen Lacey and David Chaplin, our new trustees and our lawyer Ian Fagelson (acting pro bono) have worked so hard to get our charitable status over the line. I am deeply grateful to them as I am to Flora and everyone who has donated anything to our newly-registered charity. I would urge everybody to take a look at horizonscandalfund.org which explains more about how the Fund can help improve peoples' lives. Our charitable status means we are recognised by HMRC and can now take gift aid on all donations, which can be made very easily through our website.” If you would like to interview Flora, David, Nick or Helen, please call Nick on 07976 432174 or David on 01225 577810. If you would like to speak to someone who has already been helped by the fund, please call David or Nick. NOTES FOR EDITORS The Horizon Scandal Fund (Registered Charity No. 1199595) considers all requests for grants to help people and families directly affected by the Post Office Horizon Scandal. The scandal is regarded as one of the most widespread miscarriages of justice in UK legal history. The Fund was launched on 18 November 2021. Its web address is www.horizonscandalfund.org and it can be found on Twitter as @HSFforSPMs Flora Page represented Seema Misra, Janet Skinner and Tracy Felstead at the Court of Appeal and continues to represent them (they are designated core participants) at the Post Office Horizon Inquiry. All three had their convictions quashed on 23 April 2021. David Chaplin and Helen Lacey run Bath Publishing, which publishes Nick Wallis’s book The Great Post Office Scandal. The idea for the Horizon Scandal Fund arose during a series of discussions between the three over the course of 2021. Recently appointed trustees of the charity include a former Subpostmaster, a serving Subpostmaster and the relative of someone directly affected by the Horizon scandal. Their details can be found in the Charities Commission Register of Charities under the Horizon Scandal Fund. If you, your family or someone you know is directly affected by the Post Office Horizon scandal and you would like to ask for help, please email [email protected] with more details about the situation and the sort of help you are looking for. All enquiries will be treated in the strictest confidence. |
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