NOW CLOSED: Please come and watch the Plan UK video – and get the chance to win a £100 Amazon voucher (it takes less than 3 mins...)

[HarktheHelenMumsnetAngelsSing]

Hello. Over the past few weeks. we've been working with Plan UK to help them spread the word about their child sponsorship programme and to get some feedback on this for them.

While lots of Mumsnetters have been interested, Plan UK haven't found as many new child sponsors as they were hoping for. We're a bit surprised by this, tbh, and both we and Plan UK are really keen to find out why.

So, we're now asking you to take a couple of minutes to watch this video in which a MNer shares her thoughts about her sponsorship of a child through Plan UK.

And then we'd like you, please, to help Plan UK by posting (on this thread) what you think of the video and of the campaign.

Any feedback you can give is most welcome - and we'll be passing it on to Plan UK to help them when they're planning future campaigns.

So please watch the video and read a bit more the campaign on our Plan UK pages and add your thoughts to this thread.

Everyone who adds a thought will be entered into a prize draw, from which one winner will win a £100 Amazon voucher.

And, of course, if you'd like to sponsor a child either for yourself (or as a gift for your children or someone else), then please do sign up here.

Thanks, MNHQ

[LooksLikeReinDeer]

I love the thought of doing this - I just can't afford £15 a month at the moment. I think it would be great to do this long term and see the child you're sponsoring grow as the lady in the video has done, so I want to wait until I can commit to it properly.

[Dillydaydreaming]

That was lovely to see, I contributed to the last thread as well having sponsered a child through to age 16 in the late 1980s through the 1990s. It is absolutely lovely to see the changes as he children grow and to hear their experiences of life and education within their community. Initially the child I sponsored could not write and letters came from his Dad but over time he began to write his own and it was just brilliant to see his progress.

Lovely video which summed up well the lovely benefits for both the sponsored child and the family doing the sponsoring.

Well well worth it and if things were better financially I'd be sponsoring again.

[elesbells]

Nice video

It's good to see an actual sponsor and great that her daughter is involved in it too...a good lesson for our children about what really goes on in other less well off countries..

i'm going to request a pack and look into sponsoring in the new year.

Certainly has given me something to think about over the festive season..

[NeatFreak]

I liked the video, particularly the aspect of it being real rather than using actors. However, this is the first time I have heard of this so maybe the advertising hadn't been as wide as planned?
Personally, I wouldn't expect receive much feedback on the child as I'd rather the money spent providing that information was spent in other practical ways...
Also, perhaps a lot of people will think about it again in the New Year when they get over the expense of Xmas and make resolutions- I know I will certainly consider it.

[Grockle]

Nice video, MNer looks lovely (but should have a net for the trampoline ). I just can't spare £15 a month.

[whomovedmychocolate]

I did not feel any connection with the lady in the video (sorry I'm sure she's lovely). And actually pointing out that it's a long term commitment is tricky. Yes I might be gung ho and affluent now but if I'm committing to a decade I'd have to think carefully about that. I wouldn't want to start then stop.

[Hulababy]

It looks really impressive I have to say.
We sponsor a child through another site and we don't get anywhere near that level of information. We get a Christmas card and have had two photos on total over that past 3 years or so. And everything is always only ever addressed to DH as his name is on the sponsorship form despite both myself and DD being the ones who write and send details/pictures and gifts.

Part of me currently wishes we had gone with Plan, but I wouldn't want to stop this one now we have started.

[SantasTreat]

I thought it was a lovely video and it helped to see a family's committment to sponsorship. However like others have said I just can't afford £15 a month and despite connecting with the video and the cause I just couldn't commit to it right now. If there was a way of part sponsoring a child in league with others I may be interested.

[latrucha]

I have thought about this arrangement I feel somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of getting something back. It feels a bit self-involved to be reminded what a great thing you're doing (sorry to those who have; I'm trying to be honest with the aim helping). I have never yet been in the position to afford to donate £15 a month to a charity, though I have contributed smaller amounts regularly in the past and do what I can now in various ways. However, if I was in this position, I think I would prefer just to send the money because it is needed and that's that. Is it possible? I would rather do that.

I probably sound horrible now.

