You’ve Been Conned -
Charity Begins At Home
A
new take on charity hands
Charities resemble private members clubs which provide ‘cushy’ jobs, lucrative business opportunities, and junkets abroad for the privileged few. We can sense some of that when we visit their shops on the high street. Quaint Charity Shops are losing their innocence and are being ‘tarted-up’ to look like mini department stores. We need to scrutinize them because we assume that they support worthy causes, and that they recycle things, and that they are ‘Green’.
Most
of us have read the recurring newspaper reports about charity bosses who
receive bumper, six-figure salaries and packages which include luxury cars,
private health care schemes, and expense accounts. They call that ‘administration’ and it costs
ninety pence in every donated pound. We might call that embezzlement.
The charities said that they paid top wages to attract top managers, but the general public were not convinced. The lid was off the can and another principle had been sacrificed. If the bosses were ‘at it’ everybody could join in. Charities became ‘fair-game’ for all sorts of unscrupulous predatory ‘animals’ and scavengers.
Charity Shops turn over lots of donated jumble, but neither their causes nor their
customers receive much benefit. Shop volunteers get their hands on the bounty before customers see
any of it. Volunteers sort every new
batch of donations in back-rooms which are out of sight and out of reach of the
public. They consult their wish-lists,
which they collected earlier from their friends and families, and they bag any
sought-after items.
Many
volunteers are semi-professional antiques dealers. Others are convicted criminals who are
performing community service. All of
them can purchase cheaply ‘van-loads’ of valuable goods that they can re-sell for
profit at auctions or car boot sales.
Hundreds of tax-free pounds can be made every week in exchange for a few
hours ‘voluntary’ work.
Charities
employ roving managers who seem to condone that kind of ‘cherry-picking’. They seem to regard it as a perk of the job
which relieves tension. Managers know
that voluntary work is just a euphemism for slave labour. Volunteers know that too and they resent the
good fortune of their relatively well-paid colleagues. The perks or ‘invisible earnings’ ease
everyone’s conscience.
A recently televised documentary showed how some private firms were profiteering from charity work. Agencies were organising street ‘money-box’ collections while ‘rag-trade’ merchants were disposing of unwanted textiles. The actual sums of money that changed hands were irrelevant. Viewers doubted the explanations and they suspected the worst motives. The private sector seemed to be ‘cashing-in’ by ‘ripping-off’ the charities and by ‘mugging’ everyone else on the streets. The charity image was being distorted in the eyes of the viewing public by more artful dodges, cons, scams, fiddles, and rackets. Indignant viewers wondered what was going on: 'Who were those business partners? How long had the charities been collaborating with them? Did the Charity Commissioners know about it?'
A
colleague, who had served overseas in the army, advised me never to give money
to foreign-aid charities. He said that
he had witnessed how funds had been squandered.
‘Aid’ workers did little work and made little difference. They lived in five-star hotels and they drove
top-of-the-range, sports-utility-vehicles which were exchanged every year. Their assignments were just
all-expenses–paid, safari holidays.
The Green Party must promote further regulation of charities. Charities that have established needs must be nationalized and financed by the government. I am amazed that charities like the Royal National Lifeboat Institute which provide essential services depend on volunteers, television show fundraising, and merchandizing. The RNLI ought to be part of the Coast Guard Service.
Voluntary service and two-tier staffing must be abolished. Sack the existing greedy bosses and recruit new managers from religious orders or other ethically correct groups. Put all employees on pay scales and grant them living wages. Forbid Charity Shop workers from buying ‘in-house’.
Charity
Shop workers need representation. The
trades unions need to get involved to prevent the exploitation of ‘willing
volunteers’. Charity Shop workers ought
to be offered formal vocational training in commerce, aspects of the antiques
trade, recycling and any other related occupations. That training would comply with industry
standards. It would lead to recognised professional
qualifications and overtly rewarding careers.
Prudent
advice needs to be given to benefactors.
The donation of family heirlooms and other valued items must be logged, and ‘cooling-off’ periods must be provided.
The acquisition of antiques and bullion must be documented and
kept in public records. All valuable
items must be sold by reputable auctioneers.
Boycott
Charity Shops. Support soup kitchens,
food banks and shelters for the homeless.
Thousands of people in Britain
are starving. Many of them are elderly
or disabled or suffer from physical or mental health problems. They are neither ‘spongers’ nor ‘scroungers’;
most of them are good, honourable people.
Give your spare time and money to them.
WINDUP
Please send your dirt on charities to us. We will splatter it.
But Green Swipe is willing to say something good about charity. We recommend the Philanthropy & Philosophy web-site.
But Green Swipe is willing to say something good about charity. We recommend the Philanthropy & Philosophy web-site.
http://www.philanthropyandphilosophy.com/index.php
You, too, can say something good about charity. Write to us, and help us to compile a list of
worthy people and their good deeds.
HEROES OF CHARITY
Records from the lives of Merciful People
whose righteousness has not been Forgotten.
You may send your comments to greenswipe@gmail.com
‘peace man’ΓΏ☮[
