Minnie Driver admits she stepped down from Oxfam to 'send a clear message' in wake of Haiti scandal

'Horrified': Minnie Driver says stepping down form Oxfam broke her heart
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Former Oxfam ambassador Minnie Driver has said that stepping down from the charity after 20 years following the Haiti sex scandal “broke my heart”.

Oxfam is accused of concealing the findings of an inquiry into claims that staff used prostitutes while delivering aid to victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, which left 200,000 dead.

The Hollywood actress last week became the first celebrity ambassador for Oxfam to step down, saying she was “nothing short of horrified” by the allegations. She told the Standard she had to quit in order to “send a message” to charity bosses.

She said: “I heard rumours about things, I asked questions, but I’d been assured there was nothing going on. It cut me to the very heart. I needed to send a very clear message, not to the people I worked with on the ground over the years, but to the corporate people who knew this was going on and who were not transparent about it.”

Driver, 48, travelled to Thailand and Cambodia in her role with Oxfam and performed at a charity concert in London in 2004, joining stars such as Chris Martin, Razorlight and REM.

She told the Standard that she would be willing to continue to help with specific projects if the charity “cleans house” but would not be officially associated with Oxfam again.

At the Tabernacle in Notting Hill, as part of an New York Times event hosted by How To: Academy, she said: “Apart from with my mum and my dad and my family I haven’t been in a 20-year relationship with anyone.

“They [Oxfam] need to clean house. I will come back, I will do anything — but I won’t carry on being associated.”

A statutory inquiry has been opened by regulator the Charity Commission over concerns the charity might have tried to hide details about the allegations.

Some 7,000 regular donors have stopped giving money to Oxfam.

Oxfam boss Mark Goldring yesterday apologised to the International Development Committee during a grilling by MPs and revealed the charity had received 26 fresh allegations of misconduct since the scandal was made public two weeks ago.

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