Taxpayers' money given to help lonely veterans spent on revamping branch building

Almost £100,000 of public money intended to provide activities for veterans, like craft, drama, and social meals to tackle loneliness, was spent on refurbishing a branch building, internal documents from the Royal British Legion (RBL) show.

A branch in Tandragee, County Armagh, was awarded £140,000 from a charity to deliver three projects for veterans, but internal reports show that only £41,000 went on these schemes.

A number of people contacted BBC News NI concerned about how the money was spent.

The RBL, which conducted its own investigation, said the branch has since been "formally closed".

The organisation that awarded the money, the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust (AFCF), is a charity and public body that distributes money to support veterans.

It said it found the money not being spent how it was intended, was down to "poor skills and understanding" on managing public funds, "rather than any deliberate misinformation or fraudulent activity".

The AFCF also noted that two of the projects were closed satisfactorily and the third did see "positive outcomes for veterans experiencing loneliness".

In 2020, the RBL Tandragee branch applied for, and was awarded, three grants totalling £140,000 from the AFCF.

In its application, the branch said it was partnering with another charity called Tandragee Veterans Support Centre (TVSC), with which it shares a building and volunteers.

BBC News NI approached TVSC for comment but received no response.

RBL Tandragee branch was awarded £140,000 by the AFCF to provide three projects. They were:

• £35,000 for A Golden Stitch in Time, which aimed to enable veterans with mental health issues to learn embroidering and design
• £35,000 for Stages of War, which would give veterans skills to put together a play and then stage a performance at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast
• £70,000 for Tackling Loneliness, which would provide a hot food delivery service to vulnerable veterans and provide other schemes such as a drop-in breakfast club and cookery classes

In each instance documents released under Freedom of Information show considerable amounts of the grants were spent on building work.

In total, £31,000 of the £35,000 granted for A Golden Stitch in Time was spent on the property, with an internal report also indicating that 10 veterans were trained as opposed to the application's proposal to train 40.

All but £2,000 of the £35,000 earmarked for the Stages of War grant was spent on property refurbishment, with the RBL finding "no outgoings in according with the funding requested in the original application".

However, it did indicate that £8,000 was paid to the Lyric Theatre from the Tackling Loneliness funding.

Meanwhile, of the £70,000 granted to that scheme (Tackling Loneliness), £34,000 was used to refurbish the property.

The RBL's internal report noted that the remaining funding from that grant was "used to deliver the project, either directly or indirectly".

The Royal British Legion headquarters began its own investigation after it noticed that grant money awarded to the branch had transferred over to the partner charity, Tandragee Veterans Support Centre (TVSC).

That internal investigation, obtained by BBC News NI, found that only £41,000 of the £140,000 in grants had been spent on the approved projects, with the rest used to "refurbish a property that the branch had leased".

It noted that the majority of the money was paid to "building contractors and building material suppliers".

During an inspection it was noted that a "fully serviced bar with stock had been installed, although neither organisation had a license to sell alcohol".

Correspondence shows the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust also appeared to have concerns about how the money was being spent.

An email to the branch, obtained through a freedom of information request, indicated challenges "in relation to the use of our funding for capital costs" as opposed to the schemes they had been earmarked for.

The email notes that the AFCF is open to public and governmental scrutiny because it is distributing public funds.

It appointed a mentor to oversee the rest of the funding and asked for a letter of assurance from the branch that they said would allow them to "draw a line under the inappropriate use of funds to date".

The assurance letter, which is signed by the chairman of the Tandragee Veterans Support Centre, stated: "We realised that the grants were provided mainly to provide activities but we spent most of the funding on capital... and accept that the grant was not spent as offered".

The letter said any "remaining funds will be used directly in line with the original application".

The AFCF Trust told BBC News NI that two of the schemes, A Stitch in Time and Stages of War, had been delivered satisfactorily and closed, which means any budget changes would have been approved by the grant manager.

As regards the loneliness programme, it confirmed they "were, and remain, highly disappointed that RBL Tandragee failed to fully comply with the grant agreement".

However, it said the branch had accepted "full responsibility for not meeting the terms and conditions of this grant", adding that the failure was down to "poor skills and understanding of how to manage restricted public funds rather than any deliberate misinformation or fraudulent activity".

The trust did say the capital works enabled delivery of the planned project and that "the food-related activities subsequently delivered for veterans had achieved positive outcomes for veterans experiencing loneliness".

The Royal British Legion headquarters said it had brought issues to the attention of the funder and following discussions, "the AFCF was satisfied that the funding continued to benefit the armed forces community".

"In addition, we reported this to the Charity Commission in 2024, who reviewed the matter and confirmed that no further action was required."

It added that sanctions were imposed on the branch following referrals to the legion's complaint committee, after which it was "taken into district administration and has since been formally closed".

"The RBL no longer holds any interest in the property," it added.

The building is still used by the Tandragee Veterans Support Centre for veterans' activities. The group did not respond to a request for comment.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "We were made aware of concerns identified by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust and are satisfied that the Trust took appropriate action to investigate the issue, halt further payments, and ensure it was addressed through proportionate and robust grant assurance measures."