A Stark Reality

I have been doing some research into the size and scope of the challenge that I have set myself. It is certainly going to be a hell of a mountain to climb. The charitable sector is one of the most vulnerable to fluctuations in the economy and certainly my initial findings have been very enlightening. There is no doubt that we live in strained times, the onset of the worst recession in over half a century has already effected many of us and it is likely to get worse before it gets better. Not a day passes with out further news and analysis letting us know about the next failure and the actions of those the politicans have decided to blame that day. As a result we are hanging onto our purse strings harder then ever. We have reduced spending on everything from groceries to high street "luxuries" and "high ticket items". This has had a massive knock-on effect to the charity sector, already over 30% (CC Report 17/03/09) of charities have experienced a decrease in the levels of their donations and most of the rest are braced for similar. It certainly looks like it will be a bad year for charities as "Just £2 a week..." is now needed to feed the family or go towards the next mortgage payment and many just cannot "justify" giving it to a worthy cause. But this raises an interesting question - is charity a luxury? There are arguments to be made on either side of this question but it boils down to the fact that many charitable organisations rely either for the majority or even all of their funding on public generosity. Although times are tight, it would be a real tragedy to see many charities fail in the next few years. One sector of charities most at risk is Children's Hospices. There are a number of these amazing institutions throughout the country and they recieve a tiny amount of government funding, c. £100,000 a year to go towards their average running costs of c. £2million a year. The rest of their money comes from public contributions of all types. It is a real shame that these institutions that care for terminally ill children and their families are not deemed an integral part of our health system whereas adult hospices recieve adequate funding for their operations. They offer high levels of care to dying children and make them comfortable and allow them to enjoy their foreshortened lives as much as possible. If one of these charities fail it will be a tragedy! Therefore I have found the first cause for this blog. As and when we start to raise funds every penny will be going to Children's Hospices throughout the UK.