Families of deceased charity supporters have been left unable to access tribute pages they have created after a supplier to the charity sector suddenly became inactive.
A service used by charities including Guide Dogs that created in-memoriam online books suddenly stopped operating earlier this year after the death of its director.
Civil Society News understands that at least four charities had paid an annual fee of £1,250 plus VAT to the Online Book Company (OBC) for the service before Jonathan Haward passed away.
The sudden closure of the service has caused some charities to lose access to memorial data which commemorated the lives of beneficiaries' loved ones.
Now that the service has become inactive, charities have no way of recovering their data and have been met with silence when trying to contact the company.
One charity said it was “extremely frustrated” by the loss of its data and lack of contact from the company, while another said it was now looking for a replacement service.
More than 25 charities have worked with the company before, including RNLI and RNIB.
Sudden closure
The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) said its customers were told about the situation in May.
An automatic-reply email read that until the shareholders appointed a replacement director, the company's employees were unable to help its customers.
A few days later, BTO lost access to its online book completely. When the charity complained to the company, it received an automatic reply:
“The company has paused trading and websites turned off, whilst the shareholders decide on its future. As employees, we deeply regret we are not able to assist you any further.”
According to Companies House, 12 of the 13 staff working at the company resigned following the director’s death. The only officer remaining on the website seems to be his widow.
On 2 August, a First Gazette notice for compulsory strike-off was issued, which occurs when a company has ceased trading. However, on 29 September the strike-off action was discontinued.
The company has not responded to Civil Society News’ request for comment, and its telephone number no longer works.
‘Time and money’
A spokesperson from BTO told Civil Society News it was saddened by the loss of the data.
“BTO has put a lot of time and money into the book of remembrance, not to mention the families of deceased BTO supporters. They have created tribute pages in honour of their loved ones as part of their healing process and they are no longer able to access them,” a BTO spokesperson said.
“Being able to offer this special service to family and friends is incredibly important to us so we will have to find a replacement service. Since the sad passing of Jonathan Haward, we have had no communication from the Online Book Company other than the bounce-back email messages and no access to our book of remembrance.”
‘Extremely disappointed and frustrated’
Alan House, chief operating officer of the Firefighters Memorial Trust, said: “We are extremely disappointed and frustrated by the loss of our online book which contained the names of firefighters that died in the line of duty.
“Families could add photos and comments about their loved ones, so it has had an effect not only on the trust but on the loved ones, as we are trying to retrieve the data.”
Moreover, a spokesperson for Guide Dogs told Civil Society News: “Guide Dogs’ procurement protocol means that we do not comment on the engagement with individual suppliers.
“However, we would like to express that we were saddened to learn of the death of the founder of the Online Book company and we’ve signposted bereaved supporters to an alternative way of remembering their loved ones.”
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