Friday 20 March 2009

Why don't I support Red Nose Day? The NSPCC, that's why!

In the past week or so, I have chatted to a number of people who have been involved in Red Nose Day. I’ve spoken to young people who have given of their time to raise money for Comic Relief. I’ve even had an email from my niece urging me to donate.

I have not given a penny. This is not because I do not believe in giving money to charity, nor because I believe that money given to Comic Relief will do no good. It’s because I prefer to choose the charities that I give money to, instead of letting someone else choose for me. And one of the reasons that I don’t give anything to Comic Relief is that they choose to channel money through rather a lot of different organisations, many of which I know nothing about.

But there is one charity that I do know something about, which has regularly received money from Comic Relief. That organisation is the NSPCC. (Comic Relief gave 90,000 to the NSPCC in 2005/2006, the only year for which details are currently available on the Comic Relief Website)

What I’ve read about it over the years has alarmed me. To quote Bishop Hill’s blog, “They are not a force for good.” And I agree with his conclusion too - “Really, people have to stop giving money to the NSPCC.” Which means not supporting Red Nose Day.

I am also obliged to Bishop Hill for the links to Sometimes It’s Peaceful’s 3 part posting on the NSPCC which highlights many of the reasons why I and many others are not prepared to support this extremely dubious organisation.

NSPCC part 1: anti HE?

NSPCC part 2: anti family?

NSPCC Part 3: anti child?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The NSPCC is a very different beast to what it once was. My Mum was a school-based fundraiser for them in the early 90s.

I never support anything they do, largely because of the money they waste on advertising and on campaigning against smacking. This latest outrage is just 'the crowning turd in the waterpipe' to quote one E.Blackadder.

Young Mr. Brown said...

Ah yes. The campaign against smacking.

Corporal punishment is a controversial and emotive subject, but most libertarians will be suspicious of an organisation which seeks to ban something that has been practised in the vast majority of households in Britain for centuries, and most Christians will be unimpressed with an organisation that wants to ban something that appears to be commended in the Bible.

Proverbs 13:24 - "Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.

Proverbs 23:13 "Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die."