Directors dip into own pockets to help Chernobyl charity’s finances

Two directors at Adi Roche’s Chernobyl Children’s charity have dipped into their own pockets to shore up the charity’s finances by giving it €319,000.

New accounts show two unidentified directors last year gave the charity €169,000, on top of the same pair donating €150,000 in 2013.

The 2014 contribution coincided with a vast improvement in the finances of the Chernobyl Children’s Project International (CCI), with losses down sharply to €113,263 from the €664,783 sustained in 2013.

The board is made up of eight people, including Ms Roche, Ali Hewson, former minister Liz O’Donnell, and Noel Kelly, an agent to many of RTÉ’s best known presenters such as Ryan Tubridy, Joe Duffy, and Kathryn Thomas.

Ms Roche yesterday declined to identify the two directors concerned, only confirming they were the same pair that provided a donation in 2013.

Last year’s drop in finances followed the charity’s largest losses in its 24-year history, in 2013, which together with 2012 saw combined losses of €1.34m.

Donations to the charity last year reduced by €1.4m to €1.36m but its finances have been greatly improved after a link-up with logistics firm Syncreon International Group.

CCI was adopted by Syncreon as its charity partner and, with the support of employees, over $700,000 (€593,000) was raised to support CCI’s programmes in 2013 and 2014.

Ms Roche confirmed there has been an increase in donations to the charity in the current financial year, which ends at the end of this month.

She said: “Following difficult financial years in 2012 and 2013, the organisation addressed the downfall by making key decisions in order to realign and reposition itself.

“CCI, as a result, has stabilised and, throughout 2014, was in a recovery position. This recovery was primarily due to the generosity of the Irish people. We are confident that the decisions we have made will ensure our capacity to deliver our lifesaving programmes to those affected by the Chernobyl disaster.”

Since the establishment of CCI, over €96.5m in direct and indirect medical and humanitarian aid has been delivered to the Chernobyl-affected regions and more than 24,500 children have been brought to Ireland for much-needed recuperative holidays. The charity was established in response to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Staff costs at the charity last year reduced from €338,083 to €305,056.

The figures show that the high pay recorded at other Irish charities is not evident at CCI where full-time chief executive Ms Roche works for the charity on a volunteer basis.