Depher - James Anderson

[Jelly Bean]

He is absolutely a loose cannon with other people's money which was only donated for one specific cause: funerals, bailiffs, bionic arms, rent arrears, loans, amongst other things. So far from the advertised remit.
It's all so wierd.

 

[ohcomeon99]

The absolute ARROGANCE of this statement is bad enough but “free works for government departments - police and social services” - does he actually know that these departments do? Because I like to think it’s more then bodge jobs, glory seeking and exploiting the vulnerable.

He is deluded and power mad to a dangerous level.

 

[ThisIsMyDragName]

Shouldn't trading standards be having a look at all this, let alone other authorities

Trading Standards are usually extremely interested in cracking down on illegal money lending.

 

[CabalofBolorneaise]

He is absolutely a loose cannon with other people's money which was only donated for one specific cause: funerals, bailiffs, bionic arms, rent arrears, loans, amongst other things. So far from the advertised remit.
It's all so wierd.

He’s been taking advantage of the fact people who donate to him are generally kind hearted and none of them would want to be the person who questioned him donating to a kid for a bionic arm or to a grieving family for a funeral - no doubt followed by James posting whatever they said to his thousands of followers “Look who begrudges a child a prosthetic arm” style. When actually James did it and maybe some good came of it but I suspect it was all to raise his own profile rather than an altruistic donation (He and Depher got a loooot of publicity from the arm donation particularly).

But the tide has truly turned on him now and people aren’t afraid to question it anymore.

 

[Ernie58519]

The absolute ARROGANCE of this statement is bad enough but “free works for government departments - police and social services” - does he actually know that these departments do? Because I like to think it’s more then bodge jobs, glory seeking and exploiting the vulnerable.

He is deluded and power mad to a dangerous level.

He is clueless, Government departments have contracts that cover all these services and you can't go out of that contract without getting in serious trouble. I'm ashamed to say I was donating to him monthly and have now stopped it. I genuinely thought he was doing a good thing until I found this thread

 

[ohcomeon99]

He is clueless, Government departments have contracts that cover all these services and you can't go out of that contract without getting in serious trouble. I'm ashamed to say I was donating to him monthly and have now stopped it. I genuinely thought he was doing a good thing until I found this thread

Do NOT ever be ashamed of being a kind person ir take on the shame he should be feeling. He’s left one of his generous contributors feeling ashamed because of his behaviour, doesn’t really fit with the worlds nicest plumber image does it.

You don’t have to answer but I’m curious as to what made you donate? And what made you start suspecting and finally stop?

 

[Lazarus]

He is clueless, Government departments have contracts that cover all these services and you can't go out of that contract without getting in serious trouble. I'm ashamed to say I was donating to him monthly and have now stopped it. I genuinely thought he was doing a good thing until I found this thread

please don't feel ashamed - this is on him, not you.

if i can offer one piece of advice going forward, it would be: don't give your money to people off the internet.
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He is clueless, Government departments have contracts that cover all these services and you can't go out of that contract without getting in serious trouble. I'm ashamed to say I was donating to him monthly and have now stopped it. I genuinely thought he was doing a good thing until I found this thread

please don't feel ashamed - this is on him, not you.

if i can offer one piece of advice going forward, it would be: don't give your money to people off the internet.

 

[Ernie58519]

Do NOT ever be ashamed of being a kind person ir take on the shame he should be feeling. He’s left one of his generous contributors feeling ashamed because of his behaviour, doesn’t really fit with the worlds nicest plumber image does it.

You don’t have to answer but I’m curious as to what made you donate? And what made you start suspecting and finally stop?

Thank you, thats made me feel better.
So I started donating when I saw him on the news and it was at the same time as when my mums boiler broke and she couldn't afford to get it fixed so I thought if I can help someone else not be in that situation then I want to do that. In terms of what made me stop my grandad cancer progressed to being terminal in about July last year so that took all of my focus and he passed away end of November. I spent my nights not being able to sleep scrolling on twitter and I was like wow how are Dephers posts so unprofessional and posting those images of vulnerable people and I was like nah, my grandad would have had no concept of social media and what agreeing to having his photo taken would actually mean so some of those other people wont too and that's not ok. Then I found this thread and it was worse than I ever understood. Sorry for the essay.
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please don't feel ashamed - this is on him, not you.

if i can offer one piece of advice going forward, it would be: don't give your money to people off the internet.
---

please don't feel ashamed - this is on him, not you.

if i can offer one piece of advice going forward, it would be: don't give your money to people off the internet.

