Martin Salter, Labour MP for Reading West, has called on the government to mobilise a ‘hardship fund’ in order to help the children’s hospice Naomi House, a charity tragically affected by the Icelandic banking crisis. Mr Salter has written to Kevin Brennan MP, the Minister of State for the Third Sector, highlighting the incredible service provided by Naomi House to his constituency, and to reiterate the need to release the £5.7 million of deposits that were effectively frozen by the government following the economic turmoil affecting Iceland.

In October last year, the government decided to freeze the assets of Kaupthing, Singer and Freidlander (KSF) which included the Naomi House deposits. Naomi House, which provides services across seven south-east counties, is hugely dependent on the income provided by these deposits. The crisis in Iceland, and the governmental action in the UK, has meant that cutbacks to original and innovative plans have been drawn up. The ‘Outreach’ programme, part of a blueprint to provide 72 hour continuous home care for parents with terminally ill children, has been abandoned already. Mr Salter was introduced to a new initiative at the charity, ‘Jacksplace’, which will offer care to young people up to and including 25 years of age. Without the release of the deposits, however, the scheme cannot open fully. What began as an effort to control the impact of the Icelandic troubles on the UK economy is now financially limiting organisations like Naomi House which is doing such a magnificent job in providing help and care to the most vulnerable members of the community.

In his letter to the Minister, Mr Salter said:-

“It now appears that charities such as Naomi House will not receive any special assistance from the government and have to join a long queue of wholesale depositors with little prospect of any early recovery of funds. This is simply unacceptable”.

Mr Salter added:-

“I have since received a phonecall from Kevin Brennan offering to meet a delegation of South East MPs who are concerned at the impact of the banking assets freeze on Naomi House and its ability to deliver services to our constituents. I well understand that the public purse is not a bottomless pit which is why my idea of a hardship fund would enable the Government to pick and choose which organisations could receive earlier assistance.”

Mr Salter is assembling a delegation to meet the Minister which will include Mark Oaten (LibDem, Winchester), Maria Miller (Con, Basingstoke), and Tobias Ellwood (Con, Bournemouth).