GB news viewers raise money..

Your last sentence was what I was trying to say.

I was also wondering whether any of the money will go into their care homes and what it will pay for.

Their fees aren't cheap. Family member is in one of their homes and the care is good but it costs a fair bit. Unless they are offering some special deals to the poor I don't think there will be many poor people in them.

NotSpaghetti

I have just googled this.
It's actually not GB News fundraising as such but someone called Patrick Christy

It's he who is fundraising for Friends Of The Elderly.

justgiving.com/page/saveourseniors

He's a presenter at GB News.

Love Patrick- well done!

....In 2024, BBC Children in Need raised £39.2 million. Love CIN - well done!

No seriously tho, of course it's a good thing, as long as it goes to individual grants, even if it only helps for one year.

(I don't see helping relatively well-heeled care homes as best use)

People are raising money for charity through Just Give up and down the country, like my DGC charity for seriously disabled children all the time"Heel and Toe"

My reservations are only inasmuch as political virtue signalling gets involved.

Patrick Christys has just said on GB news that he had now closed his go fund me page and has raised £407000 which includes gift aid. Well done Patrick.

Bixiboo

Patrick Christys has just said on GB news that he had now closed his go fund me page and has raised £407000 which includes gift aid. Well done Patrick.

Yes well done indeed. 👏👏

Primrose53

I think it's a wonderful effort. I was amazed how quickly the money poured in too.

👏👏 GB News

Me too. I’m sure the appeal will raise much more too leading up to Christmas.

If the money is not for its care homes but individuals, this is the process and the limits of the individual grants. They only have a small team hence the current 6/8 week wait,

I think they will need to employ extra office staff. They rely on the reports from the Referral Agent for assessment criteria.

Its gives a good idea of eligibility and "how much"

www.fote.org.uk/our-charity-work/grants-2/an-introduction-to-friends-of-the-elderlys-grants-for-older-people-in-financial-need/

Pubilicity
How do they distribute it ? Do I get any ? 🤣🤣🤣

I support any fundraising efforts provided the infrastructure is there. Perhaps it will turn into the GB News equivalent of the BBC Children in Need, which raises many millions each year.

Casdon

I support any fundraising efforts provided the infrastructure is there. Perhaps it will turn into the GB News equivalent of the BBC Children in Need, which raises many millions each year.

A big yes to raising the money and its aims, (yes, really)

but its always a problem with charities when its a "one off" big influx of money, for other than big one off capital projects, because it tends to mean resources to deal with it are stretched, but there is no guarantee of "more money next year" for more than a temporary increase in staff or ongoing projects.

I'll wait before thinking how wonderful it is.

Seems too many people are only to ready to knock GBNews for existing! They are not as biased as other News channels but everyone has their own choice to make who they get their news from! If you do not watch them do not run them down please? Patrick Christys has done more than any others & not for the first time! Give credit where it is due please? He is a good man when others pretend to be!

Nobody has criticised Patrick Christy's efforts.
No-one has suggested GB news shouldn't exist or that people shouldn't watch them.

We've been looking at the "how's" and practicalities. It's relevant to ask, "where is the money going? "who will benefit" "how can people access it" and so on.

Foxie48 I think you are being very unfair , the last government (not leader) were hit by a worldwide pandemic , then Ukraine war and then the cost of living crisis , I hsve to say I don’t think Labour would have done any better with these 3 things coming when they were in power . Personally I think the wfa was taken away from pensioners because Labour don’t think they are “their “ voters so they don’t care

ruthiek

Foxie48 I think you are being very unfair , the last government (not leader) were hit by a worldwide pandemic , then Ukraine war and then the cost of living crisis , I hsve to say I don’t think Labour would have done any better with these 3 things coming when they were in power . Personally I think the wfa was taken away from pensioners because Labour don’t think they are “their “ voters so they don’t care

It is, of course, impossible to know if the Labour party would have done any better but it was a Conservative PM who gave us a referendum and a different Conservative PM who agreed the exit strategy, unfortunately, neither of these PMs gave much thought to how it would affect farmers and other producers of food.
Personally I think WFP is being removed because when it was introduced in 1997 there was a greater proportion of pensioners in poverty than there is now, also they did not have access to a top up benefit like pension credit. IMO moving it from being a universal benefit, which frankly many pensioners do not need, to one that is linked to pension credit is a better use of tax payers money.
Also, a third Conservative PM (Truss, voted in by Conservative party members!) was, as a result of a particularly cavalier budget, partly responsible for the rise in the cost of living which is affecting everyone, particularly young families struggling to pay for their accommodation.

If we are going back to the pandemic we should also note that the Cygnus preparedness planning was not invested in/followed through by the government so we were caught out that way too.

Not relevant to the thread - but relevant to your comments foxie4 and ruthiek

Patrick Christy, one of the best. Well done and well done to GB news viewers. I do like him, lovely person, very kind heart

Churlish to be other than grateful for money given to charity - but that 'Friends of the Elderly' mission statement someone copied & pasted sounded positively Victorian - surprised they didn't mention the "deserving poor"!

Patrick said on GB news that some of the money will go to vulnerable older people to help towards winter fuel bills, buy washing machines, slow cookers, air fryers etc. He has had requests for electric throws and blankets so money will go towards that. He interviewed a man in Stanley Co. Durham who had only 1 small heater in the whole house which he moved from room to room but was just over the limit for claiming pension credit. At least Patrick has done something to help which is better than doing nothing.

There are many people who are helping with the poorer members of our society. This morning on J Vine there was a young girl, who, together with her mum, was cooking food and taking it out, with hot drinks to give to homeless people. She was about 5 or 5 O think and her favourite dish to cook was pea soup.

I think that it's quite easy for someone on GB News (or any other media platform) to ask for donations.

valdavi

Churlish to be other than grateful for money given to charity - but that 'Friends of the Elderly' mission statement someone copied & pasted sounded positively Victorian - surprised they didn't mention the "deserving poor"!

A lot of charities mission statements are written like that and I have seen plenty.

Dinahmo

There are many people who are helping with the poorer members of our society. This morning on J Vine there was a young girl, who, together with her mum, was cooking food and taking it out, with hot drinks to give to homeless people. She was about 5 or 5 O think and her favourite dish to cook was pea soup.

I think that it's quite easy for someone on GB News (or any other media platform) to ask for donations.

But it’s better than doing nothing! He did swim in an icy lake the other week as part of his fundraiser and promised to stay in for 5 minutes which he did. Just in swimming shorts. He was so cold when he got out his legs just went to jelly and he had to be helped off the rocks. He’s a good guy.

foxie48

I can't help thinking that there would be more money for pensioners in poverty if the last Conservative govt had managed the economy better, but that would be churlish. I always give a donation to Shelter and Crisis at Christmas instead of sending Christmas cards. I think it's good to think of others in need so I applaud GB news' initiative. Well done.

At least the Conservatives didn't kill off the WFA

WFP has not been "killed off" it's been targeted on the poorest pensioners and hopefully will mean thousands who have now made a claim will be much better off.