Tuesday 23rd February 2010
A bankrupt charity scammer, exposed by the Daily Mirror two years ago, and now working for the Crusaders Rugby League club, has turned out as the club's cheerleader for Gareth Thomas.
Andy Garside is Commercial Manager for the Wrexham-based outfit where Thomas has been in negotiations. Unkind wags are suggesting it would not be the rugby union star turned gay activist's first 'code-switch'. He 'came out' as homosexual in December following four years of marriage.
Christian Voice National Director Stephen Green wrote to the chairman, directors and chief coach of Crusaders earlier this week, alerting them to Gareth Thomas's support of LGBT History Month and gay activists 'Schools Out'. What Cardiff Blues Chief Executive Robert Norster described as Thomas's 'private life' is one matter, he said, and we should be praying for him in his inner turmoil. But supporting an organisation which promotes sodomy to small children is not a private matter; it is public gay activism and completely beyond the pale.
Stephen Green says:
'In an astonishing development, I then received an email from this Andy Garside, claiming to be 'open-minded' and condemning me for 'attacking' Thomas about his 'sexuality'. It was the only 'anti' correspondence I have had about Gareth Thomas. Of course Garside missed the point; my letter was about Thomas's gay activism, not his homosexuality as such.
'But a quick google search revealed Garside to be more open-minded in the moral arena than even I could have expected. He turned out to have been running a sales pitch ripping off a local charity.'
Andy Garside's activities as a charity fund-raiser were exposed as a scam by the Daily Mirror in 2008. His company Chestnut House was selling advertising space on a wall-planner. His sales representatives were telling their prospects it was to support a local charity, but only 5% of the money went to the charity. 30% was given to the salesman, and 65% was pocketed by Chestnut House.
Garside is now Commercial Manager of both Wrexham FC and Crusaders RL, but his appointment has been greeted with dismay by supporters, as the local paper reports. They have started a petition calling on Wrexham and Crusaders to sack him. Following his exposure by the Mirror, the charity dumped Chestnut House and Garside was made bankrupt in March 2009. Yet he is now involved in running financial affairs at both Wrexham and Crusaders.
Stephen Green continued:
'I have dropped Gareth Thomas a line to let him know that he does not have to 'stay gay'. Men and women have walked away from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ. The same Lord and Saviour calls Gareth Thomas also to seek healing at the foot of the Cross.
'In the meantime, I hope and pray Thomas will step away from Schools Out and their promotion of depravity to school children. It should be embarrassing that a man who ran a charity scam and then went bankrupt is his biggest supporter at Crusaders RL. It is no virtue to be so open-minded that one cannot see any wrong in either sodomy or the Chestnut House scam. To anyone with a moral compass, each activity is as morally bankrupt as the other.'
