Charity - where is there need right now ?

[nokissymum]

Myself and a group of friends have come together to raise money for disadvantaged children. We have quite unexpectedly had a large donation and are now scratching our heads as to where to spend this money.

Part of our agreement is that we will not donate money from money donated to us. Any monies raised must go directly to the benefactors e.g we will ask for invoices for purchases for say beds to come to us and we will pay, or we will purchase equipement etc.

I have looked into the "poor kids" website by true vision and it seems there is already a loong loong list of charities helping them.

We would like to make an impact in an area where there arent already a whole host of other charities, any area of child deprivation, e.g to do with health, education or just general living.

Mumsnet your help is very much appreciated.

[DogsBestFriend]

What a huge act of kindness OP and fellow volunteers. :)

If anyone else has a similar happy dilemma may I please suggest the Red Balloon Learner Centres? Red Balloon is a charity which provides a holistic rehabilitation programme within its own small schools for children who have been so severely bullied that they cannot attend mainstream school, with the objective of providing children with the support and skills to return to mainstream. Many of these children are so traumatised that they have attempted or seriously contemplated suicide.

It has a very high success rate and is the ONLY organisation in the country to provide such assistance - the best any local authority can offer is a Pupil Referral Unit, which is not in the least suitable for bullied children. Red Balloon is a fee paying school although a charity as it of course can't run on love alone - most children go there with the very begrudging funding of their LAs and their parents have to fight like hell for months to get that funding.

They are FANTASTIC, their care and holistic support for children AND their families is so warm and dedicated it has often brought me to tears. Without Red Balloon DD2 certainly wouldn't be looking forward to returning to a new mainstream school next month... there have been times when I have feared that she might not have survived at all.

[nokissymum]

Dear all, thanks again for all your responses, just to let you know that after much discussion and considerstion, it was decided to split the money amongst children in the local areas where we are based. Some went towards hydrotherapy sessions for a child with cerebral palsy and the rest went to various children who have autistic needs.

We're sorry we couldnt meet everyone's needs here, but will keep this thread for when we have future funds particularly those who pm'd me, to be considered.

Kind regards.

[nokissymum]

Thank you to everyone who has posted. You have been very very helpful, like i said in the SN section i am compiling a list of requests now, there are soo many! And will then assess, i will endeavour to come back with an update so please bear with me, it may take a few weeks.

Brilliant!

[lesley33]

And most local charities like this would love it if you gave donations, but also said you were interested in helping longer term. For example, you could say that you can give donations of equipment now and would like to try and raise money at Xmas to give £x worth of donations then. It doesn't have to be much. A small amount can make a massive difference to local charities.

[lesley33]

I agree with the comment that local charities working with disadvanatged children often find it the hardest to raise funding. Some of these kids are suffering because of their families, some through no fault of their families.

I come across families every day who through terrible circumstances really struggle. For example x who left her violent partner with her kids and was rehoused in a really rough part of the City. Unfortunately for her X isn't rough. She is ordinary and polite.

As a result she is seen as an easy target. She had very few belongings but has been burgled by her neighbours - although she can't prove it - a number of times. She doesn't have insurance, but tbh no company would insure her contents. So she however hard she saves and tries to provide a good environment for her kids, she ends up with very few belongings in her underfurnished house.

Or the two kids who attend our play sessions who have a father looking after them who appears to be constantly semi drunk. He isn't abusive and they do get the basics e.g. food, clothes. But he never seems to really spend any time with them - playing with them, encouraging them. So our volunteers and staff (our services are run mainly by volunteers with support from paid staff) go out of their way to show interest in them, praise them and generally show they care about them.

There will be local charities doing this kind of work where you live. Most don't have much money for publicity, so you may not know about them. But your local Council for Voluntary Services will do.

[fishie]

TheMagnificentBathykolpian i love you. I am always on about the NSPCC, they have publicising themselves as a core charitable function so they can spend all their money on advertising no problem. as far as I can see the majority of services they carry out are contracted / commissioned by local authorities.

nokissymum have you thought about whether you only want to buy things directly for the children, or help out their family / household to indirectly benefit them? How are they going to find you? Are you going to ask support workers or social workers to apply on their behalf?

