to think that if i had this sort of money i would spend it on my own DC education?

[ThatVikRinA22]

i am dumbfounded, and that doesnt happen very often.

i am bemused. i have no idea who these people are but today i got a begging letter from Villiers Park Educational Trust and i almost dont know where to start....i am however, reasonably or not, fucking enraged.

this letter. i hardly know where to begin, but i will try.
it starts by asking me this....

"how do you deal with the prospect of losing half your charitable funding, up on which, so many depend?"

well. i dont know. so tell me, dear charity....tell me....

so the letter goes on to explain that this letter is on "behalf of the hundreds of promising pupils, aged between 14 and 19, whose life chances are being substantially improved by villiers park...."

so now i hear you ask what does this charity do?

ill tell you. they "tackle what many business leaders regard as a major education problem with severe implications for the nations well being"

so i can hear you now straining to ask.....what major catastrophe is being avoided here....it must be good, especially as on the next of many pages they are asking for either "137.50 which is the cost of sponsoring a student" or £1650 which is the annual cost of putting one student through the programme" or £6500 which "will cover the entire cost for a student on the four year programme"....
it also states - (get this.....) "i understand from preliminary soundings that some people are considering a gift of £100, but others may be able to give more. One or two are looking into giving substantial amounts....it all helps.....

i bet it fucking well does.

so what is this worthwhile charidee that is asking for these vast sums....must be something bloody fanstastic i hear you cry.

ill tell you. it is 6 pages (yes - 6!! this is gold star begging and you dont just get one page like you do for those unworthwhile charidees like the NSPCC or RSPCA....oh no! this is worth far far more....) so as i was saying its 6 pages of pure unadulterated shit, all in the name of.....wait for it.....wait for it.....

"the only organisation dedicated to providing the long term support needed to get talented young people from deprived areas (that will be like mine then.....) into top universities they state in underlined and bold type that - and this is a genuine quote. "with 98% of participants get into university - proof of the effectiveness of our programmes" -

really? not proof of your appalling grammar then? (should it not say with 98% of participants getting into university....)?? all that money seems to have been wasted if they cant even get that right.....

yes im kind of enraged. because it is several layers of wasted paper, basically, begging for money for poor but brilliant children....(so - that would be like my own DS then who has autism but is a computer whizz....oh, no, hang on....because if i want him privately educated i have to pay for it myself, and since i cannot afford it, i dont, so why, why send me this????)
i am so annoyed by opening shite i actually feel like shitting in the envelope and sending it right back to them.....that could be my donation.

i may be unreasonable.
i may be irrational.
but im not fucking stupid!!!

rant over. but really....i am not being unreasonable am i? you should read this steaming pile of poop and then decide....

Is this somewhere local to you. I would be fecking hopping mad!

See my posts on another thread.....ban fecking private education....

I got as far as you moaning about 6 pages instead of 1 and couldn't get past the irony of the long, drawn out OP

Errrrr YABU (probably) I lost the will....

They might not have sent the request to the right person, but if funding were available, don't you think it would benefit your ds enormously?

i dont understand why you are mad. its a charity helping kids get into university. If you are that poor then its the sort of charity that can hep your son.

I woudo have thought that sort of thing was targeted. Maybe you are less deprived than you think?

So the intelligent poor are just supposed to suck it up and watch everyone else make it into higher education? There's nothing like keeping people down is there?

Couldn't you have just thought "this isn't for me" and chucked the letter in the bin like I do with pizza delivery leaflets?

no. its not that i think the "intelligent poor" should suck it up. but my "intelligent poor" son is making do with Lincoln uni not as this states in the blurb - oxford or cambridge.

it reads like a massive massive massive con. i think it is a con. im sure its a con.
no one could seriously expect someone with kids at uni ( a poor one, not a nice shiny top one ) to stump up £100 in this climate?
or 137.50 a month???

it comes with a standing order mandate....for regular contributions.

im sorry but this is not charity! its laughable. how about i just send a postal begging request to fund my brilliant but poor son through a better university?

no?

they are asking me to stump up and ive just stopped getting tax credits!

my chaidee donations are £2.50 to the NSPCC on a standing order.

not quite the same as asking £137.50 to put someone elses child through oxford while mine makes do with beans on toast and lincoln....

or am i just missing the irony?

