Grift aid: are political activists pretending to be charities? With Guy Dampier and Poppy Coburn

[@margaretjackson9284]

I never give to the larger charities ,as the money never goes to where it should .

[@Drareg-x3m]

I’ve stopped giving. They just call men like me racist because of my race. The irony and lack of awareness is astonishing.

[@yvonnesimpson4584]

Check the wages of the CEO’s before you make a donation. Nobody wants to pay ceo salaries

[@davidcorkindale60]

Nor bankroll their big pensions.

[@Drareg-x3m]

How about never give to any charity. They are all anti Christian anti white. Give them nothing.

[@michaelgibson7466]

It's obvious the Charity Commission is not doing it's job by not ensuring that the "charities"are acting as charites.

[@jayjaydubful]

I have so much regret for the money I've given to certain charities over the years - Amnesty in particular

[@StraightouttaBristol]

RNLI?......

[@johnturner1073]

@@StraightouttaBristol I'm really split on the RNLI. Those brave men and women, who do so much good work saving lives around the British Isles, are being punished because the government is forcing a small number of them to do its dirty work in the Channel. They are being used and that is so sad.

[@StraightouttaBristol]

@@johnturner1073 I agree with you, BUT I won't be part of this inexcusable use of OUR donations. We keep paying to get these Individuals to get here then pay for their food and welfare. No more donations to RNLI from me, or any other charitable organisations. The Government will be taxing charities in the near future, I pay along with everyone else TOO much and get very little in return. Remember.... Charity starts at home, not in Government pockets 🤔

[@johnturner1073]

@@StraightouttaBristol Yes, exactly. I just feel so sorry for the majority of them, as they are all being tarred with the same brush. Most of those forced to go out in the Channel probably resent doing it too, I guess, but are reluctant to quit.

[@FraserBailey-jm5yz]

Yes, I was once young enough and dumb enough to contribute to Amnesty for a couple of years. What a racket!

[@nickbarber2080]

The whole relationship between charities,NGOs and public money needs to be thoroughly overhauled.

[@CaFe73100]

💯

[@kenricnarbrough8191]

dyam right

[@BigAlCapwn]

I live in Oxford near the business park that houses Oxfam's HQ. It is by far the biggest building on the park and for a long time the only one that had been custom built to loon fancier than all the other generic office blocks around it.

[@johnturner1073]

Three very sensible young people. Applause from a very old person!

[@Faust64]

Absolutely, the government should 100% NOT provide taxpayer money to charity.

[@andrewhotston983]

The government shouldn't give money to charities. Donation should be an individual decision.

[@StraightouttaBristol]

The Government will be taxing charities, so don't give anything.......

[@nickbarber2080]

@@StraightouttaBristol The government (but more often local councils) subcontracts their statutory obligations to "3rd Sector Organisations" ie charities....so yes...government money goes to charities.

[@oee5551]

Charities & non-profit organizations (NPOs), 💯%. And not just political activists abuse these organisations, money launderers (or mixture of both) as well.

[@MrsRanchoFiesta]

So, "Non Governmental" doesn't mean taxpayers aren't paying into these "tax-exempt charities"...

[@FraserBailey-jm5yz]

We have known this for many years.

[@dahkneelah]

Hence, i dont give to charities.

[@MrNemo-oi8cl]

Please they are btalking about this-I hope more and more people start looking at "charities" and their income sources.

[@StraightouttaBristol]

I no longer give to charity, most money is siphoned off before it gets to its end place. RNLI for example use our donations to help people come to Britain instead of returning them. I will never donate a single penny ever again. I will pop into charity shops and buy something though. RNLI destroyed my faith in donations. Labour destroyed my faith in politicians.

[@ellie698]

This is why i don't want to give money to any of them. I've worked for a charitable organisation. I've seen the self interest of everyone who works in them 😵‍💫 Too many people feathering their own nests, building their own empires, spending their own budgets to the max. Some good people worked there but the ones who rose to the top didn't really care if they were achieving the charity's aims but very good at writing bids and justifications for the money they got. So long as you're good at giving the impression you're doing something good and productive, it doesn't matter if you're *actually* doing anything good or productive. I've seen it first hand and it made me sick to my stomach. The charity i worked for wrote bids for government pots of money and were very successful at getting the money. They just laughed about it.

