Star date: 18th August 2016

LOWER BROUGHTON FLOOD BENEFIT PROCEEDS AND DONATIONS NOT DISTRIBUTED

Almost £7,000 of money collected from various benefits, donations and Government match funding aimed at supporting Lower Broughton residents hit by the Boxing Day Flood has still not been distributed.

"I think we all feel bad it has taken so long to sort, but rest assured we will ensure the money gets to the people it is intended to benefit and ensure that it is all well publicised so donors know where their money went" says Alison Page, Chief Executive of Salford Community and Voluntary Services, which is holding the bulk of the money.

Full details here...

In the wake of the Boxing Day Flood which hit Lower Broughton, the community not only came out with practical help and donations of clothes, food and cleaning equipment, many people also donated cash through three benefit gigs, the Salford Online Flood Recovery Fund and via other means. However, almost eight months on from the Flood, victims still haven't received any of the proceeds.

The first benefit, which happened at the Lower Kersal Club on 3rd January raised £1,215 which was added onto donations paid into the Gofundme Salford Online Flood Recovery Fund. This made a total of £2,634.56, which was subsequently passed to Salford Community and Voluntary Services (CVS), which also held a £200 donation from St Augustine's Primary School.

The final sum of £2,872.17 was, after an age, matched by the Department of Communities and Local Government, giving a total of £5,706.73, which is still in the CVS bank account waiting to be distributed – except that no-one knows quite what to do with it.

"We were talking to various people trying to find out what would be the best and fairest thing to do" explains Tom Rodgers, of Salford Online "We worked out at the end of it that splitting it between the estimated 482 properties affected would only leave each one with £13.50 - not very much in the great scheme of things. In terms of refurbing properties, buying furniture or paint or carpets there's not a lot you can do with 13 quid. But to be fair, without the match funding that would be about £6.80 per property.

"By the time this funding was confirmed, most of our initial ideas for giving this money to affected residents had already been covered by Salford City Council, Salix Homes, the Broughton Trust and other agencies who helped with the clean-up, drying out, securing, and refurb" he adds "So after that we wanted to try and find a way to give the money out fairly and find out what people wanted to do, so I spoke to Broughton Trust and Salix and the CVS etc etc. Loads of ideas were put forward about distributing it..."

These included a `one year on' party for victims, improvements to the local park, a community fund, free swimming for kids in Lower Broughton and providing respite breaks in the Salfordian Hotel – but each has its own problems...

"Going forward the idea is to throw it open for all Salford Star and SalfordOnline readers to vote on what the money should be used for - rather than trying to do all this legwork and getting nowhere" says Tom "It's completely understandable that people are pissed off."

Meanwhile, Alison Page, Chief Executive of CVS, says that the money will be sorted in the next few weeks...

"I'm aware it has taken ages to sort this, not least because no-one wanted to duplicate what the Council were doing with their Distress Fund" she explains "We have always been clear that it isn't up to Salford CVS what the money gets spent on… as long as it goes to benefit the affected community.

"We are meeting with Tom from Salford Online to finalise arrangements for distributing the money the week after next - and will then get on with it, pronto" she adds "I think we all feel bad it has taken so long to sort, but rest assured we will ensure the money gets to the people it is intended to benefit and ensure that it is all well publicised so donors know where their money went."

Meanwhile, there were two other benefit events for Lower Broughton. The first was on 17th January at Swinton British Legion and raised £950, which was handed to the Greater Manchester Disaster Relief Fund, and was matched by the Government. This Fund was the first to hand money to Salford Council so it could distribute £500 to every affected household in the aftermath of the Flood.

The second benefit took place at St Bonifaces Social Club on 30th January and raised £1,600 (less £450 for essential expenses), which was also waiting for match funding the Salford Star understands; although we haven't managed to get a response from the organisers as to where the money might go.

Altogether, eight months after the Flood, a total of £6,856.73 is still awaiting distribution in some form or another. Residents told the Salford Star this afternoon that it's not about the money; it's about the principle of kind hearted people donating to a cause and knowing where their donations have gone...

*If any Salford Star readers have suggestions for the use of the funds please add them to the comments box below

*The Lower Broughton community isn't just waiting for the funds, it's also waiting for the official report into the Boxing Day Flood which has been delayed yet again until `the autumn' – see previous Salford Star article – click here

* See also: Where Has the £3million Flood Money Gone? as part of the Lower Broughton Flood special in Salford Star print issue 11 - click here for the electronic version