An expose by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) of the cruelty involved in killing young crocodiles and alligators for their skins has persuaded British model and designer Jane Birkin to ask design group Hermes to change the name of its crocodile-skin Birkin handbag.

The bag was launched by Hermes in 1984 and named after the Sixties singer for giving the company the original idea for its practical design in 1981 and since then has become a big hit with the rich and fashion-conscious such as Victoria Beckham, Jennifer Lopez, Kate Moss, Julia Roberts and others who have paid up to £100,000 and beyond for their ostentatious symbols of wealth, generating hundreds of millions for Hermes. Predictably the design is also one of the world’s most widely-copied, perhaps for those with more sense than money, and who don’t want to join the six-year waiting list for one made by Hermes. Continue reading →

Armed Forces charities concerned about potential loss of donations from air shows in the wake of the recent Shoreham air disaster that killed 11 members of the public are being given false reassurance, along with the public, about the safety record of air displays by those who make money from them.

According to the PR department of the British Air Display Association the last time members of the public were killed at an event was “63 years ago”, a reference to the 1952 Farnborough Air Show tragedy when 29 died.

In fact six members of the public died at the Biggin Hill Air Show in 1980, 35 years ago, when they were being carried on a Douglas Invader which crashed very close to a housing estate attempting a rolling climb stunt.

Fuller story in Event Organisers Update issue 132, September.

Age UK is to cease funding vivisection and joins the growing list of charities whose donated funds are not used for animal experimentation. (Ethical Consumer magazine).

Around 135 medical charities, including Marie Curie Cancer Care and Breast Cancer UK do not conduct or fund animal research, but ninety still do, despite a 2011 opinion poll conducted by Animal Aid that found that 82% of the public would not donate to charities that did.

Information about charities and their policy on funding vivisection is on the Animal Aid database at web: victimsofcharity.org

Parachute jumps for charity have come in for some criticism in a new book about charity fundraising. “Doing Good Better: Effective Altruism and How You Can Make a Difference” by Oxford don and expert in charity giving William MacAskill, reviewed in the Daily Express.

Less than 40% of the money raised from sponsoring a jump actually gets to the charity says MacAskill since the parachute clubs take the lion’s share. A sponsorship of £400 commonly sees the parachute club get £250 and the charity £150, making it a very wasteful way of raising money for good causes.

The suicide of poppy-seller Olive Cooke in Bristol in May this year has highlighted the aggressive fundraising tactics used by some charities, and prompted new laws to be drafted to stop the abuses.

Ms Cooke, 92, was a generous donor to and worker for charities and was accordingly targeted to be bombarded with direct mail and cold telephone calls, from her name being on lists of likely donors bought from list brokers by the charities and given to direct marketing companies. Continue reading →

The Court of Appeal has confirmed that a widow broke the law by leaving her entire £489,000 estate to animal welfare charities and nothing to her daughter, to spite her.

Melita Jackson died in 2004 and, due to disagreements over her daughter Heather Ilott’s choice of husband, and the naming of one of the five children she had, left instructions that all her money should be given to the Blue Cross, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). Her daughter Heather was to get nothing, and all attempts by her to claim anything were to be robustly resisted by the charities. Continue reading →

The National Association of People Abused in Childhood claim that they are in touch with more than 30 police officers who were ordered not to investigate allegations of child abuse against VIP men. According to chief executive Peter Saunders there is “a history of cover ups”.

Meanwhile a former brothel-keeper who says that former PM Sir Edward Heath was one of her VIP customers, and that she escaped a prosecution by threatening to expose him, allegations that the Independent Police Complaints Commission is now looking into. Continue reading →

Bowood Farms Ltd, which ran a halal abattoir in Thirsk, Yorkshire where sheep were cruelly treated for fun before being slaughtered, has ceased trading. (The Business Desk)

The move comes six months after charity Animal Aid released secretly-filmed footage of the cruelty to the Food Standards Agency, who started an investigation with a view to prosecution. The company has collapsed and all fifty staff have been made redundant.

Our government currently allows halal slaughter in the UK, where animals are not stunned before their throats are cut, for fear of offending religious sensibilities.

Children’s charity Kids Company ceased trading on Wednesday August 5 after 20 years, and funding by taxpayers money of £37 million.

Its founder, the colourful Camila Batmangheldidih was recently forced to step down as its chief executive when the Cabinet Office refused to approve another £3 million of public funding unless she did, amid concerns about how the charity was being run by her, and how taxpayer’s money was being spent. Continue reading →