Skip to main content

Don’t dump charity giving because of Oxfam scandal

Wow. Can’t say I’d want to be working for Oxfam’s PR department this week.

The scandal-hit charity stands accused of covering up details about it’s staff hiring prostitutes in Haiti, whilst delivering aid to the country after the devastating earthquake there in 2010. Whilst Oxfam did confirm that sexual misconduct took place, and people were sacked or resigned as a result, it is now in the spotlight for allegedly failing to give all the details.

There have also been claims of sexual harassment in their high street stores in the UK too, and that no volunteer staff had any criminal checks run on them. With the charity, and public confidence in them, shaken badly, on Tuesday the chairman of Oxfam International was arrested in Guatemala. Although part of an investigation into corruption relating to his time as the country’s finance minister, its another reputational hammer-blow. Their deputy chief executive in the UK, Penny Lawrence, has already resigned, saying she was “ashamed” of the charity’s actions, whilst taking full responsibility.

With nearly £200m of their funding last year coming from legacies, donations and sales in their shops, the loss public trust, and subsequent drop in income, could be devastating, not just for the charity, but those it supports.

International Development Committee member Paul Scully, MP summed it up neatly, saying “the long term concern about this is the risk of people not wanting to donate to charities that do amazing work.”

If its just Oxfam that takes a hit, that’s serious enough. The knock-on effect to other charities is potentially catastrophic. If their income falls because the public are distrusting of them in general, the immense help and support provided by so many brilliant organisations will have to be scaled back. The recipients of that help and support will be the ones who suffer.

Yes, Oxfam need to be investigated and, if allegations are confirmed as true, severely reprimanded for their actions. Of course, they may not be the only charity with skeletons in their closet. But take a look at any organisation from any sector - Banking, governments... maybe even the one you work for. Are they whiter than white? Never done anything wrong? No inefficiency? No waste of money?

Charities aren’t perfect, but the overwhelming majority are staffed by dedicated, honest, people who will be just as appalled by what’s being revealed about Oxfam as anyone else. They need funds to be able to continue to do the wonderful work that you’ve been donating to.

Stop that generosity, and you won’t alter the fact that some bad apples have tainted one of the largest, most recognised, charities. It won’t undo the terrible things they’ve done.

What it will do is mean that the vital funding that helps sick children, war veterans, famine victims or even poorly hedgehogs, and everything and everyone else who benefits, will become scarce. Less money = less help.

Scrutinise the charities. Ask difficult questions. Demand high standards. But don’t stop giving.

This post first appeared as the lead piece in my column/page in The Mail and the News & Star, on the 16th of February 2018, where it was re-titled as "Don't dump giving to charity".

It would appear that this is a story that isn't going away any time soon.

(CD A-Z: Eddie Vinson - "Cleanhead Blues".)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Making an exhibition of yourself

Now and again, it’s good to reaffirm that you’re a (relatively) normal human being. One excellent way of doing this is to go to a business exhibition. Despite what you might have surmised from reading my previous columns, I am employable, and even capable of acting like a regular person most of the time, even joining in the Monday morning conversation about the weather over the weekend, and why (insert name of footyballs manager here) should be fired immediately. The mug! True, there are times, often involving a caffeine deficiency, where it is like having the distilled essence of ten moody teenagers in the room, but I try and get that out of the way when people I genuinely like aren’t around to see it. As part of my ongoing experiment with what others call ‘working’, my ‘job’ involves me occasionally needing to go and see what some of my colleagues get up to outside the office, and what our competitors do to try and make sure that they do whatever my colleagues do better than ...

Unstable Stables: Throw away the key

It’s comforting to know that there is one less threat to the people of Cumbria this week, following the conviction of white supremacist, Ethan Stables. The 20 year old from Barrow had planned to attack the town’s New Empire pub in June 2017, in the midst of a gay pride event. Despite social media posts saying he was “going to war” and planning to “slaughter”, online searches about how to make bombs and chemical poisons, and expressing hatred of Muslims, Jews and gay people, he claimed his online comments were merely to impress far-right friends. Fortunately, following Facebook posts about his intentions, the police were tipped off and armed officers intercepted him as he headed towards the pub. His aim was to kill anyone he found, with a machete. In a bizarre slip-up, Stables had erroneously added an innocent woman to his neo-Nazi Facebook group. When he vented his outrage at the Furness LGBT support group’s event, the shocked woman contacted the authorities. He’ll have ple...

Is it foggy? No.

When I get put in charge (which is bound to happen soon), I'm going to introduce a whole raft of new laws, for I shall be a just and fair ruler. I'm quite liking the title of 'Most Marvellous Emperor Of Sensible Regulations And Bountiful Lovingness Not To Mention Exceedingly Handsome', but it might be a bit long. On that basis, I'll settle for the more informal 'He Who Is Smashing' from my loyal subjects. Anyway, I digress. I do that sometimes - had you noticed? Here, then, is the first law that will introduced: grumpyf1 law No.1 - Turn your fog lights off, you complete git. Don't get me wrong; If it genuinely is foggy, fog lights are quite handy. The reason for introduction of this law is because 96% of the time (based on my own in-depth research) it isn't foggy when some utter cockwomble blinds you. This has always been a bit of a problem but in the last couple of years it seems to have escalated out of control, possibly because of the...