100% it won't happen again which is a shame as there are probably genuine people out there

 

[ohcomeon99]

Thank you, thats made me feel better.
So I started donating when I saw him on the news and it was at the same time as when my mums boiler broke and she couldn't afford to get it fixed so I thought if I can help someone else not be in that situation then I want to do that. In terms of what made me stop my grandad cancer progressed to being terminal in about July last year so that took all of my focus and he passed away end of November. I spent my nights not being able to sleep scrolling on twitter and I was like wow how are Dephers posts so unprofessional and posting those images of vulnerable people and I was like nah, my grandad would have had no concept of social media and what agreeing to having his photo taken would actually mean so some of those other people wont too and that's not ok. Then I found this thread and it was worse than I ever understood. Sorry for the essay.
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100% it won't happen again which is a shame as there are probably genuine people out there

I am so sorry to hear about your grandad, sending love.

You have made a brilliant point here that didn’t occur to me. What is the capacity of some people? Like you said, your grandad wouldn’t know social media, or those with mental health problems, learning difficulties etc.

There is not one way this man will not explain ANYONE for his own gains.

You absolutely had the right intentions with what you were doing but 100% right to walk away.

On a basic level, this appears to be a one man band who solicits money from the public, decides who and what to spend it on, flaunts vulnerable people on the internet and abuses anyone who asks even a reasonable question.

Ive noticed a lot actually, with people like him and Jack Monroe that a lot of very vulnerable people on very limited resources end up getting sucked in and donate what they can ill afford because his type of cruel manipulation works very well there.

 

[Ernie58519]

I am so sorry to hear about your grandad, sending love.

You have made a brilliant point here that didn’t occur to me. What is the capacity of some people? Like you said, your grandad wouldn’t know social media, or those with mental health problems, learning difficulties etc.

There is not one way this man will not explain ANYONE for his own gains.

You absolutely had the right intentions with what you were doing but 100% right to walk away.

On a basic level, this appears to be a one man band who solicits money from the public, decides who and what to spend it on, flaunts vulnerable people on the internet and abuses anyone who asks even a reasonable question.

Ive noticed a lot actually, with people like him and Jack Monroe that a lot of very vulnerable people on very limited resources end up getting sucked in and donate what they can ill afford because his type of cruel manipulation works very well there.

100%, also I am sure I saw it on here that posting how vulnerable someone is is leaving them open to more exploitation. My grandad didn't lose any cognitive ability but if a stranger came up to him and said I can't afford to feed my baby he would be giving them money if he knew them or not.

I can imagine in this situation if someone saw that someone was vulnerable, someone could show up pretending to be someone from depher and take whatever they wanted.

The other part is that I donated for heating repairs etc and then he starts giving food donations, donating to other causes that I didn't agree with.

Jack Monroe... I am trying to get my friend to see through her

 

[CurlyWhoo]

Can I ask a question thar might seem stupid?

I thought Depher/CIC fixed boilers, plumbing for those with financial difficulties and/or vulnerable.
And this is funded on donations?
I think this would be a brilliant needed service.

Is he also using donations to:

Loan schemes - does that not need financial legislation wrapped around it? Is this regulated?

Give money to random people in supermarkets? What is the criteria deciding who to give the donated monies to and who not to?

Gifts for children at Xmas? Again, what's the criteria on deciding who can and cannot have gifts.

monies donated to his organisation being donated to other charities?


Sorry - it just seems to have been a great service of boiler/plumbing care, now expanding into concerning areas with other people's monies.
But I could be misunderstanding it completely.

 

[Lazarus]

The other part is that I donated for heating repairs etc and then he starts giving food donations, donating to other causes that I didn't agree with

Perhaps not the right time, but you would be within your rights to submit a report to the CIC regulator. You gave money, and presumably have proof of this, for one reason, only for him to use it for an entirely different purpose which you wouldn't have funded.

if he was a charity, the Charity Commission would have been on him like a ton of bricks if he'd done this. For example:
a) it's like a dog rescue charity deciding to give out unregulated loans to a cat owner who needs new tyres on their car but can't afford them, or
b) a charity set up for the advancement of amateur sport taking your money and giving it to an elephant sanctuary.

either way, it's wrong. it isn't what you signed up for.

 

[gimm3more]

Can I ask a question thar might seem stupid?

I thought Depher/CIC fixed boilers, plumbing for those with financial difficulties and/or vulnerable.
And this is funded on donations?
I think this would be a brilliant needed service.

Is he also using donations to:

Loan schemes - does that not need financial legislation wrapped around it? Is this regulated?

Give money to random people in supermarkets? What is the criteria deciding who to give the donated monies to and who not to?

Gifts for children at Xmas? Again, what's the criteria on deciding who can and cannot have gifts.

monies donated to his organisation being donated to other charities?


Sorry - it just seems to have been a great service of boiler/plumbing care, now expanding into concerning areas with other people's monies.
But I could be misunderstanding it completely.