[purplepidjincantatem]

My Mum is a member of a charitable group. They had a talk from a worker at the local Refuge. Because my Mum's group is also a registered charity they weren't allowed to make donations. Instead, they collected toys, bath stuff, sanitary towels, nappies, bottles etc to donate because the women coming to the refuge had walked out of the door in the clothes they stood up in to get away from abusive partners.

Could you do a mahoooooooosive supermarket shop on behalf of a local refuge? The woman doing the talk was absolutely overwhelmed - every member of Mum's group had enlisted family and friends and transporting the stuff involved at least 2 trips!

[charleneanne]

what about educational itmes for the schools in gambia for more info on what they need you coukd contact kitwell primary school who is link school to the one in gambia

[TheMagnificentBathykolpian]

"Not about whether we give it but how."

oh yes. 100% yes. The current 'how' just isn't working.

[piedpiper4]

Local hospices are a good idea, but to be honest they already have a lot of people fundraising for them. Whereas charities which deal with disadvantaged children are really struggling due to the 'it's your own fault' perception of many people. (Not my view by the way... I'm a charity fundraiser for a charity working with vulnerable families and this attitude really makes it hard to get our message across).

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

You could contact Whizz-Kidz to see if there is a child with a need for specific equipment you could buy.

[Sirzy]

What about a local childrens hospice? They always have a need for funds!

[lesley33]

The NSPCC does provide services - but I agree I also think it wastes massive amounts of money on advertising - the full stop tv adverts come to mind.

But basically charities are independent organisations - some are very well run on a shoe string - some waste massive amounts of money.

Smaller local charities are at the moment, generally struggling for money. Government grants and money from businesses have all been drastically reduced. Most donations go to the large national charities who have money to spend on fundraisers, adverts, etc. So I really would urge you to help a local charity.

[Peachy]

Not at all, but there are so many different types of charity that blanket statements don't work.

macmillan (at elast when i worked there, presume they still do) used to do simple but wonderful things like pay the ehating bills for someone with a tterminal dx, send a family away for a few days before they lost their Mum, that sort of thing. Never (and I am deeply cyncal about such things!) IMO a wasted effort.

OTOH you did mention two I have only ever heard negatives about from within the sector.

Different charities function in such different ways. HomeStart is a very different business model again, employing only ket staff who then recruit and train volunteers to provide the support. Sadly ours went under becuase we didn;t spend on dedicated fundraisers! we were all too busy just doing.

There are a few nationals I treasure, the two I worked for amongst them, mainly I choose small cncerns- there nwill always be a local SN School lacking decent play area, an older people's centre struggling with broken lifts. Sometimes the simple things make the most significant differences.

But I am also not anti foreign aid, not at all; for a start I think withdrawing it is a massive security risk anyway, but i think it's a moral duty to always try. But trying properly means finding ways to fund the best organisations: and (excepting in disaster situations where emergency response is needing coordination such as in Africa now) that tends to be IME from saller deicated charities, orphanages set up by lcoals to cope with HIV orphans, that sort of thing. Places where people WILL die if we equate all foreign aid as equal.

Not about whether we give it but how.

[OhWesternWind]

Local hospices are always short of money and do a superb service.

[TheMagnificentBathykolpian]

oooooh Peachy, you've touched on one of my ranty-topics Foreign aid. I have a lot of family in Kenya, including one who works in the president's press office. In fact, she visited us the other week. People are getting very pissed off with the whole west charity thing and the way they are being portrayed in the media here! And the fact that there are all these charities here, claiming they are doing this that and the other - when I talk to family and friends - I have yet to come across one who's seen any of these charities doing a damn thing! And of course, there's the difference between the mudhut living, barefoot, walking down a dusty road image that the charities would have you believe is the entire picture, and the skyscrapers in the cities, the people driving around in their 4wheel drives, with their mobile phones... the I.T. city that is being built konza or the rise of technology in africa bet not many people here know anything about that! The reality doesn't fit in with the image the west prefers of savage africa with everyone covered in flies.

