sponsorship £ ought to go to the school

[Nickoka]

Have you come across 'fund raising' companies like Speedmark coming to schools, and wanting parents to get sponsorship for their kids to kick a football 3 times in a net - and then the school only gets to keep 50% of the money raised.

I know they have costs to cover but 50% seems way too much for the company to keep, however nice a day the kids have. The website says they've raised over 2 million so far. A nice little earner.

A better one is the companies who get schools to send home plastic bags which parents then fill with clothes.

The school gets something like 20p a kilo and the company ships the clothes to third world countries where they SELL THEM to local people.

Putting local manufacturers/shops out of business and exploiting poor people.

And the parents think that the clothes are being given to people in the third world.

ha. ha. ha. No. They are sold. And it fucks up the locals.

I did not know this until my husband (Kenyan) told me about it.

That's really dreadful. Do you know the names of the companies involved?

That's really horrible. Do you know the names of the companies involved?

Yep, look at the back of the bags that come through your door...most of them are run by companies that pay £50 per tonne to the chosen charity. I ignore them now and take clothes directly to whatever charity I want to.

just googled speedmark. what a con!

It's most if not all of 'em, Nick. They're not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. They are using your generosity and your assumption that you donating means it is being donated (iyswim) to make a profit. I refuse to take part and always return the bags empty with a strongly worded letter explaining exactly why!

They aim to create the impression that they are giving, when in fact they are using you to turn a profit in a sneaky way. And damaging the local business efforts of the people where they are selling the clothes. Oh, except those who work for them, selling the clothes you gave them!

I was of the bags to school scheme initially as I was very firmly of the opinion that it was always bad- but I looked into it, and it's one that runs more ehtically/is better manage than many of the ones you'll have shoved through your door.

I found a report from Oxfam (last year I think?) that said that these schemes aren't always bad for local economies in the 3rd world when done properly

\link{http://www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/issues/trade/downloads/research_shc.pdf\here} (it's very long)

page 29 has the start of the conclusions btw

Though if you read it in more detail ('ve just skimmed it again) I must confess I did literally LOL at Edgards Clothing group claming that if people didn't buy the SHC they'd shop at Edgars.

Yeah right - over priced Chinese imports,and mostly ghastly stuff anyhow.

Anyone with any common sense buying new clothing would avoid Edgars

So what about the www.rag-bag.co.uk scheme - is that ehtical or not?

DD just got one from school today (& I remembered reading this thread yesterday, great timing :))

Their website just talks about clothes that are fit to be reused are "exported" to the third world - it handily doesn't say if they are then sold or donated (so I expect it's the former

Glad I saw this or I would be none the wise and would have automatically assumed it was a good thing...

yes. they sell the clothes. They are a business not a charity - no charity number or anything on the website.

And what is bad is that they carefully avoid any mention of the fact that they sell the clothes. Look at their website. They work to create the impression that they give the clothes. There is no mention of selling - but no mention of giving either!

IMO they are purposefully deceiving.

thanks :) That's what I thought...