Just want to share this. I watched Sport Relief last night - it was the usual mix of comedy (Beckham in Only Fools etc), Sports contests and films about what they are doing. There were films about overseas and this country. About 9.45-ish they showed a film by David Tennant of a Children's Hospital in Sierre Leone (in fact the only children's hospital) - there were kids with pneumonia - one baby came in who was very ill - the staff did all they could but the baby died. I don't mind admitting that I cried my eyes out. When I woke up this morning I thought about it and it brought tears to my eyes again (can't stop thinking about the look in that child's eyes). I've donated some money. I know there are all sorts of political reasons why children die like that - but institutions like Sport Relief enable the British public to show why we are the best country in the world, because we can do something to help by giving. Like I said - just wanted to share how I feel.
They do, do great things with these fund raising exercises. I went to a party last week to help raise money for a friend who was taking part in a charity bike ride this September riding from Boston to New York for a cancer hospital. But in December just gone he himself got diagnosed with cancer. He's having chemo now but still determined to do the bike ride in September. We raised nearly 3k on Saturday night. Only last night another friend was taken from us due to cancer. So when I see all these women without makeup on Facebook raising all this money for cancer research I realise that we are a great nation, and probably the best in the world at raising money. We are all in a recession but still managing to donate to these great causes.
£51m was raised by Sport relief on the night - it is a big day today with lots of events around the country Here is a link on what's on http://www.sportrelief.com/event-info
Sport relief should be placed in a social context. I work for a charity that provides services for the vulnerable with services part funded by Social services. The service we provide and those nationally have falled in quality. Many services provided by social services provided locally have been cut and disappeared. Charitable donations being made by the public have just fallen recently, they are collapsing e.g. 20% reduction in one year over the UK. Many charities are struggling to recruit staff. Charities in social care have a constant problem with staff retention due to poor wages and wages being in decline - Funders are squeezing and squeezing leading to wage freezes year upon year. The above is all linked to Conservative policy. Sport reliefs money sadly v that lost in one year as a whole is pennies in comparison.
