In the wake of the Jimmy Savile affair more charities are finding that being linked to celebrities who fall from grace is definitely injurious to donation levels.

Latest victim is cancer charity Livestrong, fronted by sports personality Lance Armstrong, who has admitted beating his rivals by taking performance-enhancing drugs, despite years of denying that he had done so, and is now complaining that his lying and cheating has led to a lifetime ban on him competing.

During an interview screened on American car-crash television Armstrong claimed that his “most humbling moment” was being asked to stand down from Livestrong, a charity some now suspect was used by him as an image-cleaner, like Savile used Stoke Mandeville Hospital.