I got a letter from my university begging for money for its scholarship fund, named in honour of a billionaire.

I thought fuck that for a game of soldiers, I'm not contributing to a fund named after a billionaire who boasts in the papers about paying a lower tax rate than I do.

But in your case I wouldn't waste the energy. No, you don't want to contribute. Fair enough. Many people might see it as a charity with a worthy aim. Recycle and move on.

Are you sure you read it right?

This is what it says under 'donations' on their website....

Sponsor a Scholar
Our four-year Scholars Programme is £137.50 a month per student. By signing up for a regular gift to the trust, you could make a real difference in the life of a less advantaged student. You don't have to give the full amount - whatever you can afford will make a real difference. As a Scholar Sponsor, you will receive an update at least once a year. Please print our donation form.

Donations
Donations of any amount are deeply appreciated and your contribution will make a real difference to our work. For example:

£100 will help pay for a Scholar to attend a two-day course at Villiers Park to work on skills that will prepare them for university life

£50 will pay for a Scholar to attend a university admission interview practice session

£20 will pay for an hour of a Learning Mentor's time, providing one-to-one support for Scholars

£10 will pay for a Scholar to attend a local workshop to develop study and communication skills

Thank you!

www.villierspark.org.uk/donate-now

i am mad because i am struggling to send my disabled son to the university of lincoln. its not a top uni. but it will have to do.

and this charity are asking me to put someone elses child through a "top" university?

do they not research their target market?

worra - do you think its worth paying 50 quid for someone to practice an interview??

i had several interviews. no practice! DS has an interview. no practice! i think this "charity" is taking the proverbial piss.

I'm not fussed enough to want to discuss it really

I just bin leaflets I'm not interested in.

Just wondering if you read it right

if it was a leaflet i could bin it, but this was a personally addressed letter in very very fancy writing and i got all excited....

actually i think this is indicative of my health and wellbeing at the min....while im screaming inwardly at the crazy anonymous people it stops me from screaming outwardly at the crazy not so anonymous people

I get them

But when I open them, it's from a holiday company trying to flog me a caravan.

I booked one weekend away with them in 2006

Vicar I have been wondering how you were getting on.... now I know :)

Takegreat delight in snipping it up into tiny little pieces you could even put it back into the envelope and mark it 'not at this address'

It's a wonder you haven't throttled the crazy but not so anonymous people yet

Chin up chick - something has to get better soon x

hmmm £50 quid for a practise interview is deffo bonkers...I would totally do it for £30...

hmm on the one hand my spelling is really bad...on the other hand you can't tell that in an interview....probably one of the main reasons I have so far been 100% successful in interviews...

cheers chipping

i have been awake for 39 hours straight and worked 12 1/2 hours today.

not a good night to do an AIBU really with hindsight....

actually i am missing a trick here....i could do practice interviews for £20...and i am sure i could do a 2 days course that prepares the student for university life for less than £100....

i mean how much does it cost to get pissed and live on junk food and never change your bedding? surely not a £100....

hey uni life isn't THAT easy...those pizza/vomit/jizz stains don't make themselves you know!

entropy has a point - I think you need to get the basics sorted

I think it's a fine time to do an AIBU - so long as you have the 'I don't give a shit' attitude to the replies

I should so be in bed... I will want to be in bed when I have to get up at 6, but right now, I'd rather be here.... ooops

Well I personally am interested in schemes to help disadvanatged DC aim for academic excellence.

The current situation is that a small section of society are vastly over represented at the best universities and in the areas of work with the most money and influence. This is madness (and I say that as someone whose DC fall squarely in that small section of society).

However, I'm unconvinced that schemes like this one are the most effective way of making changes. I wonder, for example, how much of the time given to these students is free. I wonder also how much this mail shot cost.

This scheme seems like it costs a lot to run, and targets a small number of students...

A Food Bank has just opened in my town. I know where I would be shoving that letter.