TIME FOR A CHARITY CLEAN UP

Charity chuggers employed by Tag Campaigns have been the subject of an undercover investigation by the Sunday Telegraph, following a tip-of from a whistleblower.

This found that members of the public stopped in the street were being aggressively intimidated, misled and lied to by chuggers employed by Tag, in order to persuade them to divulge their mobile phone numbers, to facilitate a text donations campaign. Tag were working on behalf of Marie Curie Cancer Care and it was revealed that its two founders, also the sole shareholders, had taken £1.2 million in dividends in the last three years. Continue reading

LEARNED BEHAVIOUR

Bullying has been taking centre stage in the media recently.

According to education standards watchdog, Ofsted, nearly half of all pupils have suffered some form of bullying at school, with 58% of those in primary schools and 41% in secondary’s claiming they had been picked on, though how much of this was from teachers and how much from other pupils was not revealed. What was clear was that mostly the abuse concerned the way the abused looked, including hair colour, weight and the wearing of spectacles. Some teachers pointed out that the parents and carers of the children harboured racist, homophobic and aggressive attitudes that were at odds with the values they were trying to instil.

Bullying can have tragic consequences, witness the 12-year old boy from Harrogate who hanged himself in June, reportedly over being bullied. Continue reading

DO THEY CARE?

The government is backtracking on plans to cap the amount the elderly have to pay for their own care.

Experts have recommended £25,000 but the figure ministers are considering is £100,000, and they will not now be making a decision until 2015.

This, say Age UK will have a devastating impact on people who need care now.

BLACKBERRY OR CRACKBERRY?

Charity Anxiety UK has warned that insomnia is hitting increasing numbers of us after getting our fix of social networking sites, dubbed “electronic cocaine”

Apparently half of us access the sites while in bed, 43% use work time for this personal experience and whilst 38% of users believe the sites have improved their lives some 24% of us say they make us anxious, a common symptom of chemical drug use.

CHARITY FESTIVAL FAILS

A three-day music festival held in Fife in May was targeted to raise more than £100,000 for charities Help For Heroes and Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association Rorces Help but only attracted less than a quarter of its expected audience of 12,000 (Live UK)

The organisers of the festival, Big Stooshie Productions have declared insolvency and the charities will get nothing.

GLUTEN-FREE

The Coeliac Society has revealed that 1 in 100 people in the UK, or more than 500,000, have coeliac disease.

This is an autoimmune condition caused by intolerance to the gluten protein found in wheat, barley and rye and therefore present in breads, cakes, biscuits, flours, cereals and pastas and often used as an ingredient in such common foods as fish fingers, sausages, gravies and sauces, including soy sauce. Damage to the lining of the gut is caused by eating gluten and there is no cure or medication available – the only treatment is a gluten-free diet for life.

The charity currently has 3,000 members with the condition and campaigns for more gluten-free foods and more caterers, restaurants and event organisers providing suitable options.

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

The National Trust have released a free mobile phone app called Soho Stories and aimed at those who like strolling through the rural landscapes of London WC2.

Narrated by Barry Cryer it features references to places where Soho celeb Geoffrey Barnard was jolly tired and emotional, where Courtney Love reportedly discovered some Sapphic tastes and the bar at the Grouco Club where Damien Hirst, apparently, in the interests of art of course, would artfully show everyone his membership, one item he did not cut in half and mount in formaldehyde.

Unmissable, we’d say………

Charity Matters August/September 2012 ISSUE 44

TIME FOR A CHARITY CLEAN UP
Charity chuggers employed by Tag Campaigns have been the subject of an undercover investigation by the Sunday Telegraph, following a tip-of from a whistleblower….

LEARNED BEHAVIOUR
Bullying has been taking centre stage in the media recently.According to education standards watchdog, Ofsted, nearly half of all pupils have suffered some form….

DO THEY CARE?
The government is backtracking on plans to cap the amount the elderly have to pay for their own care. Experts have recommended £25,000 but the figure ministers….

BLACKBERRY OR CRACKBERRY?
Charity Anxiety UK has warned that insomnia is hitting increasing numbers of us after getting our fix of social networking sites, dubbed “electronic cocaine”….

CHARITY FESTIVAL FAILS
A three-day music festival held in Fife in May was targeted to raise more than £100,000 for charities Help For Heroes and Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association….

GLUTEN-FREE
The Coeliac Society has revealed that 1 in 100 people in the UK, or more than 500,000, have coeliac disease. This is an autoimmune condition caused by intolerance to….

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
The National Trust have released a free mobile phone app called Soho Stories and aimed at those who like strolling through the rural landscapes of London WC2….