FFFC has had a long association with Vision Publications Group of Ormskirk who print publish and distribute a magazine 'A Friend for Life' on behalf of FFFC. Vision sell advertising to the magazine and we receive a royalty for every advertisement sold.
This is a major fundraiser for us and we thank everyone who is, or has, advertised in the magazine as your money helps us make grants to help kids from all over Britain and Ireland.
A list of successful applicants for grants is published on this website every quarter at the top of the 'We have helped' page.
Here at Vision we pride ourselves on being a long-established publishing company that dedicates itself to the high standards expected from both our customers and the FFFC. From the moment you place an order with Vision you can expect a professional, courteous service from our sales and administration staff, an excellent portrayal of your company from our graphic design team, and a friendly approach from our accounts department. Most of our customers are delighted to work with us repeatedly, safe in the knowledge that the FFFC is a deserving charity that benefits in many ways from their order. If you have any enquiries whatsoever, please do not hesitate to contact our customer services team who are always ready to help.
You may read in various blogs online that the fundraising activities of Vision for FFFC are a 'scam'.
Allegations have been made that the money is not used for the benefit of children, that the magazine is not distributed, etc.
As a result of persistent complaints made, albeit without evidence, to Trading Standards, an investigation was instigated by Lancashire Trading Standards into the activities and operation of Vision Publication group.
The investigation began in May 2012 and was concluded on November of that year. All of Vision's systems and recordings were taken for screening, and a number of persons were interviewed by Trading Standards officers.
FFFC gave full co-operation to this investigation as we were, of course, very concerned that everything should be above board.
In November 2013 we were advised by Trading Standards that Vision Publications had NO case to answer as no evidence of illegal practice could be found.
FFFC has therefore continued its contract with Vision. We remain grateful for their fundraising efforts on behalf of this charity.
From time to time, FFFC still receives unfounded allegations against Vision Publications, based on the 'evidence' of the internet blogs.
The Trustees of FFFC remain pledged to follow the legal guidelines set out by the Charities Commission, but, to date, we have no evidence that there is anything we need to be concerned about in relation to Vision Publications.
