'I felt bullied by charity CEO' - former trustee

Dr Alan Sagar was a LIVES Trustee and a medical volunteer for 33 years

A former medical charity trustee has said he "felt bullied" by the organisation’s chief executive.

Dr Alan Sagar, who volunteered for LIVES for 33 years, contacted the BBC after 26 staff and volunteers - both former and current - raised concerns about how the charity is run, with some describing the workplace culture as "toxic".

Founded more than 50 years ago, LIVES sends emergency responders to medical incidents across Lincolnshire.

It said Dr Sagar's claim was "false" and "at considerable variance" from the recollection of its staff.

In April, the BBC spoke to former and current staff and volunteers from LIVES, who claimed there was a culture of bullying and belittling staff at the charity.

Three of them said they had considered taking their own lives.

LIVES trustees previously told the BBC those allegations were "completely without foundation" and they were "satisfied the charity is well run and robustly managed".

The LIVES charity responds to medical emergencies from the Humber to the Wash

The BBC has since been contacted by a further nine of the charity's former and current staff and volunteers, including retired anaesthetist Dr Sagar.

He was a volunteer medical responder for LIVES between 1987 and 2020 and a trustee of the charity for more than 30 years, including periods as chair of trustees.

Dr Sagar said he had raised concerns about the charity's chief executive, Nikki Cooke, after an incident at a small event in Sleaford in October 2019.

He said the chief executive "tore strips off" him for making a speech in which he praised the work of LIVES’ fire service volunteer responders, without asking for her permission first.

He said: "Afterwards, she rushed over to me and I was told off like a schoolboy.

"I was having strips torn off me for having dared to say anything at that meeting."

Dr Sagar said he was "very upset" by the incident and "felt bullied by her", concerns he raised with the chair of trustees at the time. He resigned six months later.

Ms Cooke did not comment on the allegations, but the charity's trustees said the allegations were "false" and "Dr Sagar’s recollection of events and those of LIVES staff who attended is at considerable variance".

The trustees said LIVES staff had told them Dr Sagar "interrupted proceedings", they thought he was critical of the charity, and said his “actions were inappropriate".

They said the "chief executive and other members of the LIVES staff felt it prudent to steer him away from the stage".

Two other people, who attended the event, told the BBC the chief executive had taken Dr Sagar to one side afterwards and "gave him a dressing down".

The charity LIVES was founded more than 50 years ago

'Please come back'

LIVES has seen a fall in its number of volunteer responders, from 762 in 2018 to 241 in 2023. LIVES previously told the BBC this was down to a migration of the volunteers' database which removed "outdated information".

Among the volunteers who have left is Pete Lovett, who volunteered as a first responder for five years in Essex before joining LIVES in 2020.

He said there were many reasons why he had stopped in 2022 and other volunteers "were just rolling out of the door".

Mr Lovett said LIVES had blocked his request to give a free talk on bystander CPR and defibrillators at his local social club.

He said: "I contacted LIVES and they said 'no you can’t do that, we have a team that go out and do the training, or the awareness courses, and they charge a fee'.

"I was offering to do it free of charge and I was so appalled I resigned, but then the next day I got a phone call from one of the trustees saying 'we will allow you to do it, please come back'."

LIVES said it "delivers bystander CPR and defibrillator training" in Lincolnshire at "no cost", by "volunteers who are trained to do so".

It said its records show the club had previously purchased a certificated training course from LIVES and the charity understood it was looking to renew it, which required certified training and a charge.

Pete Lovett said he signed up to "be a responder, not a fundraiser"

Mr Lovett said he had felt less supported than during his time volunteering for East of England Ambulance Service and after he had attended a call-out to a suicide, there was no contact from LIVES to check on his own mental health and wellbeing.

LIVES said it had "no record of this". It said it had "recently" implemented a system in which "certain jobs trigger a welfare response", or responders could request welfare support themselves. It said its Employee Assistance Programme was available to all staff and volunteers.

Mr Lovett said, for him, "the final straw" had been the introduction of a contract for community first responders, which required volunteers to attend a minimum of two fundraising events a year.

"I know a lot of people weren’t keen on that. Like me, they signed up to be a responder, not a fundraiser," he said.

LIVES said without fundraising, it "can’t recruit and train responders". It said many charities expect their volunteers to take part in fundraising and it had "no evidence of a large number of volunteers leaving due to this".

An online petition has been supported by 515 people

Since January, an online petition calling for the charity's CEO to resign has been supported by 515 people.

The Charity Commission, which regulates all charities in England, said it "has an ongoing regulatory compliance case into LIVES regarding the charity’s governance and management" and was "continuing to engage with trustees".

Last month, it asked anyone with new concerns about LIVES to contact the commission directly.

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