Once in a lifetime trip disguised as fundraising for Charities

[staveleymum]

Don't get me wrong - I'm all for people raising money for Charity. People asking for sponsorship for things like Marathons, 1000 miles walked in a year, midnight walks, etc. I'm also on board with Red Nose Day, Children in Need, PTA fundraising, kids clubs fundraising and everything else that seems to constantly need money to run.

BUT I just don't get fundraising for things like hiking up Kilimanjaro or funding a trip to Borneo (for a 16 year old) to build a school or some such similar. Both these events need to raise £4,000 so they are on facebook, justgiving, etc trying to raise the money. My issue is that of the £4,000 needed how much will actually go to charity. This covers flights, accommodation, food, guides, etc - surely this is just something that they want to do as a personal thing and wrapping it up in Charity and getting others to pay for it?

I'd love to walk over Sydney Harbour Bridge but I wouldnt dream of masking it in Charity and hoping others will pay for it with perhaps 5-10% of the money raised actually going to the Charity?

I know I don't have to sponsor but I'd rather just give the donation directly to the Charity. AIBU?

The only people I sponsor (and it's vanishingly rare that I'm asked) are people who will leave skills behind. So I wouldn't sponsor an unskilled 18 year old to go to Mexico and build houses. There are plenty of unskilled 18 year olds in Mexico, after all. But I would sponsor, say someone who teaches construction to apprentices to go over and teach and actually leave skills behind. Anything else is orphanage tourism and I very much dislike it.

I do sponsor friends who are doing very difficult endurance-type events, but that's me acknowledging their hard work and thinking 'yeah, swimming a mile across a loch, kayaking back the long way, climbing 7 Munros then cycling 50 odd miles is probably worth a tenner'.

Enko And what skills will your 15 year old bring to building a house, that aren't available in the community?

Yes, this. Would you let him loose on your own extension or even fitting your kitchen? Send the money and a get a local builder to build the house. If your son wants a holiday (nothing wrong with that) then do that and pay for it.

YANBU at all. My mil calls herself a " missionary " and asks all her family and friends to donate a fixed sum every month. I think is just an excuse for her to swan off to Israel to hang around tbh. I call it her end of times trip as she wants to be were the action is when Jesus decides to come back!

Here's another one which has always puzzled me: does anyone else remember when sponsorship money was paid after something had been done ... so if you supported a sponsored swim at, say, 20p a length, you'd tot it all up later and pay them?

Just wondering when it changed to - in effect - giz the money?

I absolutely agree! Why not work for a while to earn money to pay for the trip yourself? If it's about the charity, it would make much more sense to fundraise for an organisation that employs local people to do the same job.

It is irritating. When I was a runner I used to do one run a year for charity and that was a place I'd got myself - I didn't use the charity's place in the event as I didn't want to (or didn't think I would) raise enough money!

I know someone who did the orphanage visit (an adult), don't really know how they heard about it but I hadn't thought that they might be paying for it Might be a sign of the times though, when a younger relative did a gap thing overseas it wasn't sponsored but you did have to pay for everything yourself and take all your supplies for any teaching etc that you did so perhaps the charity model brings in more dosh than the invoice method.

The thing is that these people don't bring skills with them. If they were builders or plumbers, it would be different, but when a child goes over and it costs hundreds of pounds, the value is to that child, not to the community, who would be better off with the money rather than untrained labour.

It's just "pay for me to go to the pub and I'll put the change in the charity tin".

Oh, that's the best explanation I've read. It's exactly that, with a lump of "taking jobs away from locals" on top.

Charities want to raise money and raise awareness. These vanity projects tend to fail on both counts. You get a false sense that when Sebastian comes back from Poor Hot Country having badly dug a well the entire village will be transformed and no more children will die, so you can tick that off your charity list and move on to circus dogs.

I had a very similar conversation with a friend with other day and we were both saying that we'd rather give the £x to the charity direct. That suffers admin costs too but at least it has all gone to the charity rather than to pay for a holiday. I watched a programme about the London Marathon charity places a few years ago and was really shocked about how much some of the places (ie not the ones which were given at first but the ones they have to pay for now) cost the charities - people have to raise a huge amount before the charity gets a penny. I know that probably raises awareness for the charities but the amount the marathon organisers took was huge......

In a similar vein I was aghast recently when a local independent school did a supermarket bag pack to raise funds towards sending their rugby team on a tour to South Africa. I couldn't even see any pupils packing bags, only adults, so either their parents or teachers.

I mean if these children come from families who can afford the school fees then it seems a hell bit of a cheek to ask people who can't afford private education to help fund an expensive trip like that.

Agree absolutely. Have been asked in the past to sponsor children of pretty well heeled parents to go on some major jolly, disguised as aid dor some charity or other.

Have always said no. To be frank I think it's a bloody cheek to ask.

Marathons, etc, are different, and as for anything like abseiling down the side of Twickenham rugby stadium, which a dd did once, hoping not to pooh herself with fright, I'm happy to sponsor that, given that I'd never have the guts to do it myself.

