Two charities doing same job?

[Dinger2]

Just tonight on the news it said about that highly respected charity the Royal British Legion,hoping to raise £36M with this years poppy-appeal and it made me think the (comparitively)new(and also highly respected charity)organisation"Help for Heroes" have got quite similar objectives.Or have they? Would it not be a great gesture for the much larger charity (the Legion) to give 50% of their appeal funds to H.F.H as they do seem to be far more pro-active in the care of wounded soldiers.I look forward to being enlightened on the difference/similarities of these two worthy charities.

[woofgang]

If the BL gave half their money to HFH who (as i understand it) are focussing on soldiers who have served recently, the WW2 veterans and their dependents would lose out.

[B00]

Isn't it about time the BL started thinking about the ex soldiers from recent conflicts anyway?

Surely there can't be that many veterans from WW2 left by now?

[sandyRoe]

Maybe not so many from WW2, but lots from Northern Ireland the Faulklands. The Legion does a good job.

[ChuckFickens]

They do, B00.

From their site.

"We help serving and ex-Service personnel and their families. Not just those who fought in the two World Wars, but also those involved in the many conflicts since 1945 and those still fighting today."

http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/about-us

[B00]

oh jolly good, my mistake then :-)

Incidently, I haven't seen anywhere selling poppies yet? Is there a shortage of shops that are allowed to do this?

[woofgang]

Our seller came round last night, the campaign has just launched. Ebay have very pretty enamel poppies here. Its a charity listing.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk...WNX:IT#ht_1091wt_1141

[B00]

Cheers woofgang, will keep my eye out for them then.

Like the enamal ones, but i think i'll just stick to the normal papery things- i usually buy one whenever i see them and end up with dozens of them, lol.

[anotheoldgit]

There are more forces charities than these two already mentioned.

These two especially do sterling work and each have their own individual fund raising sources.

The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund (RAFBF)

The Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA)

[Zeuhl]

Rationalisation vs Standalone Brands is an often debated subject in professional fundraising.

Organisations such as Age Concern and Help the Aged judged merger to be beneficial.
But many others (for example Marie Curie and MacMillan) come to the inevitable conclusion when they research this, that whilst they can save on some of their admin functions by sharing them, their nett fundraising income merged would be less than their fundraising as two separate Brands.

This is because individual donors have personal preferences for one or the other and might be lost in a merger and of course many people give to both.

I expect many people will give both to HfH and RBL.
.

[Ric.ror]

perhaps there should be an age restriction to soliders sent on active duty - say no under 23's

[Zeuhl]

I agree with your sentiments steve, but i don't think any of the politicos wear any medals (unwarranted or not) because few of them have ever served other than nin the trench warfare of party politics.
.

[jake-the-peg]

I think Steve is most likely thinking of the Royal Familly Zeuhl

[Zeuhl]

Could be though I don't think they had much say in the most recent foreign adventures we have been involved in which were motivated more by politico ego and ambition.

It is an interesting point however. One of the better features of our (unwritten) constitution is that our service men and women swear allegiance to the monarch not to the state.

Can we imagine a monarch recognising the foolishness of a decision such as the Iraq invasion, threatening to command troops to stay home and risking a constitutional crisis?
.

[bobjugs12]

The main dfference between RBL and HfH was that RBL was initially set up to provide for serving and ex-serving personnel's long term care. It includes the Legion clubs scattered across the country, career support, legal advice, pensions and welfare benifit advice, and a whole host of other things. HfH was initially set up to provide for short to medium term rehabilitation of injured servicemen/women.

Due to HfH meteoric success they ended up having more money than they had projects, so now HfH gives any surplus to the dozens of smaller forces charities thus enabling them to continue the essential work they do (BLESMA, St Dunstans, etc)

This time of year the fundraising of both RBL and Hf will go into a big pot and will continue to be divvied up between the two biggies, and the smaller charities.

AOG is spot on with the work done by SSAFA and the Benevolent funds of all the branches. SSAFA is unique amongst UK Charities in that it is mainly set up to support the families of personnel. They offer amongst, other things, marriage guidance, social work, support with education, support with dependants health, debt counselling. If you think of Relate, Social Services, and CAB rolled into one and geared towards the unique enviroment that service families live in.

I would implore each and every one of you to give genorously.
And remember, regardless of what you think of the conflicts we have been in or the actions taken by the Govt, it was our elected representatives who choose the wars we fight in. Servicemen and women do a hard job, with mostly crap pay and sh1te working conditions. Yet they do this job with pride, honour and decency. Wear your Poppy with pride as you are part of the finest traditions of this nation, which whilst battered and bruised, is still the finest nation in the world.

[anotheoldgit]

While on the subject of charities, isn't the time now long overdue that the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (who have saved over 139000 lives at sea since 1824) was paid for by the State and incorporated into the Coast Guard.

[anotheoldgit]

Well said bobjugs.

[ChuckFickens]

Won't argue with that AOG.

[bobjugs12]

Cheers AOG.
This year is the first in ages where I haven't done any fundraising and I feel a bit guilty for it, but work has taken over everything lol
I usually end up buying several poppies, and always attend a parade of some sort. It gives me chance to remember mates as well as blokes like me I never knew.
My kids all wear them as well, and my eldest understands why they are there and what they represent.

[jake-the-peg]

There are many instances of charities doing similar word - Blue cross/RSPCC, Red Cross/Christian Aid/Medcine san Fontiers NSPCC/Barnardos

The list goes on and on

Often charities start off as quite distinct and broaden into each others areas