Despair

The trouble with volunteers now taking over again is

Church - often they are very elderly themselves but would hopefully do their best

Families - already stretched both financially and time-wise

Health and safety/bureacracy/professionalism - that might have to go by the board somewhat

But hopefully people would rally.

We will just have to rally but its b****y depressing that we have to.

Living in the country can be very lonely , our town is a lovely market town but we have so many small hamlets and farms scattered . I feel exhausted now, first the drop in centre , then the day centre for the disabled , Friday I had a telephone call from our nearest Age Concern - 20 miles away - this branch is to close in three weeks, so no advocate, no volenteers to shop for the elderly or take them shopping or to the surgery or dentist. The elderly find the changes in the town difficult, grandchildren off the universities, daughters working untill retirement age , a generation ago it was so different. Many houses in the hamlets are holiday homes, no village shops , very few post offices . Such is life

Tory austerity is really beginning to bite now. Local authorities supported a lot of services that were run by charities. Six years ago the Tories were talking about The Big Society and how the new model of delivering all kinds of services would be via charities. The trouble is that the "charities" that do this kind of work are all pretty reliant on public money. There is no big pot of money available from private companies or wealthy philanthropists. We're talking about services like women's refuges and many others services to vulnerable people. The Tories like the charitable model because people working in them get paid a LOT less i than if they were employed by local authorities or other public sector.
Now the amount of money has dwindled due to Tory austerity. Charities are having to spend a lot of time bidding for funding in competition with other charities. The funding problem is exacerbated by the fact that the funding that is available is often linked to some specific initiative or project and not for just keeping some important and valuable service running. Tory austerity is hurting the most vulnerable in society and the pain is due to carry on increasing.

I think charity giving will change.
Plenty of people I know are heartily fed up of the national charities which pay high salaries from the top down, and have cut back thier charity giving considerably. They are trying to find which charities they can give to instead, that are more local, and dont pay ridiculous amounts for salaries, offices, have to set up standing orders etc etc.

I also think that because of Brexit, people are and going to start to think in terms of Britain first, again which will benefit local issues and causes.

Yeah. Because local issues and causes are so much more worthwhile aren't hey?

Never mind the small boy being dug out of the remains of his house after the barrel bomb strike.

Volenteers do not get paid, it is these people who keep many small charities working

My post was to obieone btw)

Well, go volenteer in Syria Jingle

I think we all know that the money that goes abroad often does not reach the people it should reach, by a long way. The same cannot generally be said of money that goes to charities that are very local.

But I wouldnt dream of saying that that the boy in Syria is more or less worthy than a young person in this country with mental health issues personally.

Well actually I might, thinking more about it, because love thy neighbour I tend personally, rightly or wrongly to think of a neighbour or someone nearby. That is what it was in the Bible. I think. A bit late at night to be sure of what I post here. I will think more about it in the morning.

I sometimes think, that who is going to give money to someone in the next town say for instance if I didn't?. Whereas the whole world may pay money to Syria or whereever, if you see what I mean.

So there may be people in Anniebach's area, who are , and I hesitate to say neglecting the people in their very local area

There are people in this area who don't want to give up their spare time Obieon, not neglect just selfishness , tv is more entertaining than reading to an elderly person, and sorry but I have no idea what bible you read, in mine 'love thy neighbour' leads to the parable of The Good Samaritan.my neighbours are the people living in my close, the people in the next, town, the people in Syria , a child in Syria is equal to a child in the UK, they may have many different needs but there are two needs they share - love and protection.

I never know if that is right about The Good Samaritan. The person he helped was the person he came across, much like the people in your town if you ask me. If everyone helped the people not nearest to them, no one is going to come across the people literally on their doorstep.

So while you are fighting for the local Age Concern, there is probably money in your area, but it is going elsewhere. Maybe all to the same, different place. Not a good idea in my opinion.

Age Concern is a country wide charity, their money, their staff, their offices

JessM's post summarises the impact of austerity cuts well. She's right in saying that charities are having to work hard to generate funds and that many effective services previously run by charities are having to close because local authority funding has been withdrawn.

The complaint that senior executives and managers in charities earn large salaries is understandable. We need to remember that if they weren't well paid, they would go elsewhere to earn their salaries. Charities have to operate on a business model in order to compete and survive in the current climate. They also need offices premises, paid staff , including fund raisers. They don't operate out of a small cardboard box.

As for the point that our neighbours are the people in our town or country, I'm with Anniebach in her interpretation of the parable of the Good Samaritan.

We need to remember that if they weren't well paid, they would go elsewhere to earn their salaries. Charities have to operate on a business model in order to compete and survive in the current climate. They also need offices premises, paid staff , including fund raisers. They don't operate out of a small cardboard box.

From the people I know, and from what I read on gransnet and elsewhere, that idea does not go down well, nad as Ihave said, amongst the people I know, they have reduced their charity giving accordingly.

The parable of the Good Samaritan - Jesus asks, which of the 3 people who passed the man, who was the neighbour?

True Iam and worse it's going to get. The two local charities I am fighting to keep were funded by local authorities . Age Concern is a countrywide charity yet it is making cutbacks here too. Nothing can be done and more charities will have to make cut backs, the vunerable will continue to suffer

Actually, it isnt a matter of they have reuced it, it is a matter that they have changed where they give it too. They even know which charities are paying out the biggest salaries to the bosses. Some of them have changed to the Salvation Army, as they can see that that is one of the lowest ones.

Obieon, the council have stopped funding two local charities because of less money from Westminster, thus is why libraries are closing. Cut backs

Why shouldn't charities have to work hard to raise funds? I thought they did anyway. And that some of their methods are very much disliked.

I'm undecided about libraries closing. Are libraries really as necessary as they used to be now that people can access a lot of informative and leisure reading via their phones and tablets?

I'm not saying that I think libraries are unnecessary, just, possibly, not as necessary as they have been.

My husband could not have managed to educate himself without his local library in Cardiff where he grew up and went to a rotten school. There were no books in his parents' house. But he could probably manage now.

What have charities got to do with this? Isn't Ab complaining of council cuts?

I live in a close which has twenty four properties, I am the only one with access to the Internet

Dunno. Haven't read the whole thread. Apparently charities used to get money direct from Westminster and possibly also from their local councils and don't now.

What about organisations like Rotary? They support charities. Always have. It's another way.

Why are you the only one with access to the internet, ab? Is it because you pay for it and others don't? Sorry if that sounds nosey, it's just that I was recently at my mum's house for three weeks. There is no interenet there only because my brother, who lives with her, has never mentioned it. He goes to the library when he wants to get online. He doesn't even have a mobile phone. He could have that and an internet connection. He chooses not to. No idea why really.