Why cant people give to CIN like they do for Comic Relief?

[IdRatherBeInBed]

AIBU to think that Charity should begin at home?

Now i think its great that people give to 3rd world countries and this years total of Comic Relief in March by the end of the night was £74Million,, and the end total was £102Million.

But Children In Need total at end of the night was £26Million...not that much in comparison really is it?

AIBU to think its awful that people would rather give to other countries than to their own?

Some of those stories on tonights show were bloody heartbreaking to say the least, i was in tears at Elliots story :(
It does makes you grateful for what you have, and more charities need more help moneywise to help disabled children and families, but yet CIN do not ever get as much as Comic Relief? Why?

Red Nose Day does give money to people in the UK.

Does it?

I didnt think it did, i thought CIN was for the UK and Comic Relief was sent abroad?

My mistake then!

Yes, it does.

Well i am misinformed i honestly thought CIN was for UK and CR was for 3rd world.

HTH

Also, considering it's partly our fault that Africa is so completely fucked, don't you think we should give something back?

Thanks for the link.

but also how are we responsible for Africa being fucked?

I have to go to bed, but one reason is coltan trafficking. Coltan is a mineral used in a huge number of electronic devices, including laptops and mobiles. The Democratic Republic of Congo has a lot of coltan mines, mostly controlled by rebel groups. The conflict there is continuing and the rebels use the money from coltan to fund the war.

Huge numbers of children are forced to work in the mines.

This is just a small part of it though. Look at the Berlin Conference, 1884, on wikipedia, when Africa was basically carved up by Europe. The consequences of that are one of the reasons why Africa has so many problems.

unfortunately only a fraction of the money raised gets through to the true beneficiares anyway

YABU and misinformed

Charity starts at home? So do you only give to your own family, own village, own town , own country......? Or do you give where there is greatest need to help your fellow human ?

You are so misinformed/uniformed as to be verging on celerbrity

I hate this charity begins at home crap.
I will give my money to whoever I please.
And anyway Comic and Sport Relief both support projects here.
When Wogan stops taking a fee for presenting CIN maybe more people with contribute.
Unlike Comic Relief the Children in Need-a-thon is also a load of tired old bollocks as a show.
Newsreaders/soap actors twatting about? Is this the best they can do? They have stuck to the same tedious formula for years.

People can donate to whatever charity they like!

I can think of plenty of charities who would love to make 26 million in a year!

Comic Relief is held every two years and raises a lot of money through merchandising. CIN is only for UK, Comic Relief is UK and Africa.

I think the 'charity begins at home' idea means that you should look after yourself and your family (ie make sure they have the basics) before you look after other people. It's a bit like on an aircraft where they tell you to fit your own oxygen mask before helping other people. If you don't sort yourself out first, you won't be in a position to help anyone else.

I think children's charities do well compared with many charities for older people and prefer to give to neglected charities like Alzheimers.
I also think even poor in Britiain are well off compared to other countries.
40% of Indian children are underweight, 53% of Indians are classified as poor according to the multidimensional poverty index. Even in poor countries I prefer money to go to the parents and feeding them, getting them employed etc so that they can look after their children rather than just concentrating on the children.
I do find it odd that if there are "children in need" we focus on the children, not look at the family and the money in my region seems largely spent on holidays and residential trips. Does money for third world poor children go on trips and art projects? I don't think so.

YABU

• children in need happens every year, comic relief only biannually
• children in need supports projects for children facing poverty & disability in the uk, comic relief has a much larger pool of potential beneficiaries - adults and children accross the uk and the third world. Why shouldn't they raise more money for more people?
• Charity begins at home, apart from in the limited sense of it that wicketkeeper is talking about is a load of bollocks
• Pudsey and the whole children in need show is a tired format which promotes the careers of celebrity-non-entitities, I imagine that more people actively avoid it than Comic Relief.
• there are other (better)ways to give than Telethons.

Interesting figures though, I wonder how the viewing figures compare?

