Army veteran desperate for answers over missing £37,000 from Chesterfield charity Kids ‘n’ Cancer

Jason Evans, 52, underwent two operations on cancerous tumours in 2011 and 2013 – however in 2015 doctors told him the cancer was growing in his brain once again.

His family, friends, former Forces comrades and work pals from his IT industry job all rallied round to raise over £37,000 for proton beam therapy.

On a Facebook fundraising page entitled Jason’s Journey, photos show various fundraising nights, charity bike rides and skydives held to pay for the former soldier’s treatment.

Jason says a Just Giving page for the money was set up by Chesterfield-based charity Kids ‘n’ Cancer – who would arrange for the treatment abroad much quicker than the NHS.

Kids n Cancer, primarily intended to help children, had now started supporting adults with the deadly disease.

The father-of-three was later told a scan had shown the growth on his brain was in fact scar tissue and his cancer was still in remission.

Now that Jason, who served 24 years in the British military – including Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and three tours in Iraq – was sure he was cancer-free, he wanted the money raised for his fight to be donated to others battling the disease.

However, in May 2017 when he visited his Just Giving page he realised it had been deactivated.

Information supplied by Just Giving shows Jason had raised £37,345.22 plus £7,580.25 in gift aid prior to the page being closed.

It was then he discovered that the Kids ‘n’ Cancer’s founders – Mike Hyman and his wife June – had been arrested on suspicion of theft.

The Charity Commission froze Kids ‘n’ Cancer’s assets and opened a statutory inquiry to “assess serious concerns” about the charity’s “management and governance”.

In March last year the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced that no criminal proceedings would be brought against Mr Hyman as he was “not fit to stand trial”.

Speaking about the lost money and the subsequent investigation, Jason said: “Since he (Hyman) was arrested there have been few updates and the investigation seems to have been farcical from start to finish."

Jason – who last served in Helmand Province as a platoon commander in the Welsh Guards – says his health is now rapidly deteriorating.

He wants to make sure the money raised for his cancer fight is not lost forever and goes to others in need of help.

He said: "I’m now starting to struggle – my short-term memory is shocking. I have post-traumatic street disorder and combat stress-related conditions.

“If I die, I want it to go to someone else. We’ve been told to let justice prevail but nothing has happened so far.

"I swore I would get to the bottom of this – it’s just annoyed me that nothing has happened.”

In a statement to Derbyshire Times this week the Charity Commission confirmed it was now “prevented” from further investigations due to the CPS decision not to bring charges against Mr Hyman.

A spokesperson said: “There were clearly regulatory concerns around the charity’s dysfunctional governance which meant that it was not being managed as we would have expected.

“We recognise that this outcome leaves many unanswered questions for those who raised funds for and donated to the charity and for the children and families the charity was set up to help.

"We share their frustration that those who may have been able to provide answers are no longer able to and that there has therefore been no accountability - or sense of closure - around what went wrong in this charity, and why.”

The spokesman confirmed that Kids ‘n’ Cancer was removed from the register of charities in June 2020 on the basis that it “no longer existed” and that the charity was insolvent, as there were therefore no remaining funds available in its bank account.