New website attacks government-funded charities 20

Anonymous
1 Mar 2009

http://devilskitchen.me.uk/2009/02/lobbyists-fight-back.html

Game, set and match, I think.

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Carrie W.
1 Mar 2009

After reading this article, I have decided to send a link to everyone I know and ask them to do the same.
I have requested that they never donate another penny to a charity that is funded by the taxpayer.
Why pay twice?

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Gareth Jones
Senior reporter
Charity Finance
28 Feb 2009

'Reprehensable' link error now corrected!

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Sebastian Weetabix
27 Feb 2009

Any "charity" which cannot survive on public donations alone is clearly not valued by the public. I resent my tax money being given to this leaches on the body politic.

Hopefully as a result of this economic depression these bodies will no longer be funded & we won't have to endure the irritation of compulsorily funding the stormtroopers of the Nanny State.

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Jeff
27 Feb 2009

"A spokeswoman for Alcohol Concern said none of its government grant is used on its lobbying activities."

Unless "Alcohol Concern" spends less than about £5000 (its total of donations from the public) on lobbying the government that's a somewhat disengenuous statement.

To quote another blogger, "Bishop Hill" - "They don't seem to get the point do they? If nobody is willing to fund your charity on a voluntary basis, that's because nobody values what you do. In fact, most people would probably say that Alcohol Concern is a public menace existing largely for the benefit of its staff."

It is absurd to class as charities, organisations that are government-funded in order to pressurise the government into passing restrictive and unpopular legislation.

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Michael
27 Feb 2009

"A spokeswoman for Alcohol Concern said none of its government grant is used on its lobbying activities."

Alcohol Concern received £4,991 in donations in 07/08, while it received £515,000 from the Department of Health.

So what did they do with the half a million pounds then if it was used on its lobbying activites?

If you think that isn't a fake charity then you need your head seen to.

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Michael
27 Feb 2009

That was of course meant to say "WASN'T" :X

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Stumbleupon
New Labour Victim
Freedom from Leftofascists
27 Feb 2009

Enrico: "as society faces ever-greater social pressures in the wake of the widescale failure of free market principles in certain sectors, the support of charity will become ever more fundamental to the wellbeing of the public."

Very revealing of a political agenda. Your second paragraph is a masterpiece of obfuscation and pompous priggery.

It is crystal clear that many of the fake charities are covert left wing vehicles for promoting social revolution beneficial to vested interest minorities and getting taxpayers to pay for it.

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Dr Nick Ashley
Consultant
26 Feb 2009

I'm with the Devil's Kitchen (who is a swear blogger BTW) on this one. Charities should not receive any government money. They should raise funds from the public and other donors.

Too many seem to back up government pronouncements in areas that they cover. They do seem quite often to be spouting the government line.

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Enrico
25 Feb 2009

The writer clearly values hyperbole and self- promoting controversy over a considered understanding of the legal requirements surrounding charitable status and registration.

It is perfectly legitimate for charities to deliver public services if it is a legitimate means of promoting their charitable purposes. As the funding paradigm has shifted from traditional public fundraising sources to income derived through service delivery, charities have to adapt their scope of operations to ensure they can continue to deliver their public benefit.

Clear legal guidance setting out the parameters within which charities can deliver services using state funding are set out in the Charity Commission publication, 'Charities and Public Service Delivery' (CC37), and a more in-depth consideration of the legal issues can be found in 'The Independence of Charities from the State' (RR7) - the person in question may like to digest these before making further misguided assertions.

An expected retort might be something in the vein of: "Well of course that is the usual smokescreen", or "Do they practice what they preach" etc? But the reality is that charities do, and as society faces ever-greater social pressures in the wake of the widescale failure of free market principles in certain sectors, the support of charity will become ever more fundamental to the wellbeing of the public.

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