Help for Heroes ‘not accepting EDL donations’
Help for Heroes tells Channel 4 News it will not accept a donation from EDL leader “Tommy Robinson”, after he raised around £3,300 in memory of murdered soldier Lee Rigby.
Mr “Robinson” was planning to raise funds for the forces charity in the wake of Drummer Lee Rigby’s death, through a sponsored walk from Westminster to Woolwich, where the soldier was killed.
Over £3,000 had already been pledged on his Just Giving donation page.
But when contacted by Channel 4 News, Help for Heroes said it did not know about the planned sponsored walk and that it would not accept the money.
I’m gutted and amazed political correctness has found its way to the top of our armed forces charities – Tommy Robinson, EDL
The charity asked Just Giving to take down the online donations page, which it did, and the money was returned to individual donors.
Help for Heroes told said that it would never accept money from Tommy Robinson and that it found the proposed donation “alarming”. A spokesperson told Channel 4 News that the charity was taking measures to stop the EDL from doing any future fundraising for Help for Heroes.
‘Political correctness’
In response to Help for Heroes’s rejection of his donation, Mr “Robinson” told Channel 4 News:
“The EDL is not a political group. I’m extremely passionate about our troops. I’m gutted and amazed political correctness has found its way to the top of our armed forces charities.”
He said that many of the donations came from former soldiers, and pointed out that the petition had raised £3,000 in 24 hours – and could have raised much more.
He said he was “just upset” and added: “I just don’t understand.”
Since the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby, who was reportedly wearing a Help for Heroes t-shirt when he killed in Woolwich, £600,000 has been donated to the forces charity.