I think that it's good that they're deciding to give away such a substantial amount of money to communities that clearly need their help, but I think that there's something wrong about it being a reality TV show. It seems like they're just trying to get publicity for themselves, which brings the focus away from the important fact that it these communities recieveing the help that they need.
Hello Folks
Our organisation assists Asylum Seekers in Liverpool and the costs of running a drop in centre, destitution project and a myriad of other smaller programmes costs almost 200k per year, none of which comes from the government unlike other bigger charities who assist Asylum Seekers. All our funding comes from Foundations and individual donors and fundraising should be a full time occupation although it tends to get squeezed in between fixing leaking roofs, reporting hate crime, halting deportations or making soup.
In our particular situation, one of our charitable objects is improving public education about Asylum Seekers and Refugees and so something like this allows us to explode the myths around Asylum. We took part in the programme but as we have yet to see it we don't know what impact, if any, it will have, but in an age where both the papers and politicians are hostile to Refugees, we're having to grab onto anything which will make people think constructively about Asylum.
It also should be said that they sought us out, not the other way round. Undoubtedly it is the media and the 'story makers' who control events but it is thereafter up to us to put clear and convincing arguments.
It is difficult to say if TV exposure like this is fair. Some charities get funding that maybe isn't essential and others get less or are ignored for something crucial. There's always a 'smash and grab' type of mentality when a new fund comes on the scene or the Home Office announces the Challenge Fund or the like and it may be that the best written bids, rather than the most worthy causes, end up with the funds. I really don't know what the answer is: giving money to charities will always be subjective and based on the individuals or the foundations personal preferences. The bottom line is that, probably, there just isn't enough to go around. We are reasonably successful in fundraising but it's difficult to sustain and with some funders, you can't go back when the grant is used so it becomes a constant search. We go into the Red in March next year, which does not leave us a lot of time to get sorted out.
As I alluded to above, my roll as centre manager increasingly becomes compromised by the fundraising requirements and I am increasingly locked away in my office instead of providing direct assistance to the service users. Having expanded greatly during the last year, it gets increasingly difficult to cover costs and so we can't afford to ignore something like the Secret Millionaire when it comes our way, especially the publicity it will bring.
All the best Ewan
Hi everyone,
I saw the above show advertised a while ago and have really been looking forward to it. I think one really important thing to know was that the guy on the first episode had actually been really hard up and one point and it was an act of kindness that helped him on his way. He wanted to be able to share some of his money as a sort of thank you for the help he had. The people he helped appreciated ithis and even the ones he decided would make it by themselves probably gained by the publicity of being on the tv. I thought that the way the money was given away allowed the recipients to maintain their dignity and I hope that others will be inspired by this man's example.
That's what I thought of it anyway.
Hello again,
If you've been reading about this then you may find this article interesting:
http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/content/view/1376/34/
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