If you gave me the amount of money that has been donated to oxfam etc over the years and sent me to east africa, every village would have a borehole and would be irrigating crops and would be farming happily by now. Do you know you can get a borehole up and running for £10,000? How many £10,000s do you think have been raised supposedly for africa? A hell of a lot. It's a great big con and it pisses me right off that people are being used by these companies to get people here to give their money.



But also charities here - the RSPCA for example. 119 million sitting in the bank and they've closed their doors to stray dogs I read recently. My parents tried to get help many times for stray cats living under their deck. Did the RSPCA do anything? Did they hell. How much have they actually done with the money they've had? How much should or could they have done with that money?

The NSPCC? Spends more money on advertising itself than on actually helping anyone, as far as I can see. I can't name a single thing they have actually done. Nothing springs to mind. Oh,there's childline - which they didn't set up but which they have now taken over, I think. But how have they actually, practically, really made a difference? In terms of the amount of money spent, I mean.

Too much of what they get is spent on keeping these businesses - for that is what they are - going. They chuck a token bit at the area they have identified, so they can claim that's what they do. But they don't change much. Because it's not in their interests to solve the problem. No more problem - no more charity. No more charity - no more great whacking salaries.

I don't know anything about cancer charities, so I can't comment. I would like to think that they are in fact working flat out to find cures.

Bet you wish you'd never talked to me now, don't you, Peachy

[eve34]

I work for the Huntington's Disease Association. We are a tiny charity with 30 staff. We cover the whole of the UK. Supporting families who have HD or have been involved with others with HD.

We run 4 kids camps a year -for many the only opportunity for a break from an often hectic family life. I camp is specifically for Children who have JHD and have a limited life.

Funds are always appreciated.

www.hda.org.uk

Although I am sure you are going to get swamped with suggestions :-)

[lesley33]

I am involved in a charity that works with lots of disadvanatged families. We are at the moment raising funding for play equipment for our play sessions run in parks and on the streets. Things like footballs, skipping ropes, etc.

We work with children who often come from very difficult backgrounds. For example, mums who will come to see what we are doing early in the morning, while drinking out of a can of lager. 8 year olds sent out to play all day with their 2 and 4 year old siblings that they have to look after.

For charities like ours, small amounts of money can make a real difference. And there will be charities local to you who do similar work and for whom a few hundred pounds will make a real difference.

[Peachy]

TheMagnificent plenty of problems have been solv ed by xhairity!

From the grants for cancer patients Macmillan give to the family support given by HomeStart to young carer schemes giving kids a break.

many problems don't end but then without a cure for cancer / family wworries / etc they won't.

Now if you mean foreign aid (which op said she wasn;t able to do) that's a different story adn one that a lot of debate centres on (ex charity employee / ethics student- have seen a few in my time!) but then i would go where people recommended if I were giving:eg I have a former Tutor who helps run a school for girls in remote India, and I woudl always choose to give to DEC appeals.

[nokissymum]

COOK - this sounds like BLOODY fantastic idea! cant believe i just swore!

[AKMD]

Oh, and well done you for doing something so lovely! :)

[AKMD]

Our local NICU has been fundraising for 3 years to expand to meet the rapidly increasing needs of the local and surrounding area. They need £1.5 million and the last time I looked they had got to £400K :( Have a look here

[cookcleanerchaufferetc]

The young Carers won't be able to do fun things during the holidays so having stuff to do at home would be nice. The contents wouldbe age dependent, such as pencils and doll for little ones or lip gloss and nice note boom for older ones. Your local young Carer group would be able to better advise. Just a suggestion as I know of someone in this situation and they would love a nice bag of treats during the long holidays.

Also strongly agree, stick to small local charities.

[nokissymum]

thanks to everyone for your replies, please keep them comming!

COOKCLEANER as per the activity packs do you mean like crayons, colouring books type of thing ??? sorry if im being a bit thick here.

MUMBLE and ONEMORNING the flat furninshing project sounds like a good idea too, will investigate more. Thank you.

[lesley33]

Agree with above poster that small charities often make money go further than large National charities. Not surprising as if you are large, you inevitably need to pay for a bureaucracy to manage a large organisation.