[@iandougall7169]

I worked in that sector for many years and completely agree. It is a pity for the many small charities run by genuine local people, that a comparitively small number of completely self interested entities dominates the sector.

[@giorgipiorgi]

I had the same experience. Lots of far left, narcissistic types happy to grift

[@johnturner1073]

Great post. Thanks for the personal insight.

[@ellie698]

@johnturner1073 It was an eye opener. I wanted to join them and work for them for all the right reasons and I've worked as a volunteer for charities too. The volunteers in my experience, for the most part (there are always exceptions of course! that's human nature I guess) those volunteers have been good people with the best intentions. For instance, I worked as a volunteer manning the Samaritans phone lines. All lovely, genuine people and to be fair to The Samaritans, they run a rigorous training and selection process so only the best get through. I only have praise for that organisation. I don't know, but I think the figureheads of these large charities are probably good people too. It's the people who rise to the middle ranks, or the highest ranks of local branches, who are the bad apples. The good people with honourable intentions leave the organisations and don't go for the senior roles as they know they're in the minority and that they don't "fit". The wrong uns stick around and climb the "greasy pole" as far as they can go. You can't change an organisation that's rotten, singlehandedly. It's soul destroying to try to change a rotten culture, and also to watch the wastefulness and hypocrisy. I imagine that's how people working for public services: academia, the civil service, law and justice departments, the BBC and the like, must feel too. It would be interesting to hear from someone's perspective about that.

[@jdg9999]

@@iandougall7169 It's likely the best rule that could be brought in would be that they must be staffed entirely by unpaid volunteers. That would effectively get rid of almost all of the self serving types and ensure they're run by people who genuinely want to do good. Obviously there are good people who do paid work, but this would deal with all the ones who are just there to grift.

[@carltaylor6452]

It's ironic. On the far left 30 years ago it was common to be opposed to charities because - it was argued - the state should be providing those services. Now we have the far left embracing charities as vehicles for activism, often funded by the state.

[@nickbarber2080]

Jobs for their otherwise useless degrees. The progressive charity-sector manageriat is a very lucrative business,and they now want a bit of it. Whatever the middle-clesses are clamouring for...when you look closely it purely benefits them or their children...

[@stevesmith3990]

Yep the government is paying those who are fighting its objectives, madness.

[@TheOwlsarewatching606]

yes! it was do goodery by middle class housewives, they used to say

[@between-paradise-and-hell]

i stopped giving money to charities years ago for this very reason.

[@Eris123451]

There are over 195,289 registered charities, (many perhaps most of which might be described as, "get rich quick schemes," of one form or another or at best as someones, "nice little earner.") in the UK spending about £80 billion of our money a year. Charities claim that almost ninety pence in every pound we give is spent on ‘charitable activities’. But with many of our best-known charities, the real figure is less than fifty pence in every pound. But does Britain really need so many charities? There are for example, at least 17 different Homeless Charities, (each one with it's staff and overhead,) operating in the NW alone and yet and yet the problem of homelessness is getting steadily worse by the week.

[@iandougall7169]

I worked in the sector for many years and was once asked "what do homeless people actually need?" I replied "a home" . Needless to say that response did not go down well.

[@Eris123451]

@@iandougall7169 A freind of mine who worked for both Action Aid and Imperial Cancer Research and who was pretty disgusted with both of them for the same reasons once commented, "Don't imagine not for one moment that if a cure for cancer were to be found tomorrow that these people would ever allow it see the light of day and lose their well paid jobs, comfortable life style and all the perks, advantages and benefits that go with them."

[@alans.2735]

Very interesting , thankyou, this topic needs to be shared and more widely known.

[@Stafford674]

This information about the Tory Government Charities Act 2011, and the money that they gave to charities dedicated to opposing their political values provides further affirmation of my decision never to trust the Conservative Party with my vote again. Ever.

[@sallyedwards7162]

Its strange that in my local town all the lovely shops are no more, all that seems to exist is charity shops, nail bars, cheap mobile tacky shops, Turkish barbers and cheap Asian tacky homeware shops, where do they get their rent from 🙄

[@RedRobin808]

Paul Theroux called them 'Agents of Virtue'. Driving around Africa in big 4 x 4s and staying in expensive hotels. I have stopped giving money to all Charities a long time ago.To much money goes into high salaries and to little to the needy. To many scandals of abuse. It has become an industry, a nasty one to boot.

