Sports Relief 2012

[blowcushion]

... to wonder how much money has been spent in sending celebs and BBC crews to so many different locations to raise funds??? Do they all do it for nothing? Pay their own way? Just curious ...

Some wave their expenses and some claim them.

I don't see how it matters really as long as a decent amount is raised...and there is always a decent amount raised.

Good on anyone who took part...celeb or general public.

I am going to agree with you on this. I wonder how much money it is actually going to take to help these people. it has been going on for years and yet tonight we discover that millions of children are dying of diarrhoea, last year it was malaria which they all needed nets for - since been reported that these nets had been used by mothers and fathers for fishing/washing. I really like the idea that we could make a difference but after 20+ yrs of giving why dont we see any difference?

Because poverty continues. It doesn't stop. Even here in the uk, people are going without food.

Did you really only discover that children are dying from diarrhoea? Lack of access to clean water is one of the biggest global killers and that is disgusting.

I know that but why after 25 yrs of fundraising is it still such a massive problem, where does the money go is it actually helping anyone and will it ever help solve the problems? I dont need to see dying children on the telly to know it is happening i would rather see what has helped and how we can go on helping

They tell you where the money goes and how it's helping eg. Vaccinations.

MrsSBackshaw - i think your attitude Ian really sad...

'these people' include vulnerable people in the UK as well you know and even if it didn't, disease and death which in many cases could be prevented is something we just don't understand on this country but that's because we are incredibly lucky... 'these people' need help and cannot ask themselves...

YABVU.

Some of the stuff that's being achieved is genuinely new. Polio is nearly defeated, guinea worm (truly horrific parasite that used to cause enormous suffering to millions) is all but gone. Rotavirus, which kills half a million children a year, now has an effective vaccination programme which can be rolled out to the developing world with the help of (amongst others) Sports Relief, and the Gates Foundation.

Prevention of neglected tropical diseases is the big easy win, and we as donors can give enough to make a real difference.

but after 25yrs of millions and millions of pounds being raised dont you think that these vaccination programmes would be up and running? dont get me wrong i still donate (money i cant afford) but i do it to see an actual difference. to see children dying of diarrhoea is absolutely terrible and makes me wonder why the films being shown tonight on sports relief 2012 are really no different to the films shown in1988.

It does solve some of the problems in some locations, but others are created by war, climate fluctuations, political / economic instability, crop failures and outbreaks of infectious diseases.

We have failed to irradiate poverty in this country, it would be ridiculous to think that an annual fundraising effort would do for the rest of the globe. And you don't have to watch children dying, you can turn over.

The rotavirus vaccination is very new, it was only introduced in the US 6 years ago, it's taken a whole to prove that the results are good enough to make the huge investment to roll it out world wide - also it takes a while to develop a vaccination from something temperamental into something more robust that survive the less controlled environment of a typical Ugandan clinic.

Sport Relief do have programmes that show where the money has gone, i've seen many re.clean water supplies, seeds for crops, better living conditions etc.

I think that each Sports/Comic relief year focuses on a different area and different problems i.e last year dealt with mosquito nets as a priority, didn't it?

I agree with MrsSBackshaw. It furiates me. I also think they should spend a hell of a lot more money on contraception. And what really bothers me is how much money has been donated and dare I say it we are currently suffering from a recession, we have kids in poverty in this country and I can't pay my f*ing bills. I have no bloody money, I cannot afford to give away £1 right now, how can so much money be given away if we are suffering so much here? Maybe we're not, maybe it's just me. Rant over. For now.

Skillbo - my use of these people was really not meant in a derogatary fashion.
I donate to sports/comic relief and also to children in need and i willcontinue to do so for as long as i am able, i am in no doubt that they do go work around the world, but, I do wonder why?? I cant be the only person to feel that all this is somewhat of a lost cause(even though i do not want it to be) if year after year we are shown miserable footage of children dying or extremly ill.

Bramblina Some people can afford to donate a quid. Some can afford to donate more. Are you saying that they should not because it infuriates you? As for your comment about contraception? That makes you the proud recipient of my first ever .

MrsBackshaw do you really think that some year, you will turn on the Telly to be told that there will be no fundraising this year as we've solved all the problems?

We don't live in poverty in the same way that people in war zones or famine or drought-ridden places do.
We feel poor in comparison to others around us, I had garden envy today, but in truth most of us have access to clean water, enough food, shelter and warmth.
Comic Relief and Sport Relief do lots of work all around the world, including UK.
Surely as a human being we have empathy for anyone who doesn't share our good fortune.

There are multiple programmes on television and information on the internet/books etc as to why Africans are so poor, and why arable land is disappearing. It isn't all climate.

Some of it is created through sheer greed.

The easy to watch programmes such as "Blood, Sweat and luxeries", will show you that there isn't comparable sufferring in the UK.

I not going to dignify the "lost cause" comment with an answer.

after all the cost of fund raising £100 was raise it is better than nothing

Haha yes dionne!
No honestly i would just like a more balanced view shown on the telly such as: so far youi have helped this, this and this and we now hope to help this this and that. I just feel quite uneasy with the way this is all shown on friday night tv with presenters urging (shouting) you to donate when I have not really seen much of an improvement in the lives of villages shown since all this started.

It's just that they prioritize different issues in different locations each time. In the past it has been places such as Cote D'Ivoire and Rwanda. ATM, it's Sierra Leone and Uganda. Hopefully Democratic Republic of Congo will feature in the next few years. If you think tonight's programme difficult to watch, get yourself a load of DVDs the night they feature DRC.

My post was about how much does the BBC spend on sending celebs and camera crews to all of these poverty-stricken places. Surely it is unnecessary to have "famous" people making reports straight to the camera - about seriously ill children - with a lump in their throat and a tear in their eye

Well,you have the choice not to watch it, i didn't and don't watch CIN etc.

The different locations they focus on, is in response to need and where safety isn't a big issue.

The campaigns on the television have tobe entertaining, to reach the target group that don't find out what causes need aid and respond off their own back.

Sorry Birdsgottafly - I'm probably not making myself very clear! Unless everyone involved is doing this for nothing and covering their own costs (and that includes flights, camera crews, chauffeurs, hotels, producers, directors ...), wouldn't it be better to dispense with the footage and donate straight to the charity, IYSWIM?

without the reports, given by people we 'trust' and 'like' people would not donate as much. The extra giving covers the additional costs

Public awareness has to be raised and the best way to do that is via clebs and prime time television.

I partly know how you feel, i often think that some of the charity balls that are held, would raise more if the women going to them didn't buy a new dress to attend and donated the equavilent price of their handbag and shoes.

In a way though people want something back for thier money.