Carluke charities’ fury at business BID levy

THREE small charities in Carluke have written to the council and the government, protesting at the levy being forced on them by the Carluke BID group.
Clydesdale Food Bank...depends on public donations to pay for fresh food to be given out with tinned goods to desperate familiesClydesdale Food Bank...depends on public donations to pay for fresh food to be given out with tinned goods to desperate families
Clydesdale Food Bank...depends on public donations to pay for fresh food to be given out with tinned goods to desperate families

The New Beginnings charity, a not-for-profit group reliant on donations from the public to help those who have been made homeless, has been hit with a demand for £300.

“The BID levy is asking for donations – which have come from the public – to be siphoned off charities to them,” said co-ordinator Mary McLellan, one of a delegation representing three charities who came to the Gazette.

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“That £300 is what it costs us to run our furniture initiative for a month.”

Carluke Parish Historical Association, which does not charge for its services, does not have the £250 demanded.

And the £300 from the Food Bank could come only from donations given to pay for fresh food for desperate families.

All three are furious at the way the group formed to carry out improvements to Carluke has acted; they all state they were never told that charities would be hit with levies and they are meeting a “brick wall” when they try to discuss it.

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And they believe that the BID group could have exempted charities but chose to include them.

Robert Barr, in the Historic AssociationG told the Gazette:

“They could have agreed not to levy the charities, but they stated instead that there would be no freeloaders.

“What an insult to the volunteers who operate these charities!

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“They failed in their duty to inform the charities that they would be levied.”

The groups also stress that they are unlikely to benefit from any of the improvements as they are all run efficiently.

For more on this, pick up a copy of this week’s Carluke and Lanark Gazette.