Who should you give money too? And does it do any good?
These are big questions. To begin with I should explain that I hate Pudsey with all my heart, all the more so when I had to walk past him to get to work at Television Centre. I would give him a secret punch as I strolled past.
I hate the obsession with public giving, and ‘beating last year’s targets’ for events like Children In Need. There is simply no evidence that celebrity-endorsed mass television appeals are good for the people they are supposed to benefit.
Arguably the reverse: they divert people’s finite available donatable income away from causes they have researched and believe in, because Westlife were in a bath of baked beans or whatever. Certain causes get trendy because Bono’s involved or vice versa.
^ I honestly have no idea if that is an accurate representation of Children in Need. Lenny Henry possibly? What does he do for the rest of the year? Not important right now.
By outsourcing our charity decisions and turning them into a showbusiness event, we make one off payments rather than ongoing commitments and we end up giving money to those causes which work best on television.
One of the earliest telethons, in America, was all about cerebral palsy because a senior executive’s daughter suffered from the disease. It wasn’t based in a rational decision, but for decades became a national institution. Not that I’m suggesting that people with cerebral palsy all got gold-plated toothbrushes, it’s clearly a good cause; just that it is one which reflects choices of people in powerful positions.
Because the telethon format is so upbeat (apart from the sad package bits) it can stop us looking at the serious, structural reasons whey people find themselves in need.
The chummy ‘we’re all in it together and you are a stingy square if you don’t dress up’ mentality bugs the flip out of me and made me even more unpopular than ever when I had to suffer the indignity of frequent daily association with colleagues.
It’s pretty arrogant to assume that just because you did something I should support your causes, right? Even though I’ve done this. I did the London Marathon once and as a social experiment asked my colleagues to donate to my fund without telling them where it went. Only two people asked.
I mean, donkey sanctuaries? In the olden days there were no donkey sanctuaries, just donkey heaven slash donkey glue.
How do I know that you don’t already have very well thought out charitable plan, based on better analysis and research of the world’s problems than mine?
So it’s therefore hypocritical that I’ve basically written post this in order to get you to donate cash to my own Christmas fund.
In my defence, I’m going to lobby for the thing I’m asking you to give money to. Which is the UNHCR refugee crisis charity.
The reason I chose this over the idiot donkeys is the scale and nature of the problem and the way it is presented.
News media is inherently dominated by change, impact and proximity, which can distort our interpretation of the world. Calais refugees are a relatively new phenomenon, and it’s easy for journalists to visit them. They impact on British people entering and leaving France. And they are obviously on the news agenda – at last. Albeit often in quite hysterical ways.
I have some excellent friends who have gone out to help there: I’m proud of them. Calais refugees certainly need our assistance, and are worthy of our charitable donations.
But it’s easy to forget that there are three million refugees in Turkey. Three million! And many have been there for years. So they don’t get the column inches or the FB updates.
Three thousand people have drowned trying to get to Europe and several more are marooned elsewhere across the continent.
So definitely continue to help the people in Calais, but remember other people affected by conflict who will find themselves far from where they want to be this Christmas.
And, you know, let’s hit the target otherwise I will look foolish.
—
you can donate anonymously here:
https://www.justgiving.com/eastonlook
or leave your name or company here: