I find a lot of charity's to be nothing under the surface

[Jobseeker19]

I have contacted Shetler as a last resort about an issue I'm having and was just sent generic links to stuff I have already done that haven't worked. There was no actual help just information that is already out there.

Last year I had a mental health crisis and spoke to Mind online chat and was told about their Elefriends website which was a place to vent. But no actual help given.

If you look on the websites of many charities you will see they talk about how your donation will help someone desperately in need. But when you apply because you are that person in need there seems to be a barrier and are as helpful as uk.gov websites.

[Typo in title edited by MNHQ]

@bluedomino

A lot of people working for Mind will have mental health conditions themselves. Personal Experience is valued and projects have to involve service users.

You need to ring the helpline. The people who respond to emails aren’t trained advisers.

I think it depends on the charity. I was pointed in the right direction by one charity. My issues are still very ongoing, but they are complicated and will take a longer time to resolve.
However, I had to go through several crap ones to find the "jackpot".

I found the same with National Autistic Society. They were absolutely no use to my family on a personal level, but I guess their campaigning has possibly benefitted us indirectly?

Also look if there is a local law centre near you.

But it is possible that Shelter can’t help you. Housing law is often pretty weak and some situations are thoroughly shitty but have no legal route to resolve them. E.g a landlord can evict you for no good reason if they follow the proper process and lots of people in terrible situations will be waiting years for social housing. This is why organisations like Shelter put so much energy into campaigning.

@AntiHop thank you for your post. Becoming a trustee for the charity I volunteer with has opened my eyes to what ruining a charity means. Even at the level of my own small charity, the amount of professional expertise that our CEO has to have, in order to keep us running, is phenomenal. These funding bids take so much time and expert knowledge to apply for, with no guarantee at all of success. And the expertise of our board, the governance, the finance, the legal and HR responsibilities... I had no idea. And clearly neither do most people, many of whom seem to think that even a gigantic international charity like oxfam should run just on volunteers!

Ruining?! No! Running of course. I have no intention of ruining our organisation! 😳

@MatildaJayne

Maybe indirectly. I know in MH there is a currently a lot of work being done to change the way statutory services are structured so that people can get actual help from primary services and not secondary.

The secondary thresholds are too high and more help on the ground is needed via primary care. Easier access to counselling and not just IAPT etc. Better referral systems so that GPs are able to refer directly to third sector services.

I know currently this can be done via social prescribers. They have a lot of knowledge on non clinical services in areas particularly third sector expertise. Problem is not every GP surgery has access to a social prescribed but it is worth asking.

I'm so sorry for your troubles OP, you sound like you are going through a terrible time
I was very disappointed with the Samaritans. I called them because I was desperate, and the person I spoke to was very well meaning but very young and I think they were shocked at / didn't understand what I was saying. I also emailed them at one time when I couldn't get through, and I got a response 24hours later, just saying ring the help line! Maybe I was just unlucky with the people I got through to.

It's interesting that people have had such different experiences of big organisations like MacMillan, for example. Is it area-dependent?

I think it is.
Local health authority or council will have funding to provide a service eg. dementia cafe
They put it out to tender and various organisations such as charities will bid to provide the service. So in area A it could be run by Alzheimer's Society and in area B could be a small local charity set up by churches many years ago to help local elderly in the area.
So people in area B may wonder what Alzheimer's society actually provides at a practical level because in their area another provider has the contract, but that doesn't mean Alzheimer's society never provide direct practical support to people

@saraclara

Indeed. You need a lot of knowledge on how different sectors run when you work in partnership with huge stat services like the NHS etc. Mental health is always going to be contested, to presume these charities can bump along via volunteers is really naive. We wouldn’t stand a chance.

We need expert knowledge to create long term change. Many of my senior colleagues have PHDs in the field and they work for far, far less than what could be achieved in private sector MH services.

It does vary from area to area too, even in national charities. The one I work for has different contracts with each local authority around the country (or sometimes no contract at all.)

So if a person calls our national number, they may get information or signposting to whatever organisation covers their local area. Then what happens locally depends on what each local authority has requested.

But if a person calls our local number, we have loads more information about what's available from all the different community groups around the city. They can come in to speak to a worker 5 days a week, or ask us to visit them at home. We can refer directly in to partner organisations so a person doesn't have to keep explaining their situation over and over again. We can connect people with peers who are going through similar experiences, and chase up social workers and health care providers if we feel someone is being fobbed off. We're really lucky to be able to do what we do, for free.

I can remember being furious at MacMillan when my DF was at the last stages. A woman popped in, said he was very poorly and she would look into a hospice. She also told me good luck. She did absolutely nothing. Yet they are treated like angels.

I think the expectation from these charities is that they do something. So Shelter should help you find somewhere to live, MacMillan should have nurses or hospices and arrange these things for you etc.

Although I agree with the comments about National charities with London HGs and huge exec salaries, I feel that charity bashing in general is completely unfair.

Service delivery and budgets for mental health support comes from the govt - either directly via NHS or via local authority funding, which they have cut dramatically over the past decade. This is a POLITICAL choice.

Similarly, the govt makes a POLITICAL choice about benefit levels, minimum wage levels, renters' rights, housing stock etc which are leaving people in precarious situations with few rights and safety nets.

As a result of these things people have to turn to charities for help, and they are overwhelmed with demand at the moment, trying to mop up the carnage that is being caused by POLITICAL choices. So please direct at least some of your anger towards the people who have most influence to change these things, OP. Present yourself to your MP's local surgery and tell them what it's like for you, ask them for help and remind them that as your elected representative they have some responsibility.