Actually I prefer to give money to charities in countries where poverty is so severe children rummage through rubbish dumps for things to sell, children are denied an education, access to basic health care, women die in labour due to lack of care, aids is rife, there is no sanitation, life expectancy doesn't stretch beyond middle age....

Thankfully the UK is wealthy. Yes children are in need but they are not left without healthcare, they have free education, their parents have access to a benefits system if needed, they receive a meal at school, they have space to run around at school. They are not sleeping in slums with rats around their feet, scared for their lives.

A lot of the things shown on the CIN show were volunteer centres where I'll and disabled children could make friends and do things for fun...totally brilliant and life enhancing for the kids. But in many third world countries we would be talking about life saving, not life enhancing.

When push comes to shove I would rather give to a charity that actually saves lives through things like vaccinations, clean water and shelter etc and provides education to children and adults rather than more 'nice to have' things. I don't give to animal charities either but I like animals and I acknowledge that the people at the bottom of society benefit the most from pet ownership. I can't give to everything.

I would rather give to charity in a considered way than send money to a telethon when I don't really know what it will be spent on.

Comic relief does do lots of things in the UK but it doesn't limit itself to children. They help people with Alzheimer's for example. They also are known for helping women out of prostitution both here and abroad, even if they aren't children anymore.

The only reason why UK is so wealthy is because we keep other countries down. How else would we be able to buy out of season vegetables and £4 jeans? We treat our own kids to chocolate bars made with cocoa picked by child 'workers'.

I felt completely manipulated last night watching CiN, it was as if they were thinking, 'right lets hit the heart purse strings of the hard nosed viewers who haven't yet donated. If THIS doesn't make them cry donate nothing will. and to be honest, i switched off after the hospice one. and this year i DIDN'T ring up and donate, and i usually do. Felt it was all a bit too much.

But is some of that not burying heads in sand though early riser? Not wanting to admit that these things happen?

I know families who use the hospice mentioned last night and the work they do is fantastic with families like the one mentioned and families of children with disabilities.

There are families up and down the country who rely on services like the hospices, and families up and down the country who aren't getting the support they need due to these places not being able to keep beds open. If videos like that is what it takes for people to realise that then so beit!

At the end of the day if you watch cin/comic relief type shows you know that there will be tear jerker videos.

Earlyriser, I didn't ring to donate this year either, and I usually do - though I did donate through work and dd's school.

I give regularly to charities in the uk and overseas, but if I had to prioritise, I would go for those which work in developing countries every time. I think lots of charities in the uk do fantastic work and I'm happy to support them, but the poverty in some parts of the world is on a different scale entirely.

Charity may begin at home, but it doesn't have to end there.

Personally I try to choose my charities for what is close to me, what affects my friend and family and our local area. Selfish maybe but you can only give so much.

buying christmas cards from the charity thing they do at the library where the rate is higher than the charity contributions say Tesco make.

Giving to children in need, by doing things like a cake sale this year. Trying to support things friends do like walking, running, tea parties, cake sales to raise money and getting the children to do sponsored things to through school, playgroup ec...

I don't really ever phone up for CIN or Comic Relief.

Children in Need annoyed my this year - some of the charities looked great, and I think Matt Baker did great with the cycle thing and radio 2 seemed to be doing well - but the TV on last night was just terrible, I turned off because it was not in any way entertaining - Gok Wan singing? please! Comic Relief in comparison is excellent. Also agree with others I would rather give money to the poorest - women routinely dying in childbirth for example is just awful. I gave some money to CiN but gave more to Refuge this year - their John Lewis Christmas gift list is a fantastic idea (number 478985 if you're interested).

I think this whole charity begins at home idea is rubbish - charity should help those in need - wherever they are.

You may not have noticed, but there is a recession/credit crunch. Perhaps people just don't have that much spare cash? March was eight months ago, people may have been hit hard in the new financial year.
How much did you personally donate?
And I second the view that the when the presenters stop being paid for CIN, I'll donate more!