[@tomwright9904]

It's worth bearing in mind that lots of highly political people don't think they are political - they think they are just "telling the truth"

[@adamgrimsley2900]

Don't give to non specific charities simple.

[@BigAlCapwn]

I'd go to prison if I didn't pay tax, so how do I stop the government handing some of that over to clearly political activist charities like 'Hope Not Hate'?

[@adamgrimsley2900]

@BigAlCapwn what money are you referring to?

[@williamvorkosigan5151]

I am veteran of 23 years service. I have from a small boy always put money in the tin for the Royal British Legion. In later life moving to more substantial payments. It was always run by a family of people from the start. It got "professionalised" and the new CEO awards himself the highest pay in charities. He decided that we weren't all in it together, so now I was too well off to ever benefit from the Legion. Then he recruits a highly paid DEI officer who has never had any contact with soldiers or the charity prior to this. I was done. I haven't given them money for 4 years now. They deny giving our money to Stone Wall but I don't know about that. The government is paying charities who then try to thwart government policy. It is insane.

[@johnallen7807]

My thoughts exactly! I used to run a small team in Northampton, on average raised about £100k. When the scandal broke about the £184k pay of the BRC CEO I did some checking on the RBL. When I came back at over £150k I called the team together and most of us resigned from fundraising. I always wear a poppy to remember the guys I served with but not to pay banker level salaries.

[@williamvorkosigan5151]

@@johnallen7807 Thank you for all of your efforts from this former soldier. One of my sisters has been a "Chugger" for years. She is sticking with it but I can't. I am very frustrated. This "Elite" class has stollen my charity. I am privileged to be invited to the High Commission (in the country in which I now reside) for Brunch after the Act of Remembrance every year. I feel a fraud wearing an old poppy refusing to pay for a new one. I am outraged that the RBL which no longer seems to have care for soldiers at its core, has monopolised the Poppy as an emblem. I have spoken to the Army Benevolent Fund. They of course won't do poppies (even though RBL can not have trade marked a flower). They won't touch anything remotely linked to an Act of Remembrance. They have changed their name to The Soldiers Charity and I can't believe that they didn't blow a fortune to make a pointless change of name. They don't have a DEI officer but they do have a DEI Statement. DEI is Racist, Discriminatory and Nuevo Marxist in its bones. I can't have anything to do with it.

[@Valhalla-vk7hf]

JSO is a prime example..

[@KarlFredrik]

Always have been. After at least 50 years of this it shouldn't come as a surprise.

[@johnallen7807]

In essence the problem is the lack of political understanding of the normal person in this country. You only have to look at the fact that over 40% of the electorate did not bother to vote last year which resulted in a Labour government supported by 20% of that same electorate! I've been involved in politics at national and local level, you get people complaining about "the council not repairing potholes" for example, then they admit they didn't vote! Personally I only support small charities that do not take government money and do not pay "banker" level salaries to their senior management.

[@asantos704]

Uggghhh lets have more plz! I was recently booted out of cruk because internally all they do is yammer on about race and lgbt and bloody all sorts.

[@kenricnarbrough8191]

'Intersectionality' is social cancer.

[@turquoiseowl]

starting to wonder whether Cameron did more damage than Blair

[@douggraves4482]

Cameron just picked up the mantle and ran with it.

[@theant9821]

I don't give to charities full stop and am suspicious of people who do. From my observation its usually people with a guilty conscience.

[@yorkyone2143]

In 2010, David Cameron stated corporate lobbying would become 'the next big scandal,' prompting Guardian articles about unethical businesses (while ignoring the charity activist business sector). However, Cameron did nothing to address it when in power. The Charity Grift business continues to prevail.

[@nickbarber2080]

In fact Cameron's Big Society nonsense turbo-charged the whole problem...

[@jimbehan478]

I think all these charities should be banned advertising on TV unless every penny coming in, is declared in the AD, Blackmail is a criminal offense and that's exactly what they do , it's called emotional Blackmail.

[@willowtree9291]

I was shocked when the Salvation Army started advertising on television. My £10 donation effectively swallowed up in paying for it. Their response was that they got a 'good deal' for their adverts, they only advertised on cheaper channels, and they ran each advert for several years. Even so, my £10, still wasn't going to someone who needed it. I haven't donated money to them since.