I’ve had similar with Age UK recently when trying to access support for an elderly relative. They just signposted me to information already available through a google search. There was no actual support on offer in my LA. However I believe, as a previous poster said, they are area-dependant as the neighbouring county actually put people requiring help in touch with local volunteers.

I’ve found smaller, independent local charities a great support in previous years when I’ve needed help for my disabled child.

OP, I'm so sorry for your difficulties. Have you been able to find support now, are you settled and feeling mentally stronger? MN boards have a wealth of experience that can help if you start a thread and outline your issues.

But, as a charity worker and (even worse) a fundraiser, charity bashing threads depress me so much. The only possible effect they can have is a negative one which makes the charities even more vulnerable and under resourced.

Of course it does people good to air their grievances and share experiences about poor support they were given.

But the posts from charity workers who give the wider perspective get lost amongst the refrains of "£250k salaries and London HQ". There is so much good done by charities. 99.9% of workers and volunteers in charities do so for altruistic reasons. They do it for less pay than they'd get in the public or private sector. Volunteers give up their own time. The RNLI, Mountain Rescue etc volunteers risk their lives for goodness sake!

What a shame it's so fashionable to criticise charities and use mis-information as an excuse to declare never giving to charity. If it's not achievable budget wise, then no charity would want people to give. But if you can spare a few pennies or an hour every 6 months or so, then please consider doing so.

The problem is our healthcare system and social care system is utterly inadequate, and then we expect charity to do the job of those systems when that should not be the role of charity. When actually the role of those charities is to try and improve the systems. Shelter is meant to campaign and advise, it's not meant to take the place of housing advisors or housing legal advice solicitors etc. Likewise Mind is not supposed to replace the mental health service, it's meant to help support those sufferers through signposting, campaigning and giving general advice, not make up for failing crisis services and long term mental health services. The issue is that when people are in housing crisis or mental health crisis they are sent to charities that were never meant to be emergency housing teams or crisis mental health teams. I see that as a failure of government not a failure of charity. Charity is not meant to replace all of our systems

I found Macmillan very helpful. When my sick pay ran out during cancer treatment I met one of their advisors who gave me advice, spoke to the DWP for me and filled in my claim form with me.

A local cancer charity provided a safe space for a coffee and a chat and some alternative therapies. Their relaxation classes were fab. You just put what you could afford into the donation box. Some people didn't and there was no pressure.

Look Good, Feel Better were great. I reluctantly went to a workshop, having been persuaded by a lady on the cancer ward. Never underestimate the restorative power of a room full of women in the same situation as yourself, endless supplies of coffee, a bag full of skincare and makeup, and a guided lesson from 3 amazingly fun makeup consultants from a local shop. Nobody left that room without a smile on their face.

I'm sure there are some charities who don't seem very helpful, but these three, for me, made a huge and positive impact on my life when I most needed help.

Yep! So many of these places are just there to signpost you to other places who then signpost you straight back.

Not much help of any actual, practical support.

I found Macmillan very helpful. When my sick pay ran out during cancer treatment I met one of their advisors who gave me advice, spoke to the DWP for me and filled in my claim form with me.

That great

If we were in receipt of benefits they could have given help but because we were not they could not. It wasnt financial help we needed- it was practical everyday living help.

The amount of work Macmillan do is disproportionate to the amount of money they raise. They don't employ the nurses they train once their training period is complete. They don't carry out any hands on nursing or provide any practical help or support. Their boxes are everywhere, they raise shedloads of money for very little in return. The Macmillan nurse we saw visited the house, drank our tea, talked about herself for half an hour then left. We used to roll our eyes at the one who visited the care home. We were already doing everything she suggested and, when her own parent was admitted for palliative care, she created no end of trouble for the staff because she treated them like idiots and was rude and nasty. I get it's a stressful time, but she was totally unreasonable.

Donate to local hospices instead. Marie Curie also provided excellent end of life care to dh.

After working for a leading cancer charity for some months I must say my eyes were really opened to the absolute wastage of funds. I was so shocked. And they also treat other organizations that they are in partnership with like shit. The hoops these partnerships have to jump through to get the funding and half the time they do a better job of actually helping people than those employed directly by the charity do. For the past few years I worked for a partnership organisation funded by this cancer charity, we absolutely went above and beyond for pittance pay and had huge financial outcomes yet this charity left us not knowing whether funding was being renewed until the very last minute so we didn't know whether we would still have a job the following month- this led to experienced staff leaving for other jobs, and even when funding was renewed it was cut significantly whilst this charity continued to waste money on ridiculous things.

Sorry should have read your post before I typed mine !! It is a shocking charity. I have worked directly for them for some time and was bullied and humiliated there. The wastage is shocking and yes they love to pretend to people that they employ all these staff for end of life etc yet it's the NHS trusts or primary care trusts that fund them in the long term ! They think they can pull the wool over people's eyes. I used to think how people had spent so much time raising money from coffee morning and hikes thinking it was being used wisely when the waste was so shocking. I would also advise others to donate to smaller charities who do a much better job - marie curie, maggies centres ( I think in the future these will be Macmillans biggest competition as they do a fantastic job and offer all the benefits advise etc that Macmillan do). The CEO of macmillan gets paid £190,000 per year . Donaters need to open their eyes.

I should add I no longer work for them thank god.

Benefits advice is something that Macmillan and their partnerships do well. Whilst I don't rate the charity highly overall, they are excellent with this part of things. I'm glad you had a good experience.