I just don't think fundraising is on the agenda like it was pre covid. So many families are impacted by furlough, job losses, etc that it seems a bit insensitive to push for donations for anything just now.
Even the main BBC telethon was severely truncated this year. It normally goes on until about 2am, but it finished sharply at 10pm this year. It did annoy me that they kept apologising for guilting asking people to donate, as they know how hard it’s been for a lot of us this year because of COVID. There are plenty of folk out there who were struggling hugely financially before COVID and will be after COVID; same with the supermarkets making a massive show of giving food to food banks to help those affected by COVID – did they care before when it was the ‘ordinary, boring’ poor people? I suppose COVID poverty is ‘sexy’ in a way that everyday poverty isn’t.
Did I hea r that if Lewis Hamilton pays his taxes there would be no need for CIN?
Did you see Gary Barlow offering out 140 of his gold discs, awards and other baubles to lucky winners in an effort to raise more money and make him look like the nicest guy ever ? Are the rest of us allowed to withhold our taxes and then give however much or little of the equivalent money we want to our preferred charities instead? Can we come off PAYE as long as we promise to do a car boot sale for the local hospice once a year?
It also seems very counter-intuitive to encourage children to buy expensive Pudsey-themed outfits and accessories (which won’t fit to be worn again next year) in order to be allowed to donate to CIN for the privilege of doing so. Look at the amount of the sales price that goes to CIN and there seems to still be a clear element of profit built in for Asda, Tesco or whoever. Even when they say to ‘just wear yellow’ – if kids don’t usually wear/like/suit yellow, that’s another t-shirt to have to buy for a single day, so they don’t feel left out.
Plus, most seem to ask for £1 as they see that as a token tiny amount that everybody can supposedly afford, but that’s two or three loaves of cheap bread for families who are really struggling.
I don’t for one second think the BBC actually care at all for children.
If they did, there wouldn’t be such massive and long lasting covered up child sex abuse scandals there over such a long period of time.
JS wanted to be involved with the BBC CIN night, but they outright refused to let him, as “everybody knows what he’s like”. No problem with him working for the BBC on other shows aimed at and featuring children the other 364 days of the year, though….