Scores of people have donated to London's Great Ormond Street children's hospital (GOSH) after it promised to return donations from a charity that held a fundraising dinner where young female hostesses were allegedly sexually harassed.
After the Financial Times published an undercover report alleging that staff were "groped, sexually harassed and propositioned" at a charity dinner held by the Presidents Club Charitable Trust last week, GOSH said it would return any cash it received from the trust and would no longer accept its donations.
GOSH has received several hundred thousand pounds from the Presidents Club in recent years, including some £500,000 between 2014 and 2016, some of which it spent on a high dependency unit.
While some observers questioned why the hospital should return the money, others were quick to donate to make up the shortfall:
Putting my money where my mouth is...if this story stopped you in your tracks, it takes about 2 mins to donate.
Great Ormond Street do great work, and shouldn't be tarred with the #PresidentsClub brush. You can donate directl… https://t.co/r7G4oR8dRc
Can we help GOSH replace the funds lost? Be great if folk could make a donation (large or small) - I’m off to make… https://t.co/apt58jh0lc
If you fancy donating to @GreatOrmondSt , and don’t feel the need to grope anyone in the process.... https://t.co/IzK0zP7dUF
If you feel able to make a donation to GOSH to make up for the loss of donations from the Sleazebags Club, the link… https://t.co/BZaknHwX7M
#PresidentsClub #VictoriaLive I've just donated to @GreatOrmondSt to support them for returning the donations from… https://t.co/VBuiNzLfy7
Fun fact: It is entirely possible and very easy to donate to charities without sexually harassing anyone. Here's a… https://t.co/F3TZcGYhn0
For those who would like to donate, GOSH's donations page is https://t.co/a5Zvr48nFL (thanks @m2comms) https://t.co/tcmVtBHwRM
Very pleased to hear this. I will make a donation in recognition of this stance @GreatOrmondELEV . Great Orm… https://t.co/OWpnIFVzJP
People were also donating to the Evelina children's hospital in London, which, like GOSH, has received substantial donations from the Presidents Club. The hospital also issues a statement on Wednesday saying it would return those donations and not accept any more in future.
@stuartmillar159 Worth pointing out that Evelina London Children’s Hospital has decided to reject the Presidents Cl… https://t.co/tsByByoL7D
The Presidents Club says it has raised more than £20 million for projects to help underprivileged children since its foundation 33 years ago. It has pledged to investigate the allegations. In a statement a spokesperson said: "The Presidents Club recently hosted its annual dinner, raising several million pounds for disadvantaged children.
"The organisers are appalled by the allegations of bad behaviour at the event asserted by the Financial Times reporters. Such behaviour is totally unacceptable. The allegations will be investigated fully and promptly and appropriate action taken."
None of the other beneficiaries contacted by BuzzFeed News had said whether they would also return donations at the time of publication.
Great Ormond Street wouldn't comment on exactly how much money it intends to return.