Up on memories today a memorable day with major local entrepreneur Paul Mackings @SthTyneCollege
Great to organise &
host educational events like this one.
‼ COMING SOON ‼
Watch out for a video of our Patrons talking about "hidden carers". It will be released during Carers Week (w/c 10th June '24). There will be messages from Jimmy Montgomery, Luke O'Nien, Paul Mackings (pictured), Simon Grundy and Jeff Brown. @MySpanishCity
The Q1 2026 donations to Reform included 2 completely new & interesting donors.
- Paul Mackings, now the leader of Reform controlled South Tyneside Council, donated £111k
-A company called Castle building, donated £36k
-Coincidentally, Castle building are working on a major project for South Tyneside Council.
- One of the consultants originally involved in planning the project....... Paul Mackings!
https://t.co/bn87KzeTmm
Students for Reform: The American Money Behind Reform UK's Youth Wing
Students for Reform presents itself as a grassroots student movement. The paper trail tells a different story.
Students for Reform was not founded by students. It was created by Reform UK, and its president, Jack Eccles, was personally appointed by Nigel Farage in November 2025. Eccles had been working with Reform party members for months on what he described as a "special project" before the public announcement.
The organisation's paid political advertising carries a legal imprint: "Promoted by Saffron Sims-Brydon on behalf of Students for Reform, at Millbank Tower." Sims-Brydon is not a student activist. She is a sitting Durham County Council Reform UK councillor for Derwent and Pont Valley.
Students for Reform is not registered as a non-party campaigner with the Electoral Commission. Any organisation spending over £700 on political campaigning during a regulated period must register. It has not.
The government's proposed social media ban for under-16s would restrict access to every platform Students for Reform uses to recruit and organise. Its entire operation runs on TikTok, Instagram and X. It has no website of its own beyond a landing page, no physical presence, and no infrastructure that exists outside the platforms listed in the ban. The organisation that Reform UK built to capture young voters would lose its recruitment pipeline overnight. There is no contingency, because there is no independent organisation. There is only the social media operation.
At the Students for Reform launch, one of those present was Lois Perry, Director of Heartland UK/Europe. The Heartland Institute is a US-based organisation that worked with Philip Morris throughout the 1990s to discredit the health risks of secondhand smoke, and has since become the world's leading promoter of climate change denial.
Heartland UK/Europe has no Companies House registration. It operates in Britain as a branch of a Chicago organisation with no domestic legal entity, no filed accounts, and no transparency obligations under UK company law.
In September 2024, Farage was the keynote speaker at Heartland's 40th anniversary fundraising dinner in Chicago. Tickets reached $50,000 for a platinum table, which included the chance to sit with Farage during dinner. Nothing from that evening has been declared in his register of interests.
Three months later Farage was guest of honour at the Heartland UK/Europe launch in London alongside Liz Truss. Perry has since told a Polish television channel that she has an "unofficial but very close role" advising Reform on climate and energy policy. Heartland's podcast has featured Reform's Head of Policy and other senior party figures.
A US climate denial body with no UK legal registration, whose director was present at the Students for Reform launch, is operating inside British domestic politics with no financial transparency.
Students for Reform is not a student movement. It is a party operation with an American spine.
Volare Aviation and the £30,000 Credit: What the Company Said
Volare Aviation has responded to questions put by The Verified Receipts regarding £30,000 in aviation services connected to Nigel Farage and Reform UK.
The company's response, received on Sunday evening, disputes the characterisation that flights were provided personally to Farage. Charlotte Sheridan, Private PA and Chief of Staff at Volare Aviation, wrote: "Volare Aviation Limited did not provide flights to Nigel Farage in a personal capacity to the value of approximately £30,000."
The company states that aviation services were provided to Reform Party UK Limited, invoiced at normal commercial rates, and carried multiple Reform Party personnel and associated attendees.
However, Volare's response confirms the £30,000 figure and identifies its origin. The company states that "Reform Party UK Limited's account included a £30,000 credit associated with support provided by Mr Dustin Dryden."
This raises a question the response does not answer. A £30,000 credit provided by a private individual to a political party's account with a private aviation company is a donation in kind. Donations in kind to registered political parties above the reporting threshold must be declared to the Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission's published register of donations to Reform UK is the relevant public record.
Volare confirmed its 2024 accounts are not yet filed. The response stated they "are currently being finalised and will be filed in due course." The accounts were due in January 2026.
On the company's ownership structure, which includes a Guernsey parent company and an HSBC debenture registered in October 2024, Volare stated this "is publicly disclosed and accurately reflected in the relevant corporate filings."
The Verified Receipts has searched the Electoral Commission's published register of donations to Reform UK across all available quarterly returns. No donation from Dustin Dryden appears in any published record. A £30,000 credit provided by a named individual to a political party's account with a private aviation company is a donation in kind. Donations in kind above the reportable threshold must be declared to the Electoral Commission. This one has not been.