# Aspire warns of fundraising scam

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2004/06/27/aspire-warns-fundraising-scam/
- Published: 2004-06-27T23:00:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Spinal cord injury charity Aspire has warned of a door-to-door fundraising scam 
in Stanmore, north London.
Jenny Page, head of fundraising and marketing at Aspire,
said that she had learned that a young man, probably about 14 years old, had been
collecting door to door sponsorship for a swim that he said was taking place at 
the ASPIRE National Training Centre in aid of people suffering from epilepsy. He
had already received pledges and cash from several people in an area of Stanmore,
but one person became suspicious and rang Aspire to find out if it was genuine.

Ms Page was particularly concerned with the timing of the scam. She said: “we are
concerned that it will impact on our major fundraising event – the ASPIRE Channel
Swim which asks individuals and teams to swim the 22 mile distance of the English
Channel in any pool over a 12 week period (13th September – 5th December).” She 
added that “we would encourage anyone with any doubts to phone the Aspire fundraising
team to ensure that their valuable funds will only be used to help people with spinal
cord injuries.”

This is not the first time that Aspire’s name has been used by fraudulent fundraisers.
A court case is already underway.

## Advertisement

 [⌊Posthub advert. You create the campaign. We'll handle the postal journey. Get started at post-hub.co.uk.⌉](https://fundraising.co.uk/ads/posthub-20261007-300x250/)

 * **[New £5 coin produced](https://fundraising.co.uk/2004/07/19/new-5-coin-produced/)**(
   19 July 2004)
 * **[Search for West Yorkshire's best male volunteers](https://fundraising.co.uk/2004/09/03/search-west-yorkshire039s-best-male-volunteers/)**(
   3 September 2004)
 * **[RNIB launch Scared Senseless appeal around Halloween](https://fundraising.co.uk/2004/09/05/rnib-launch-scared-senseless-appeal-around-halloween/)**(
   5 September 2004)