[AlmaWalkingInAWinterWonderland]

It all sounds great and I'd love to sponsor a child. The video is very motivating, and if I was to start sponsoring I'd certainly consider Plan but we just cannot afford £15 a month at the moment. Even if we could stretch to it, it is a commitment and I have no idea what could happen. We're relatively secure (fingers crossed) but in this climate, I have no idea what could happen and I know our finances could get very bad very quickly.

[OhDoAdmitMrsDeVere]

I used to sponser a little girl in Peru. I just cant afford it now.
I noticed that you are doing a campaign (I think its Plan) to donate £3 per month to help stop the exploitation of girls. I would be interested in that. I would like to do that in my DDs memory.

[MissPentChristmasBudget]

Lovely video, very inspiring. Personally I'd have liked to have heard a bit more about the situations of the children being sponsored, and what the money pays for and how it helps them.

Also agree that £15 a month is a lot and could be off-putting for some people, especially committing long-term.

[Clayhead]

Great Video. It shows the fantastic work Plan do very well and is a good way to show how sponsorship works.

I sponsor through Plan as my parents always did so I just sort of carried on.

[pizzatheaction]

i support plan canada because of the 'because i am a girl' campaign - have just had all the 'day of the girl' stuff through.

i feel the same way as latrucha about the 'self affirmation' stuff though. there is a fine line to be drawn between proof that an organisation is using funds effectively, and an ego trip. i know that's probably a bit weird, and doesn't mean that i think that way about the lovely mner (sorry, lovely mner), just that's how i feel personally .

i don't feel that i need a personal connection to a specific child. i'm happy to donate funds to a general cause. the 'specific child' thing always makes me worry more about the ones that aren't being sponsored. i know that's not logical. so i prefer not to sponsor directly, just give when i can afford it.

'because i am a girl' is awesome btw. do they run the tv ads in the uk?

[FrankincenseStellaAndFries]

I echo everyone else that £15 a month everymonth is a big commitment at the moment for most families.

If I were in a position to look into sponsorship I'd want less information about what you receive and more information about what the money provides for the children.

[OhDoAdmitMrsDeVere]

pizza thats what I am interested in. How did you get involved with it?

[merrychristmissorinoco]

I think this is a brilliant idea. I don't think that £15 a month is too much to pay, but I can't afford it at the moment or for the forseeable future. If and when my finances do improve I would go back to look at Plan, I like the idea of the information back you receive, and my children would be very interested.

[Wigeon]

The video was good, and I was impressed by how much information the sponsor seemed to have received from the sponsored child. I hadn't thought much about child sponsorship being of some benefit to your own child either - that's quite attractive. However, I still feel uncomfortable with the paternalistic aspect of it. I personally far prefer to give money to a development charity to spend in the best way to benefit whole communities (I support Oxfam with a monthly direct debit). And if child sponsorship money in actual fact does go to whole communities, rather than the individual child, then it's just a marketing ploy.

What if the sponsored child drops out of school, is unemployed and gets into petty crime, instead of staying in school, getting good grades and getting a job?

I think there are too many problems with it compared to "traditional" giving where you just give some money to a charity which you trust.

[Magneto]

Seems like a good idea (even though I couldn't afford it, I'd love to do it someday) but I could have done with more information about what the money has gone towards.

[tiredfeet]

Hmm I like to give what I can to charity but Plan have really annoyed me. I sent a text donation in response to the posters they have on trains, and then proceeded to be telephoned by them daily or more often for ages, they must have spent way more on phone calls than I did on that donation . I didn't want a single phone call asking for more, I have as many charities as I can afford on dd already,

[tiredfeet]

Hmm I like to give what I can to charity but Plan have really annoyed me. I sent a text donation in response to the posters they have on trains, and then proceeded to be telephoned by them daily or more often for ages, they must have spent way more on phone calls than I did on that donation . I didn't want a single phone call asking for more, I have as many charities as I can afford on dd already,

[OhDoAdmitMrsDeVere]

When I sponsered a child years ago I was very uncomfortable being addressed as 'foster mother' by the little girl I was connected with.
Does this still happen?

[OhDoAdmitMrsDeVere]

www.plan-uk.org/what-we-do/campaigns/because-i-am-a-girl/get-involved/girls-fund/

Because I am a girl