The daughter of the Salvation Army leader in Australia has come under fire after she used donated Paul McCartney concert tickets that were meant for the homeless, according to a report.
The seven tickets were originally donated to the homeless by Beatles fan Chris McDonald, but four hours before the Dec. 5 show, two of the ticket holders pulled out, Aussie Salvation Army chief Brendan Nottle told the Guardian.
“At the last minute, two tickets were returned and [a manager] made the decision to give them to my daughter [Ash Nottle]. It had absolutely had nothing to do with me,” Nottle told 3AW on Thursday.
“The manager did the ring-around of other homeless people and volunteer staff and wasn’t able to move them because it was so late.”
Nottle said his daughter, who attended the concert with her partner, accepted the tickets under the premise she’d be looking out for the five homeless people attending the show.
The British-based charity plans to reimburse the donor for the tickets, saying they weren’t even an appropriate donation to begin with.
“When you’re working with homeless people, to be blunt, do homeless people need tickets to Paul McCartney or do they need a roof over their head?” Brendan said. “We are not Ticketmaster, we are not concert promoters, we don’t do that stuff and we get it wrong sometimes.”
Nottle said the situation could have been handled better and that the organization will “absolutely learn from this.”
“The tragic thing is the daughter that’s involved is one of the most giving people I know. In this work you don’t do this stuff for the kickbacks,” he said.
The donor who gave the tickets said he plans to still support the charity.
“They do an awful lot of good for people and for the homeless,” McDonald said. “I have been a recipient of their relief so I know how important the work they do is, but the golden rule is never to dip your hand into the donations — it calls the integrity of the entire organization into dispute.”