to not like the whole " Children in Need" thing

[BonjourIvresse]

( I've put in quotation marks becuase I don't not like children in need, obviously, that would just be mean ;-))

Whilst I accept that a lot of money is raised for good causes,

1. I think its just a great excuse for has been celebs to plug what ever their new projects, for free, whilst looking good becuase they are doing something for "charidee"

1. Likewise all the big companies that get lots of great tax-free free publicity for handing a big cheque over, while still treating their employees like shit

1. Why does Terry Wogan and his team need to go on his auction prizes with the auction winners. Surely if they didn't go they could auction off the other place for even more money

1. A lot of the merchandise is over priced poor quality TAT ( this goes for you too Comic Relief)

1. its a cheap way to fill a night of TV, and a WEEK of radio programs

1. I think a lot of less well known and just as worthy charities lose out

Ok rant over, I'll open it up to the floor ;-)

Nobody has to watch or listen to the CiN banalities and no one has to donate to it. And it does no harm at all (unlike fascism).

"The poverty industry" as I saw it described.

terrywogan

In what way, cristina?

2shoes
My DS2's school does too and it always seems faintly odd in a way I cannot quite put my finger on.
I think I kind of wonder who their money gets sent to and if those children are raising money to send back

we should get our DCs schools to talk ....

I am a teacher in a special school & we've had many 'conversations' about whether we should fundraise for Children in Need etc.

IMO it is important that we do it because although the students are 'in need' themselves I still think it is good / 'empowering' for them to feel that they can help other people & aren't just passive recipients of charity.

I understand the principle MrsJuan and I agree .
I do think though that the contributions raised usually have to come from the parents and few are especially swilling in cash.My DS2 simply cannot go into the community in any way that allows him to fund raise. It is all of us raising money amongst ourselves essentially.And I would suggest that our parents are often some of the poorest within our communities.

I love the spirit of it, I applaude the intention but it is not straightforward is it

I understand Pagwatch - & agree that it's not straightforward or easy especially when there is a disparity between what different families can afford to contribute.

We often end up fundraising within the school with staff contributing the majority of the money - but we try to be creative in order to include all the students and have fun.

We also only choose one major charity per year to support so that parents don't have constant demands for money.

pointyhat, please read my post again- I was not comparing CiN to fascism. I was using fascism as an example to criticise your logic.

I take issue with your assertion that CiN 'does no harm at all'- as I said in my first post, it takes the focus off the lack of government funding, and fails to ask why there are any children in need here in the UK, one of the richest nations on earth.

Riven, good points well put

"YANBU It bores the pants off me."

I go along with every word of that.

I detest the fact that there are youngsters from the army cadets (or whatever) who will be in the way "helping" people pack their shopping again quite soon - I completely avoid the supermarkets when they have charity collectors loitering.

(and don't get me started on 'trick or treat' or carol singers!)

FWIW, I'm hoping to do something on the web that should be able to put 90% of income into local community projects in the UK. Not into charities initially, but PTA ideas etc. Cannot get started yet (and will not be me involved when it does go for charitable status, seeing as I've been bankrupt, and would not be trusted) but if turnover hits 5m a year after a couple of years, I hope it will do some good, even if not on the scale of CiN.

Hang on a minute - surely CiN exists to provide all the extras that make life more pleasant for children. Obviously, food and shelter and medical care is provided by the authorities, and rightly so of course.

But things like counselling, day trips and holidays and mentors, all these things are extra's arn't they? So although they are not necessarily things children "need" they certainly make life more pleasant for them.

Like the children who care for their parents. CiN gives to social clubs that the children can join and meet other children in the same situation. That's not a "need" as such, but it certainly goes a long way to improving their quality of life.

I have a DS with ASD.

He attends a Saturday morning playscheme & Holiday playscheme for children with disabilities run by our local YMCA.

A lot of the funding for the staff etc comes from CiN.

In fact, my DS was invited along to the YMCA at the beginning of September for a play day, as the BBC were coming to film an appeal for CiN. Lewis Hamilton came along to do the appeal. He has a disabled brother & chose the project himself.

A well worthwhile cause IMO & I will be watching.

CiN was, for a long time, the only organisation that would fund staff to work specifically with children living (with their mothers) in Women's Aid refuges. (These posts are now mostly LA funded, I think - it's some time since I was involved.) No-one else gave a shit.

They help out small, local, unglamorous charities that can't fundraise enough for themselves; but those charities need to apply for funding, CiN don't just rock up with a cheque.

(To those complaining that CiN hasn't helped their favourite local charity.)

I dislike it too. Have always hated seeing loaded, loaded people asking poor people to give money, it makes my stomach churn. I really really feel they should have to pay a significant amount to appear and we should know what it is. This does make me feel cross and am glad am not alone as sometimes you can be made to feel such a witch for not being swept up with the whole thing.

I prefer Comic Relief in so much as it does actually provide some good entertainment and I feel its slightly less mawkish than CiN. BUT I agree with anything that raises money and awareness. I just wish, like some PPs, that the awareness would go further. It does seem a bit like as long as we have this annual (is it?) event then we can ignore the fact that children suffer all year round, IYSWIM?

Interesting post Mrs Juan, also interesting to read about the less trendy charities CiN supports.

I still think the "stars" could probably raise half of it on their own though.

"And if the Govt funded stuff for poor children/sick children/disabled children properly then schools/hospitals etc wouldn't need to rely on charity."
Well said, Riven

CiN supports many many projects that would never receive government funding because they are not essential. They are often projects that provide something extra, something very specialised or imaginative or enjoyable or relaxing that government funding is never going to stretch to.

I accept that there is an argument that the state should provide all of this but when you look at the individual projects funded by CiN, it is very hard to imagine much of it ever being covered by the government.

I hate the fact that they send numerous celebrities to places (comic relief do this a lot) to raise awareness. Cheaper to just send a camera man surely and then donate the money not wasted on airfares etc to the children who need it.

8 people plus numerous crew travelling around the world? How does that raise money, it just costs a fortune to do.

"8 people plus numerous crew travelling around the world? How does that raise money, it just costs a fortune to do."

Indeed, that's what your licence fee goes into...

I think the environmental lobby will come down hard on the BBC in the not- too- distant future when you consider all the jaunts that they do for radio and TV (eg covering the run-up to the US Presidential elections means half of FiveLive get trips to the USA at some time or other, along with producers etc! OK, not always fun to be working away but all on expenses and bet they get enough time to visit the shops, too!)

I think the BBC "Costing the Earth" programme found leaks in cylinders of coolant in the air conditioning system at the BBC in Birmingham, which might have caused a few red faces in management, and then there's the issue of leaving most of the lights on in massive BBC buildings...

Never watch it, always make sure I have made a trip to Blockbuster earlier in the day. I really have no need to see:

Cast of EastEnders singing a song from a musical

newsreaders dressed up as Abba

comedians going to Africa to play football with the locals

all interspersed with rather excitable people in the audience holding up giant cheques and very proud of the fact that they raised thirty quid by sitting in a trough of pigeon shit for three days.

Yes I am a miserable fucker.

i have always hated children in need tv programming too. but, they give my charity lots of much needed dosh. so i like them.