Charity boss found dead in building he was about to lose after rent increase

An embattled charity boss who ‘did his best for everyone’ was found dead after a fire in a warehouse he was about to lose.

John Mann, 50, was discovered in the Burners Lane building in Milton Keynes on Wednesday after a fire – believed to have been started in a basket – set off the smoke alarms overnight.

Margaret Mann, the charity’s co-founder, and John’s former partner, said: ‘It’s just so very, very sad.’

A customer said: ‘This is a tragic loss of a man who just wanted to do good and a charitable scheme that helped thousands of people as well as the environment.

‘Our hearts go out to John’s children and his family. He did his best for everyone.’

For two years, John had been struggling to keep the furniture recycling scheme Re-use open after the building’s rent had doubled.

This came after landlord MK Community Foundation, a grant-making charity and one of the richest in Milton Keynes, axed rent subsidies and increased the rent.

‘It went from £2,487 a month to £60,000 a year – almost £6,000 a month’, a source told local publication, MKCitizen.

An email from the foundation in 2022 said: ‘It remains for you to decide if you want to revert to a full lease at a rent of £60,000 pa… or we terminate the tenancy and agree dilapidations.’

John replied: ‘Our goal is to provide free and affordable furniture and household goods to help those in need, not to make a ton of money to pay our rent.’

As a result of the rent hike, Re-use faced the risk of closure after more than 25 years helping the local community.

One of the area’s first recycling schemes when it started in the late 1990s, it took unwanted furniture, household goods, school uniforms and winter coats, which were then donated or sold cheaply to former homeless people, single parents and others in need.

The local council had praised the group’s work as ‘ticking all the boxes for helping the needy as well as encouraging eco-friendly recycling and reducing waste’.

A spokesperson for MK Community Foundation said: ‘We have been made aware of the passing of John Mann and are deeply shocked and saddened to hear the news.

‘Reuse Community Project MK has been a long-standing tenant of our property at Kiln Farm and it’s been a pleasure to support the group through a continuous and ongoing rent subsidy.

‘John’s death will be a great loss to the charity sector and all of those who Reuse supported. We send our condolences to his family and friends during this incredibly difficult time.’

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