[@davidmiller4078]

There are only a small number of RLNI statiins and boats involved in the what is in effect people trafficking 'illegal imigrants " with no documents = illegal So it is tragic that the majority of RLNI stations around our Island waters should suffer But that does not explain the RNLI from paying for Swimming lesson for Africans out of Donation monies ? Does it ?

[@wendyandrew3707]

I rented premises from a charity for 18 years. They were crooked from the start and have attracted a lot of self serving people. The caused tenants much stress and threatened l livelihoods. They are incompetent, they dont follow legal processes and squabble constantly.. it can only get worse as i see they have attracted activists trying to be councillors f8lled with resentment and bitterness, unrealistic beluefs and not much life experience .

[@KimThomas-vp4vm]

These days I only support the local Hospice charities that do a great job, although I do shop at some of the other charities whilst shopping.

[@jdg9999]

To be fair, a lot of the conservative attitude is just to complain and try to shut them down. Maybe it would be more productive if we actually started and ran our own charities that encouraged more conservative values? Here's one for example - what about a pro marriage charity that tried to help poorer couples get married and stay married and work through their problems? This is a "social good" that would qualify as charitable work, but with a right wing skew to it. What about a charity aimed at preserving traditional British culture? Again, it's easily qualified as a social good, but is more right wing. And leftists always say that it's ok for charities to be "political", as long as they aren't "party political". The truth is, a large part of why the charity sector is controlled by the left is that we've chosen not to even bother to try to compete with them for it.

[@paulpenfold2352]

It's not just since BLM. Covid meant journalists reluctant to leave their homes were only too happy to scroll through their inbox looking for issues raised by charities to use as news items; so Channel 4 News, Newsnight and BBC local news were all made unwatchable by ardent charities and lazy journalists working together to set the agenda.

[@kenricnarbrough8191]

really good point. proper journalism has fallen out of the hands of legacy papers and larger web-news.

[@PhilosophyAlevel-qh2hu]

This is a good argument for the idea that government should provide services and not farm it out to charities. The lunatic left or religious societies will step in where people need help. The minimalist state and maximum profit formula is as imperfect as a maximalist state low profit formula, we need a virtuous mean.

[@sakshambhadoria9998]

The Charitable-industrial complex is a legitimatised way of saving taxes, generating public goodwill and exerting influence in the power corridors.

[@nickbarber2080]

And getting well paid while indulging your activist hobby-horses...

[@denniskight4227]

Yes

[@jonsnow6741]

There are many trading as charities that do not appear to be doing any actual charity work . Many appear to be lobbying groups .

[@virginiawai8485]

I suspect most charities are run by activities, the most important priority is pay themselves salaries comparable to big corporations.

[@GreenishSloth]

It's the same with private coundations: essentially a tax avoidance vehicles for the super-rich that are then used to funnel billions into activist charities or to influence state policies. The vast majority end up on the far left, due to the self-selection process alluded to here. Idiological and religious zealotry are one and the same, and ideological zealotry is far more prevalent on the left (abortion is the perhaps the only major exception, but that's strongly tied to religiocity too).

[@sisiphas]

No charity ever ‘wants to cease to exist’ jobs, careers etc etc hang on it. I and a number of my family members have worked for charities. We all became very disillusioned, for many of the reasons raised snd s few others. They need to be better regulated..or ignored by politicians. Some of the ‘star charities’ frankly could not run a pi..-up in a brewery. The ‘services’ they provide are usually only barely acceptable, if that (including much of Oxfam’s) and they are advocacy groups advicating for some dodgy causes and people. Sorry

[@TheOwlsarewatching606]

CiCs are also a massive grift

[@Doomedcreatures]

these names

[@Floortile]

The charitable sector splits (more-or-less) into two broad camps - the caring sector (which is what you are talking about) and the heritage side. The heritage side was mostly immune from political forces, until it was “all change” at the National Trust, with the law of woke fast extending into public museums and art galleries. Go, for example, to the National Maritime Museum and you enter a highly politicised environment of anti-colonial indoctrination. In short - left wing politics again.

[@KommuSoft]

Of course they do, look at the language guide of Oxfam.

[@girdharrathi6728]

Palpable biased in favour of the right wingers?

[@troffmeister68]

all charity is SCAMITY , and i dont give any the drippings of my nose !