If kids want to go travelling during a gap year, let them get a job for 6 months first, to pay for it. That's what one of my dds did between school and uni.

I'm still irritated by that time my friend "fundraised' to go on holiday to Machu Picchu, supposedly for a charity. It was 3 grand they needed, if I remember correctly. They even got their local pub to put on a pub quiz for them and I really really really didn't want to go, but we all felt forced to. It was a crap night, with all their family members and friends in a side room forking out above the odds for their trip with one of her brothers calling out questions from bloody Trivial Pursuit or something.

They had the trip of a lifetime trekking in the mountains, got engaged etc, we never heard the end of it.....god only knows how much of it the charity saw.

Left a very bad taste in the mouth.

You have to know if the money being raised is directly for the charity or to fund the trip. Charity totally I would donate, funding the trip no.

Here's another one which has always puzzled me: does anyone else remember when sponsorship money was paid after something had been done ... so if you supported a sponsored swim at, say, 20p a length, you'd tot it all up later and pay them?

WELL QUITE.

However, it's been this way for quite a while. In 2004 a friend was meant to be doing a sponsored charity run, but as the date approached she wasn't sure if she was fit enough.

There was a very clear split between friends who were ready to give her the sponsorship money anyway (on the grounds that they'd already allocated it to the charity, who did good work) and those who would only let her have the money if she actually ran (on the grounds that that's what they were paying for).

She ran. Everyone paid.

I used to work at a travel health clinic. The number of these 'charitable people' who used to get quite shirty about being expected to pay for the exotic immunisations/malaria prophylaxis that they were advised to have in the information given by the Charity. Many thought they should have them for nothing, because they were going for charity. When asked who they thought should pay, they had no answer, the NHS? the GP practice that had to buy in the vaccines and pay for the nurses time?
Sod that. If you want to go to build a school in Africa or cycle the Great Wall of China, then YOU pay for your hep B and rabies shots and buy your own Maloprim. It's another £300 quid on top of your initial cost? No my problem, mate.

Niskaya...page 2.. wow I never thought of it like that...my friends kids are off to Borneo to build a school for the summer at a cost of 4 grand...madness...no offence she is a huge girl and very pale..no experience of building anything..she thinks she's going on a jolly..

YY Getting my cousin did an abseil and she is petrified of heights. I was happy to sponsor her generously for that. I wouldn't expect the same in return because I'm not phased at all by heights.

My point being...she's not used to any exercise.so how will she build a school and being very pale very very.shes not used to the heat and will suffer in the sun

It is annoying, I'd be happier if they said, would you spare a couple of £ for my gap year trip.

What's a couple of £?

Saying its for charity when only a small % goes to charity, or the life changing task is actually 2 weeks volunteering on a 6 month trip fuels cynicism.

Really if they want to travel that bad, get a job and save for it.

I got asked to sponsor a group of university students who were going to do a 2,000-mile rickshaw ride through India, can't even remember the charity involved, but they needed to raise a certain amount beforehand to pay for flights, food, lodgings enroute, guides etc, and anything leftover would go to charity. I said it seemed like a fantastic sightseeing holiday and didn't donate a penny. I'd rather give a fiver to the relevant charity directly than pay for someone's experience of a lifetime.

Oh yes this is fucking bollocks.

A lot of the projects are actively harmful. I came across one, a school in Indonesia, it's a fucking disaster. The project leader is a head-in-the-clouds meeja type who swans off from continent to continent saving the world, but without paying attention to detail:

• the school is unlicensed and cannot issue valid graduation certificates
• because the school is unlicensed they have no funding from the government
• there are no child protection rules and people can just go in as they please
• it's used as a tourist attraction by a local tour company with tourists just going in for photos with the kids
• the local qualified teacher they employ appears to be a paedophile
• the school has no title for its land and was originally in the name of the idiot leader's boyfriend, who tried to steal it (this failed due to a pitchforks type approach, but this was not a sure thing)
• the visiting volunteers have no guidance or curriculum and will change things on a rotating basis
• there is no continuity for the children

These trips are UTTER FUCKING BOLLOCKS. Your child has NOTHING, but NOTHING to offer. He is not a builder. He does not know about concrete strength or how to waterproof a bathroom. He is not a structural engineer or an experienced carpenter. He does not understand local building techniques or weather conditions.

If you are going on one of these trips, fine, but it's a holiday not a charitable trip.

Roeshippy,I compleatly agree

To be frank I see little difference between sponsoring someone to go to a stunning country to build a house for a family in one day than sponsoring someone to run a marathon, stop drinking in Jan or grow a beard in November. They're all experiences or gimmicks to get people to give. I'd rather just give directly and so have chosen to donate my last hour's salary each month to a charity of my choice.

I totally agree. My Dd did a world challenge trip which she funded by working part time, doing craft fairs and parental contribution. We didn't ask anyone for a sponsored penny. It was a trip in a lifetime for her which she helped a village school along the way but it wasn't a charity trip.

I would far rather friends and family put a £10 in a charity tin outside tescos.