News from Tvind Alert
Investigating the Tvind organisation and exchanging information in 50 countries
http://www.tvindalert.org.uk
No 10 Dec 1st 2002
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Jes Fabricius Møller’s brief information on Tvind and news update for non-Danes: http://www.staff.hum.ku.dk/jesfab/abouttvind.htm#update
Friedrich Griess’s German-language archive of Tvind news:
http://griess.st1.at/tvind
IICD Watch:
http://iicdwatch.bravepages.com/
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Top stories
Denmark
TVIND BUYS A LUXURY CAR FOR AMDI
Tvind has bought a 150,000 Euro (1 million Danish kroner ) luxury BMW X5 four-wheel-drive car for Amdi Petersen, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten reports. The silver, 284-horsepower luxury car will be used to pick Petersen up from outside the jail in Denmark, if he is released on bail pending his fraud trial. Petersen and seven other members of the Teachers Group are facing trial in February.
There have been fears that if released on bail, Petersen will flee the country before the start of the trial. When he was arrested, Petersen was en route to Mexico, which does not have an extradition treaty with Denmark. However Paul Gade, the prosecutor, has commented that the purchase of the car is not a significant risk.
However Gade says the car purchase will make an interesting case for the tax-authorities. ‘The fact that they spend so much money on a car, is interesting because Amdi Petersen and several other Tvind-people for years have declared in their tax-return to have a annual income of about 10,000 euro (70.000 Danish kroner)’, says Gade.
BRITAIN
Winestead Hall School complaints
RETURN OF AT-RISK TEENAGERS TO TVIND’S UK SCHOOL PROMPTS COMPLAINTS TO AUTHORITIES
Teenagers with behavioural difficulties are again being sent for ‘residential care’ to Tvind’s Winestead Hall school in Britain, four years after the school was closed down by British authorities. Town halls are paying Tvind a reported £3,000 a month for each vulnerable teenager, although according to information received by Tvind Alert, they are being cared for by completely unqualified ‘volunteers’.
Two volunteers at CICD have contacted Tvind Alert separately with concerns about this. There is very serious alarm that the vulnerable teenagers – at present one from Sheffield, another from Denmark – may be in the ‘care’of completely unqualified volunteers, recruited by Tvind. The ‘carers’ are also unlikely to be positively vetted to work with children – as UK law now demands. If so, this is a very serious offence.
The volunteers are asking how the £3,000-per-teenager is being spent, since there is little evidence of any money going to the welfare of the teenagers or facilities at Winestead. Three years ago investigators found money was being passed to a Channel Island offshore company as inflated ‘rent’. East Yorkshire Youth Offending Team have been asked to look into the placements and the national Probation Service is to circulate information about Tvind Alert to probation officers.
ELAINE’S STORY ABOUT WINESTEAD
Meanwhile, four more volunteers have left Winestead and asked for their money back. One, Elaine, has contacted East Riding Trading Standards (the local body charged with consumer protection), health and safety officers and is also considering going to the police. She has demanded return of £1,140 in fees but has so far been refused a refund.
She writes: “I joined the CICD in Winestead, near Hull, on 4th November thinking it was a legitimate organisation/charity and have since uncovered many distressing and dangerous practices. I have told them I want to leave and they are withholding £1,140 of my money and the same for 3 other colleagues. They refused to talk to us about refunds ……If I had not been convinced before I am most definitely convinced now that money is being siphoned off for some secret project – probably politically motivated.”
Elaine’s story. http://www.tvindalert.org.uk/stories/elaine’s_story.htm
Netherlands
DUTCH CITY OF EINDHOVEN WANTS TO BAN HUMANA CLOTHING BINS
The city of Eindhoven, the fifth biggest city in Holland (more than 200.000 citizens), wants to ban the clothing bins from Humana. According to the responsible alder woman, J. Kuppens, the Court of Mayor and Alderman seriously doubts the integrity of Humana, following reports in Eindhovens Dagblad and other media, she said this week during a meeting of the advising council for environment. In October the council of the Dutch village of Oss decided to end the relationship with Humana for the same reasons. From January 1st next year the city of Zaanstad also ends the relationship with the controversial clothes collector.
(Source: Eindhovens Dagblad, Oct 28th)
USA
NEW IICD-DOWAGIAC BUILDING OPENS – DESIGNED BY JAN UTZON
Claims that Tvind is really an impoverished organisation that gives its last cent to the world’s poor are again challenged, this time by a brand new school building opened last month at IICD-Dowagiac, in Michigan, USA. The building is designed by Danish architect Jan Utzon, designer of the Sydney Opera House. Utzon, evidently sympathetic to Tvind, also designed Humana’s palatial headquarters building at Shamva, Zimbabwe.
Volunteers ‘fundraising’ on street corners, supposedly to finance their college courses, might find this interesting news. Unfortunately Tvind Alert does not know how much the Utzon-designed building cost, or which Tvind company paid the bill.
Utzon’s website, with pictures of Dowagiac and Shamva:
http://www.utzon.dk
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Messages/questions from readers:
NORWAY: If anyone of you reading this has been working in Norway for UFF or knows someone who worked there please contact me. I have some questions to ask. My e-mail reads hugmebaby@web.de
ITALY: Maurizio
He writes: “I’m as anybody else who wanted to leave for a while the reality to join a program with Humana abroad. I found a newspaper in a pub I’m used to go to. I found it very interesting, the dream of someone’s life. To help someone in Africa, attending a previous course in Norway, meeting a lot of new people. I opened the Italian web site and I started to search through DRH programs and all that stuff and I was amazed. I just loved it…..I went home after booking a private meeting with them. When I went home my uncle fortunately found out your web site and my dream suddenly disappeared. That’s all so far. I’m know in touch with a Social Centre that is trying hopefully to pubblicize the thing to kids.” maone@libero.it
‘Jeffrey’ writes: ‘Thank you for providing an open space for thoughts and truth. I am trying to find out more. It is difficult and kind of overwelming how much material there is out there.’
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ABOUT TVIND ALERT
Tvind Alert is a voluntary network dedicated to investigating the international Tvind organisation and its creator, Amdi Petersen. Tvind Alert was created by journalist Michael Durham and receives no subsidy or financial support. (Some of us write books and occasional articles but believe us, investigating Tvind is not a lucrative occupation.) We welcome interesting new information and you can contact us through the website or at feedback@tvindalert.org.uk
The story of Tvind Alert can be found at: http://www.tvindalert.org.uk/newspapers/uk_press_gazette.htm
Tvind Alert is non-political, completely independent and has no connection with any government, political party, pressure group, media outlet or law enforcement agency.
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Michael Durham (UK) Han Gommeren (Netherlands) (Editors)
tel +44 (0) 7775 531612 fax +44 (0) 7031151871
tel +31 (0) 6 2411 3958
Marianna Maver (USA)
Jes Fabricius Moller (Denmark)
feedback@tvindalert.org.uk
Tvind Alert
Investigating the Tvind organisation and exchanging information in 50 countries
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