Charities 'could face cuts of up to £5.5bn'

wotsthat

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17249026

The charity sector is facing local and national government funding cuts of between £1bn and £5.5bn in the current financial year, a report suggests.

The leaked report, obtained by the Labour Party, was carried out by an umbrella organisation which said the situation had worsened since it had compiled it last March.

The BBC seem to be leading on this story on the news this morning.

Wouldn't most people assume that donations to charity are optional and we donate according to whether we think the cause is worthwhile? Why should the government be making charitable donations on our behalf?

asharon

Everyone has a charity that is close to their heart and this changes depending upon events in poeples lives.

The government support charities because they perform a service that in many regards is a life saving service for people that would suffer immeasurably if it did not exist.

Take a charity such as the RNIB, people who have suffered sight loss can go to a centre to learn how to use a computer because of such funding. Maybe it is taken for granted being able to do such a write a thread on a forum. But if you cannot go out and see the sky a person may well feel differently.

That is a tiny example and not the best one but there are a lot of services that really are life saving and would not exist without the charities.

CLAPTON

well endless not for profit organisations are simply fronts for goverrnment spending and government policy but of course don't appear on the government balance sheet.

tartanterra

asharon wrote: »

Take a charity such as the RNIB

Whilst the RNIB is one of our better run charities which carries out an invaluable service, it's worth noting that when you drop a pound into one of their collection boxes, around 750,000 other people need to do the same, just to pay the CEO and directors. Then of course, their pension costs and expenses have to paid for in addition to this.

I'm not making a judgement either way and it's a personal thing for everyone as to which charities they support.
I do believe however, that if you are going to regularly support a charity then it's worth having a look at their accounts to see where the money goes.

SingleSue

I tend to support local charities, especially the ones which assisted me when the boys were young. One of those is the little special needs playgroup my boys attended and having been on the commitee for that group, I know exactly where the money went.....a small amount for wages (they rely a fair bit on volunteers, suitably qualified of course) and the rest on actually running the group.

Without that playgroup and the support of the people runnng it, I'm not sure I would be as well off mentally as I am now and the boys would def have not been as well rounded as they are now, they really got me through some absolutely horrendous times and gave me a wee break from time to time.

Road_Hog

CLAPTON wrote: »

well endless not for profit organisations are simply fronts for goverrnment spending and government policy but of course don't appear on the government balance sheet.

And many of the big political charities are political and socialist. Charities should not be government, EU or UN financed, except in certain specific circumstances and they keep out of politics and lobbying.

Rochdale_Pioneers

Of course charities are facing big cuts. A lot of their funding comes from national and local government who are pulling the plug. That means that when Cameron used to prattle on about the big society and charity provision replacing cut council services, it was always a joke as the charity would also go.

As for big charities, they can stick it. Most campaign for £2 a week/month donation, and once you give them any money at all ever, they spend large amounts of cash bombarding you with post asking for more money.

vax2002

A lot of people are kept in very lavish dream factory wages by many charities, no Government money should be given to any charity, it defies the point of a charity.
Let them that want to donate, donate and let them that dont get enough donations fold.
Times are hard enough without tax money been used to prop up some ex Army captains lifestyle.