Absolutely not a stupid question and something we are all wondering too!
Yes, DEPHER stood for Disabled and Elderly Plumbing and Heating Emergency Repair (I think). Now rebranded to CPH - Community Plumbing and Heating.
James says all work was funded by donations as well as “profit from private paid work”.
Regarding your other questions:

1. Yes, as evidenced by James’ posts, he was doing this - unsure if this is still ongoing. Yes, anyone lending money needs to be FCA regulated and adhere to strict legislation. DEPHER/CPH are absolutely NOT associated with the FCA nor legally allowed to do this.

2. Yes, there is evidence of James paying for people’s food shops in store at Farmfoods ahead of Christmas. I don’t think there was any criteria other than him looking good.

3. Yes, likewise another weird one where criteria is blurry. Some have said he asks for full bank statements etc to prove “eligibility” for his help.

4. Yes, again another blurry one - it is unclear whether James has used personal funds or DEPHER/CPH funds to donate to other charities/fundraisers etc. But some donations are in the DEPHER name or on DEPHER invoices, such as a funeral donation to a family in greater Manchester.

They claim to be going “back to basics” providing community plumbing and heating services to the disabled, elderly and now low income families/parents in Burnley. However, their social media is still rife just posting all the crazy random other (unrelated to heating/plumbing) activities, nationwide, that are NOT what his CIC should be doing.
TLDR; James has a massive bleeping ego that needs boosting on the daily.

 

[Lazarus]

Can I ask a question thar might seem stupid?

I thought Depher/CIC fixed boilers, plumbing for those with financial difficulties and/or vulnerable.
And this is funded on donations?
I think this would be a brilliant needed service.

Is he also using donations to:

Loan schemes - does that not need financial legislation wrapped around it? Is this regulated?

Give money to random people in supermarkets? What is the criteria deciding who to give the donated monies to and who not to?

Gifts for children at Xmas? Again, what's the criteria on deciding who can and cannot have gifts.

monies donated to his organisation being donated to other charities?


Sorry - it just seems to have been a great service of boiler/plumbing care, now expanding into concerning areas with other people's monies.
But I could be misunderstanding it completely.

this is exactly what he's doing. i'm not sure what the CIC equivalent of Charity Commission's charitable objects are, but as i've explained in my example above, it's taking money off people for one reason which they clearly agree with, and spending it on something else which they haven't been consulted on and didn't agree to.

If i'd given money for a sad pensioner to receive a boiler i'd be furious if he was standing in iceland or farmfoods buying shopping for people who didn't need the money and he had no way of assessing whether to give that support. mission drift and founder complex is real here

 

[CurlyWhoo]

Thank you for helping to clarify things.

What an absolute mess and what a huge shame because there must be so many people needing plumbing sorted out at a reduced/free rate. That's what the donations were for.

 

[gimm3more]

Thank you for helping to clarify things.

What an absolute mess and what a huge shame because there must be so many people needing plumbing sorted out at a reduced/free rate. That's what the donations were for.

And none of us would begrudge him doing this and doing it properly without exploiting the vulnerable! I don’t think he’ll ever learn sadly. He’s got a real messiah complex

 

[Lazarus]

he could do it without photographing vulnerable people holding a fake invoice which their personal details, but he won't.
this as, and has been my big red flag for some time. these people don't understand the reach or power of social media and are not in a position to consent to their image being used or personal details being shared for likes on Twitter.

 

[Randomer123]

What is James/Dominic on about?!

 

[ohcomeon99]

There is absolutely no stupid question on this thread because the whole thing is just bleeping stupid.

From What I can gather

1.Yes he is doing this, and no, he is no way FCA approved. As you can imagine, it’s like rocking horse tit getting approval from them. He is a loan shark, albeit there is no evidence of interest etc. but it’s things as basic as interest etc that needs to be taken into account. He has zero clue and what is doing is illegal. I don’t know if he charges labour. He says not but begs the question of how he lives?

2. yes he has done this. Again, we don’t know what he spent, when etc.

3. Similar to above, this is one of my many major issues with him. HE decides EVERYTHING. There is no real criteria, he decides on a whim

4. Again, another consistent issue. A charity would be shut down for this, it’s called ringfencing and is a legal matter. He, however, is a cowboy so basically does what he wants with the money with little to no oversight.

I think this is what fundamentally bothers me with him - there is legitimately no oversight here. There is no finance department, compliance, legal, HR, any accounts they do will be basic and not really give too much info. He is literally taking peoples money and unilaterally deciding whether to fit a boiler or go to farm foods

Not everyone is chancer but some people are hence why charities have protocols, criteria etc.

He is also doing the classic thing of oversimplifying poverty/deprivation. Going in and buying one lot of farm foods and posting it on social media is not actually helping anyone, it’s patronising and dangerous. He should be working with real services to allow people to access their own help and support.


It’s bad enough running this vanity product let alone on others mon

 

[Jelly Bean]

What is James/Dominic on about?!

I think Domijames is being falsely humble. 'Oh please give your money to other charities' hoping people will think Britain's Kindest Plumber™ is such an amazing guy wanting donations to go elsewhere.