Help for Heroes charity will not accept donations raised by EDL

Forces charity Help for Heroes has announced they will not accept any donations raised by the leader of the English Defence League Tommy Robinson.

The EDL leader started fundraising following last week’s murder of soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich, south-east London, but a spokesman for Help for Heroes said the JustGiving page set up by Mr Robinson would be closed down and all donations would be refunded.

The charity will check for any further donations from EDL members and said they would not accept any donations from the group. A Help for Heroes spokesman said:

“He’s the only one that’s come to our attention but tonight we’ll be doing a cross-count to make sure that anyone else that’s saying they’re EDL will not be allowed to fundraise for us. It’s the same for any political party, we don’t allow political fundraising. As a charity, we’re non-political.”

Mr Robinson’s Just Giving page shows that the EDL leader has raised more than £3,300 so far and was aiming to raise £5,000 with a sponsored walk across London.

On the page, Mr Robinson wrote: “On Saturday the 29th June I am going to walk from Westminster in West London to Woolwich in East London (Just over 17 miles) to lay a wreath in support of our troops (Lee Rigby RIP).

“I plan to raise as much money as possible for Help for Heroes.”

Daily Mirror, 27 May 2013

Alas for “Tommy”, his Just Giving page has indeed been deleted.