A DUBLIN publishing company that told prospective sponsors all proceeds from an "Irish Gladiators" show would go to charity has listed more than £10,000 in expenses for the event.
The company, Madison Publications Ltd, gave the details of, the Madison Irish Gladiators show to the chief executive of People In Need, Mr John Curry. He requested the figures after a complaint from one sponsor. The event, staged in UCD last month, was an Irish version of the British TV show.
The documents show the company raised £18,050 and listed expenses of £10,995.91 - than 60 per cent of the total raised. The costs included hire of lighting, public add systems, advertising and the payments to two of the Gladiator personalities from the LWT series, Wolf and Warrior. Invoices given to People In Need totalled £8,861.91.
According to the managing director of Madison Publications, Mr Mervyn Smith, the organiser hoped to raise up to £35,000. He said they had estimated expenses would come to £7,000 and the company would give around £25,000 to People In Need.
Asked why sponsors were not informed that the event would involve expenses and about letters stating that all proceeds would go directly to People In Need, Mr Smith said: "The whole idea was to raise as much money as possible and try to spend as little as possible. We definitely believed that between contestants, advertising hoardings, tickets and any rich Arabs who wanted to throw some money in we would make between £30,000 and £35,000."
He added that if the company had employed a "professional fund raiser" it might have worded the letters differently.
Mr Smith said the company had to pay an unexpected £3,000 for a lighting and public address system after RTE said it would not provide lighting. It was also querying a bill for £1,300 for equipment built on the day.
The money raised comprised £12,200 in donations from sponsors, who entered contestants into the competition, and £5,850 in ticket sales for the event. Invoices sent to the sponsors by Madison required that all money be paid into a "Charity TSB Account" in Upper Baggot Street, Dublin, under the name of the Madison Gladiators Challenge before the April 19th event.
On the night of the event, the organisers presented an out size cheque to People In Need for £10,000. However, the final figure, assuming all the expenses stand, would be £7,054.09.
In a letter faxed to a sponsor before the event, the company said: "Please note that all money raised goes directly to Telethon and that no person or company is financially benefiting from this event."
The list of expenses includes an invoice for more than £800 from public relations consultant Ms Toni Wall. Ms Wall's name was included on the list of an organising committee.
Ms Wall said yesterday the money was to cover five months of preparatory public relations work, plus telephone and fax bills.
The £5,850 in ticket receipts covered 650 tickets, sold at £10 each, with a 10 per cent discount taken by the agent: 295 tickets were listed as complimentary.
Yesterday, Madison Publications sent a cheque to Mr Curry, who said it was not unusual for money to take weeks and even months to come in. Of the estimated £3 million raised on the day of the Telethon, only one third had been received so far, he said.
Ms Vicki Lappin, marketing manager with Largo Foods, which entered five contestants at a cost of £2,500, said she was surprised at the total amount announced on the night. She said she was approached by fax on March 15th, offering a marketing proposal for one of the company's products.
Mr Smyth said he and his company "had no experience of these things", referring to the show. He said the company decided to stage it as a launch for a health and fitness directory it was publishing.
He added the company had personally sponsored three contestants when it was obvious that not enough sponsors had entered contestants.
Mr Smyth said he told another sponsor, Mr Michael Mullen of Martial Arts International, that if he was unhappy with the money raised he could write to People In Need to request his money back. Mr Mullen said Mr Smyth had offered him his money back. "I simply wanted my £1,000 donation to go directly to People In Need.
Mr Curry said he had not been involved with the event "in any detail". He said the trust took donations in two forms, straightforward corporation cheques and the proceeds of fund raising events. "It's not unusual for someone to come in with less than they've said. In fairness (Mr Smyth) probably hoped the income would be higher and underestimated the cost.
Mr Smyth said he felt any adverse publicity would prevent others having a go at fund raising. "We were just a small group of people. We feel we did our best to organise an event", he said.
