Woman stole £85,000 from cancer charity set up in memory of best friend’s daughter --[Reported by Umva mag]

A charity boss who stole more than £85,000 from a cancer charity set up in memory of her best friend’s daughter has been jailed for three years.

Lindsay MacCallum, 61, was told she had ‘betrayed’ victims of the disease by ‘systematically and deliberately’ carrying out the decade-long fraud.

The mum-of-two worked as a fundraising manager for the Anthony Nolan Trust from 1995 until 2012 before leaving to set up Rainbow Valley with best friend Angela MacVicar.

Angela, 64, lost her daughter Johanna to leukaemia aged just 27 in 2005 and the foundation was established in her honour to support the families of those suffering from cancer.

MacCallum, of Aberfoyle, in Stirlingshire, defrauded the Rainbow Valley out of £85,978 and embezzled a further £9,505 from the Anthony Nolan Trust, a stem cell charity which also supports cancer patients.

Falkirk Sheriff Court heard she forged signatures of charity staff and rerouted cash from fundraising accounts for her own use between 2011 and 2021.

She sat with her head bowed as Sheriff Maryam Labaki told her: ‘The purpose of the Rainbow Valley charity was to support the families of those suffering from cancer.

‘You betrayed those who are suffering, and the terminally ill and their families. You deprived them of funds raised in good faith.

‘You have brought devastation to those who trusted you.’

MacCallum worked with Mrs MacVicar for 10 years before a fall-out in 2022.

Angela stumbled upon the deceit after discovering discrepancies in an account set up for a fundraising ball.

Katie Cunningham, prosecuting, told the court: ‘The accused sent a message to Mrs MacVicar stating, “I’m really sorry Angela. I hate myself, I’m trying to make it right. I’ve let everyone down and Fraser is distraught”.

‘She said she was ashamed and it was “abhorrent” that she had transferred money from the account into her own.

‘The accused said her daughter Eilidh was in terrible trouble and needed access to money. She said that she was finding it difficult to live with herself.’

Ms Cunningham said: ‘A bank account called Aberfoyle Friends of the Anthony Nolan Trust remained open from July 2011 to 2016. The accused debited that account and paid into her own account.

‘The payments were signed by another charity member but when asked about these signatures, she said they were not her signature.’

MacCallum was made project development manager of Rainbow Valley and in 2014 was given a charity credit card to replace using a Friends of Rainbow Valley’ bank account.

But the account remained in use and it was not until August 2022, after a fall out between the friends, that questions were raised over transactions from this account.

MacCallum, a former Royal Navy servicewoman and one-time assistant to an MP, pleaded guilty to two fraud charges totalling £95,483.

Defending, Deirdre Flanagan said MacCallum had already paid back £25,000 of the money taken, was able to repay the rest, and intended to do so.

Asked by the sheriff what MacCallum’s explanation was for taking the money, Ms Flanagan replied: ‘I have consulted with her many times and she is not able to tell me.’

She said MacCallum had expressed ‘shame and mortification’ for her actions.

Outside court, Mrs MacVicar said the sentence ‘sent a message’ that crimes like MacCallum’s would not be tolerated.

She said: ‘It is heartbreaking when an individual creates negativity within the third sector.

‘The ripple effect of Lindsay MacCallum runs deep, and I ask that people remember this was one person and one person alone who breached the trust which was bestowed upon her.’

She added: ‘There was no mention from her about what this has done to our family and my daughter’s name.

‘I think she was sorry she was caught – no mention of being sorry for the devastation she has caused us and Johanna’s memory.

‘I was bereft when I found out what she had done, totally bereft. She was my best friend, and I trusted her implicitly, as did everybody.

‘She fooled everybody.’

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