Yesterday morning I attended a press conference at the Fusiliers Museum in Bury to highlight the W O Street Charitable Foundation.

Mr Street was a Bury businessman who left his estate to a Charitable Foundation which he established to benefit local charities. He left a note stating that he would like charities to benefit in the areas where he had spent his life most of it in Bury. To cut a very long story short the local Trustees have been replaced with professional Trustees in London charging very substantial sums which over the years amount to millions of pounds. Money that could have gone to local charities. Not only has millions gone in administrative fees but only a small proportion of the millions available for distribution has actually come to benefit charities in Bury. Now a group of highly qualified professionals with a variety of financial, legal and business backgrounds has come forward and indicated that they are prepared to act as Trustees for nothing thereby saving considerable sums and they would ensure that Mr Street’s letter of wishes was given more weight.