‘Binky’ row fuels Barnardo’s rethink

Barnardo’s has pledged to rethink its decision to pay celebrities to appear in its advertising following a major row over its payment to Made in Chelsea star Alexandra “Binky” Felstead.
The row was sparked by a report in The Sun, which claimed the reality TV star had been paid £20,000. However, Barnardo’s insisted it was “only” £3,000 and Felstead has since taken to Twitter to say she has waived the fee.
She tweeted: “This had always been my intention & I’m very upset by the reports today. I’m a huge supporter of this charity & always will be.”
Barnardo’s also used Twitter to try to calm to row, revealing that its agreement with Felstead had been for her to provide media interviews about the charity and appear in a photo-shoot.
“We only do these campaigns because we need to raise more money,” the charity tweeted. “Our goal is always to help more children.”
Barnardo’s said in a statement this morning that it was the first time the charity had paid a fee to a celebrity for a retail campaign and it needed to review the decision.
“As a charity we want to do what works best to raise money for the children we support,” the statement said. “Of course, we always prefer if celebrities donate their time free of charge. As the world changes, however, we need to test new approaches.”

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