Where poppy day money goes...

[jake-the-peg]

£139m spent out of which

Membership support services: £8.5m
Spent on campaigning: £10.2m
fundraising: £24.8m
staff costs: £25m (2007)

'Pathway For Growth' plans £9.055m - this includes £2m for new staff to be appointed between 2012-2014, plus £5.8m over 10 years for property, £1m for IT services and £255,000 in redundancy costs.


care homes and break centres £20.5m,
£69.2m spent on welfare services.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20508924


If you supported Poppy day - are you happy with how this money is being spent?

[jno]

looks like the Pathway to Growth, with its corporatespeak title, is a one-off. And I don't have a problem with the spending on fundraising, roughly £1 spent to raise £6.50.

But it looks as if it may be overhiring middle managers, as everyone does.

[McMouse]

I've been a member of the RML for many years and know the work we do locally to assist ex-service men and women and their dependants. Most of the money we spend does not come from central RBL but from our own local fundraising.

[jake-the-peg]

Looks like most big charities seem to manage about 80% of donations being spent directly on the recipients

http://www.smallcharitydirectory.co.uk/what-percentage-of-donations-go-to-charity


Looks like the RBL is 68%

http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/support-us/how-to-give/where-your-money-goes

[Canary42]

Outrageous ! I'll never support Poppy Day again.

Disgusted, Tunbridge Wells.

[anotheoldgit]

This is not a news story, but just a thread to stir up ill feeling against the RBL, both by this op and the lefty BBC.

The RBL have done and still are doing excellent work for both serving forces and ex forces.

But like all organisations it periodically has to re-organise and limit it's out-going finances, and just like state handouts it has to prioritise who it awards benefits to.

[jno]

it's not a question of prioritising beneficiaries, aog, but of taking more for itself and less for its beneficiaries than other charities.

But it may be that a one-off deduction for reorganisation has made this an irregular year.

[jno]

conflicts are still going on... but it may be harder to get the public interested in military adventures far away, fought by volunteer professionals, than in wars of national defence fought by conscripts.

[anotheoldgit]

triggerhippy

/// Especially when families have no direct links to the conflict, I still have a granddad who fought in WWII. I grew up with stories of the war etc, little trigger has not. ///

No perhaps not, but there may come a time when 'little trigger' may need the protection of those 'volunteer professionals', or even one day he or she may be conscripted into the military, god forbid.

There is too much treating our armed forces with contempt by some, how many times have we heard people say "Whooo!, I couldn't do that job, but it is a good job some do"?

I am not just referring to the Armed Services when I say that, but all those other unpleasant jobs that have to be carried out by others on the general public's behalf.

So not lets bash the Military, but let's give them our full support for the valuable work they do on our behalf.

[WELSHYORKIE]

AOG - I am an ex serviceman and I do support our military and the RBL but it might help if our governments, of whatever colour, didn't take us into conflicts that have nothing to do with us.

[Svejk]

To be fair AOG, the OP isn't criticising the armed forces(imo).
Just questioning the dispersal of poppy day money which is surely a legitamate concern & one you'd surely share.

[anotheoldgit]

thetaliesin

/// To be fair AOG, the OP isn't criticising the armed forces(imo). ///

Yes I am sorry, you and triggerhippy are quite correct, no one has on this thread, but it has been so in the past especially by the OP, who is now taking a chance at bashing the RBL.

[jno]

jake's not bashing the armed forces - quite the opposite: he's asking if servicemen and women should be getting more, and charity managers less.

[anotheoldgit]

WELSHYORKIE

/// AOG - I am an ex serviceman and I do support our military and the RBL but it might help if our governments, of whatever colour, didn't take us into conflicts that have nothing to do with us. ///

On that I couldn't agree with you more, but that is all part of the job, and there is little chance of that ever changing, not as long as we have politicians in charge of our Military.

[emmie]

more should go to the service personnel and their families, i always think that most charities employ too many managers. I always buy a poppy no matter how much goes to RBL.

[emmie]

i will join i reckon, seeing as how they do a lot of good. Perhaps there are too many managers. Are they any worse than the local council who employ lots of useless jobsworths.

http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/can-we-help/who-we-help

[bazwillrun]

They are a charity, like most charities nowdays they have the corporate disease, they need CEO's directors of this and directors of that etc etc, smart suited ad and media people and on it goes and these people expect the same sort of salaries that the private sector pays.

I deal with a local athletics/running club and most of the members either seem to be civil service or work for a charideee of some sort or another my current neighbour is a funding director for a well known charideee, most of her friends work for charideees....its big business now.

Gone are the days of little old ladies shaking tins under your nose as you walk down the street, now its nation wide TV ads , email (spam) marketing campaigns, postal marketing campaigns.. BIG BUSINESS

[emmie]

i rarely see a poppy seller, the last one i bought, or should that be three, they do have a tendency to fall off, was from a rather nice beefy squaddie.