Naomi Campbell’s charity Fashion for Relief is under scrutiny after Unicef reported it to a watchdog for falsely claiming to be working with the global children’s charity. Unicef UK confirmed to BBC News that they had never been a partner of Fashion for Relief and had not received any funds from an event held in 2019 that was purportedly to raise money for them.
The Charity Commission received a “serious incident report” from Unicef in 2022, leading to an investigation into the charity’s activities. Last week, the model was banned from being a charity trustee after it was discovered that funds were spent on luxury hotels and spa treatments instead of being allocated to the intended causes.
Fashion for Relief held a catwalk show and auction at the British Museum in 2019, claiming to raise money for Unicef and the Mayor’s Fund for London. However, Unicef UK stated that they have never had an official partnership with the charity and did not receive any funds from the event.
Questions have also been raised about Campbell being billed as a Unicef “envoy” at an official meeting in 2018 with then-foreign secretary Boris Johnson. Unicef clarified that Campbell has never held an official role with the organization and they are investigating the matter with the FCDO.
The Charity Commission’s inquiry into Fashion for Relief found that the charity was not passing on as much money as it was supposed to, with funds being spent on personal expenses for Campbell and unauthorized payments to a fellow charity trustee. As a result, Fashion for Relief has been removed from the register of charities and Campbell, along with two other trustees, has been banned from charity involvement for several years.
Campbell expressed her concern over the findings and stated that she was not the person “in control” of the charity. The two other trustees, Bianka Hellmich and Veronica Chou, were also banned for their involvement in the mismanagement of funds.
