THE boss of a military charity has defended the use of a fundraising company which keeps 80 per cent of some donations.

The Invicta Foundation, based in Colchester, has been criticised by online military charity investigation group The Walter Mitty Hunter Club for using collections company Events Management Solutions (EMS) when collecting in shopping centres and selling prize draw tickets and merchandise.

Stephen Hall set up the foundation in 2010 in order to help anyone who has been affected by active service in the Armed Forces after son Ashley lost both legs when fighting in Afghanistan.

Yesterday, Mr Hall said the fundraising company was a method used by various other good causes in the industry.

He added: “We have done what a lot of other charities do and taken on a third party company to take on the game of skills promotion and sell merchandise at different sites.

“What people don’t understand is we do not have any outlays and will take 20 per cent of the gross takings they make.

“Say for example, at a shopping centre £1,000 is collected but after the overheads including the charge from the site, insurance and other things comes to £1,500 then we will still get 20 per cent of the donations despite the day's takings being £500 in deficit.

“We would still get £200 and the third party company take on the loss.”

Mr Hall added: “It is done to eliminate the risk to charities and is quite a common thing.

“In an ideal world, we would not pay for anything and there would be no costs, 100 per cent of donations would come and go back out again to good causes but it just does not work that way.”

A spokesman for the Charity Commission told the Gazette the commission was assessing concerns raised about the Invicta Foundation along with other military charities.

Mr Hall said he was confident all of the foundation’s work was above board.

He said: “I do not have a problem with that at all - I’m sure it will not be the last time something like this happens.

“We have all the necessary documentation. 

“The charity is run properly and is completely legitimate.”

Mr Hall said the foundation was in the process of moving away from EMS and was researching into whether it could bring all fundraising in house.

He said: “We are looking to see how we can bring collections in house and what the best way to do it would be, whether it is setting up another company, or doing it all through the charity but obviously we want to make sure we are prepared and do it the right way.

“We have been told by the Walter Mitty Hunter Club privately they recognise the work we are doing and perhaps their followers could be a source of volunteers if it happens.”