£10k missing from Acomb Working Men's Club funds (From York Press)

£10k missing from Acomb Working Men's Club funds

10:30am Saturday 29th August 2009 in News By Richard Catton and Richard Harris

THE disappearance of £10,000 from the funds of a York working men’s club has left devastated members hundreds of pounds out of pocket and looks set to spark a police investigation.

The shock discovery was made earlier this week when members of Acomb Working Men’s Club tried to withdraw cash from the bank to pay for a planned dream trip to today’s Rugby League’s Carnegie Challenge Cup at Wembley.

Instead of the £16,000 which 30 members had paid into a fund to live it up with the thousands heading for the sporting clash between the Huddersfield Giants and the Warrington Wolves, they instead found just £6,000.

The news was broken to members in an emergency meeting held at the club on Wednesday evening.

Trip organisers believe the missing money, £520 collected from each member for hotels and travel, was never deposited. The trip to Wembley has still gone ahead, financed by the £6,000 that was left, but the £340 surplus that each member was expecting back as spending money to enjoy their trip to the capital, has gone.

“I was pleased the trip was still going ahead but I’m out of pocket nearly £700 so I’m pretty gutted,” said member Matthew Graham.

“There are people who have saved all year for this and we are taking advice on the best way of getting our money back.”

Fellow member Warren Mapplebeck confirmed that he and another trip organiser would be reporting the missing money to police on Monday morning.

“Everyone is absolutely disgusted,” he said. “This has cost people a lot. It has affected people aged from 28 right up to pensioners. I am heartbroken.

“People have paid it throughout the year and we make a reservation on the hotels. We have to sign a contract saying we will commit ourselves to pay this.”

Mr Mapplebeck said the section of the club that organised the trip could still have been obliged to pay for the accommodation, even if all the money had vanished.

Club secretary John Laine said the loss had not affected club funds as it belonged to the section of the club that organised the Wembley trip.

“The money has gone,” he said yesterday.

“The section had a meeting last night and they went on the trip today. It’s up to the section which organised it to take action.”