David Lammy/Stacey Dooley

I have indeed flown over to that Country, I was very privileged to meet my child, and I have had photos taken with her, but they are for my own very special memories, and to send back when I write!

That sounds reasonable enough.
It's a shame some people have taken and run with it.
(Weird saying!)

Precisely Anja D.L. is confusing equality of standard of living with racism. And it is not helpful.

Stacey was in Uganda wasn't she? The Ugandan High Commissioner to Britain was on TV this morning. He said Comic Relief and people such as Stacey are doing a great job. The only objection he had was that a picture of a Ugandan child was put out on social media.

You should work in journalism Lily65 interview people pick out a paragraph from all they've said then take it out of context.

It was sarcasm and you know it. Or you should. That's what the quotation marks were for

B9 Its great what you are doing - but you haven't flown over to that country to have your photo taken with that child to put on Instagram. David Lammy isn't saying we shouldn't give aid where it is needed, but we should think about our relationship with the recipients.

We are not all equal though.

When every child, from wherever, and every old person likewise, enjoys the same standard of living as this man then that’s when we are all equal.

The Diana photographs were at least 20 years ago. We would hope that attitudes had also moved on. However people writing things like this If David Lammy cares about ‘his people’ then he’s let them down with his haughty, resentful pride. He is well fed, not thirsty, educated and clothed. But he may well have seen to it that ‘his people’ now won’t be would seem to indicate little change or growth.

I, a white person, support a child in an African slum. If I hadn't she would have had no schooling beyond primary, no health education, no future. It is not something I am given to mention because it is nobody's business but my own and hers. It would be wonderful if her Country had the social system to support slum occupants, but it doesn't. Am I wrong to have wanted to change one life?

Remember the starfishes on the beach?
eventsforchange.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/the-starfish-story-one-step-towards-changing-the-world/

All of those things go on though.
At work last week a local councillor came in to 'consult' with the people who use a club that is for disabled people.
His picture was taken, they've ticked the 'minorities' part of their remit, but there was very little consulting going on.

It’s not that we shouldn’t give money or aid those in need. It’s the images of well Off westerner with poor black child - no adult in sight- which is outdated. What if the celebrities on Children in Need had photos taken with poor child in a U.K. food bank - no parent in sight- saying how adorable etc. It’s just cringeworthy these days.

breeze well said ??

Seems he is not a racist. Simply pointing out that we are now all equal. And they have showers in Africa. We are obviously unaware they have cities that look just like western towns and cities, just hotter. So this footage should be shown instead of the poverty

I shall apologise for feeling concerned about those less fortunate. I shall keep my money in future and spend it on something else.

If you show people doing well, no one will donate. Der.

If they need it, do what's necessary to provide it. If they don't, end Comic Relief and other aid and spend it on people who do. Disasters and the like.

No one disrespects these people. And no one disrespects them because they are black. They want to help because they are (or were) thirsty, hungry and suffering. In fact DYING.

People will not donate if they think the problem is solved. You HAVE to show those in need. Painful as seeing it may be. And racist comments from David Lemmy are unhelpful. It shouldn't matter what colour Stacey Dooley is. She was holding a child in need. And SHE gave up her time to do something to help. Unlike D.L.

No one, not even Mother Theresa felt bad about helping others. Of course, it makes people feel good. And that is wrong because? If you have, and you help the have nots, it does not make you a bad person.

Does anyone else think that perhaps the remit of Comic Relief is too wide? How do they choose which countries and projects to support? I also become uneasy with rather well off celebrities asking me to give more on these specific programmes.

I know a “celebrity” very well who has participated in Comic Relief.

They raised a lot of money, did not receive payment for their time spent on training to do the task or the task itself. It was their way of “giving something back”

Not all “celebrities” are only in it for self promotion, unfortunately we hear more of the ones that are.

I don't watch it anymore, but it used to be quite an 'event' when my daughter was little.
She was allowed to stay up and watch, and we ate some treats.. Happy days.

Anyway. Just give 'em some money. Who really cares if we actually watch or not?

Makes you wonder if it's worth putting any thought at all into the threads on here.

Catlover123, have you read my previous posts? I too have a lot of sympathy for what he says.

I would like to reassure you that every penny of every donation given to BBC Children in Need is allocated to causes in the UK. All administrative costs are covered from the interest on the banked donations. I was Midlands Regional Co- ordinator for CIN based at Pebble Mill for nine years. The behind the scenes work is not seen by the public and believe me, the integrity of the Charity is jealously safeguarded.

no no no no !!! Gone girl, - I hate celebrities, they have taken over everything! you can watch anything on tv without being bombarded by programmes of celebs doing things! I don't watch comic relief for this reason, and I have a lot of sympathy for what DL says.

He's not being a racist. What nonsense!

He just wants respect for the country of his roots.

For the last few years, people have been saying that we should be getting away from photos about 'backward, starving Africa' because that is the picture the UK public has of all of Africa. Or better still, counterbalance it with other shots of towns and cities that look just like western towns and cities. Only hotter.

A while back, there was a story about 2 uni students in UK, one had just got off plane from an African capital. The British student was amazed that the other had had a shower that morning, before his flight. 'But you've come from Africa, you don't have much water, do you have showers?'

David Lammy is outspoken. I don't think that makes him a racist. He was concerned about stereotyped photos. It was Stacey Dooley who asked if the objection was because she was white?

The charities help UK based people too.

I dislike the fact that because it’s for charity we have to watch rubbish ‘entertainment’

How many years ago did Comic Relief start - and they still need more?