Livestrong wrist band

[DCLane]

Does anyone else see some bargain kit appearing on sale shortly?

 

[thom]

Here's a first hand tale of Armstrong fundraising for Livestrong and what he decided to do with his wrist band.

 

[Minotier]

My own feeling is that it's probably a good idea to drop them.
The yellow bands are about Armstrong PR for me, while the cancer work is done by myriad volunteers.
@Minotier I would have imagined that the existence of the NHS would have been plugging the gap in the US healthcare system that Livestrong occupy - it is sad to hear they aren't.
.

I totally agree Thom.
It was only the information on Livestrong that I found useful. It is purely down to the population of the US that there are more incidences of my form of cancer, five times the population so possibly five times more occurrences.
I can never question the support and care I have received from both Sheffield Weston Park and Royal Hallamshire Hospitals. I am here today because of their incredible facilities and knowledge. Which is why I do what I can to raise awareness of cancer and support Weston Park and Cancer Research as much as possible.
I feel sorry for all the people who have given their time and support to Livestrong to have it muddied by a serial cheat and liar.

 

[vernon]

Many years ago an alternative to the Livestrong wristband appeared on the market as a foil to the clean living do no wrong image promoted by the yellow silicon band. I purchased one and wore it with pride as it was a reflection of the values that I held......

 

[ufkacbln]

Here's a first hand tale of Armstrong fundraising for Livestrong and what he decided to do with his wrist band.

Actually the same thing happened to me with the Macmillan Cancer charity, the fee was creamed off and used to fill the pockets of the organisers and not to the Charity.

 

[Red Light]

And every week cyclists are going off on charity rides or even donor paid for charity cycling holidays in exotic parts of the world with most of the money being creamed off by the organisers (or paying for the cyclist's holiday)

 

[jdtate101]

The only band I wear is my 'Help For Heroes' one which is a charity very close to my heart. I suspect Armstrong uses his to keep his billfold $$$$$ secure.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I had to bin my Jim'll fix it badge too..... a tough week!

I've got about 300 of the medals in my loft!

 

[Red Light]

The only band I wear is my 'Help For Heroes' one which is a charity very close to my heart. I suspect Armstrong uses his to keep his billfold $$$$$ secure.

You can find nasty things to say about virtually any charity if you want to.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19112550

 

[jdtate101]

You can find nasty things to say about virtually any charity if you want to.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19112550

All too true I'm afraid, but if we only ever gave to causes that were 100% squeeky, then we'd be waiting a long time. Some money is better than no money, but H4H at least doesn't bankroll a millionaire cheat!!!!

 

[Red Light]

All too true I'm afraid, but if we only ever gave to causes that were 100% squeeky, then we'd be waiting a long time. Some money is better than no money, but H4H at least doesn't bankroll a millionaire cheat!!!!

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=6570
Do you have evidence that its bankrolling him? H4H has five employees earning between £60-90k p.a. and pays out £2.8m in staff salaries. It leased a property from a company owned by the Chairman and paid £400k in legal fees to a law firm in which a Trustee was a senior partner. You can spin anything to look bad if you want to (I actually think H4H is a good charity but I also think Livestrong does a good job too as testified by Minotier here and that should not be damaged by the desire to hit back at anything Armstrong).
Source: H4H Annual Report 2011.

 

[jdtate101]

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=6570
Do you have evidence that its bankrolling him? H4H has five employees earning between £60-90k p.a. and pays out £2.8m in staff salaries. It leased a property from a company owned by the Chairman and paid £400k in legal fees to a law firm in which a Trustee was a senior partner. You can spin anything to look bad if you want to (I actually think H4H is a good charity but I also think Livestrong does a good job too as testified by Minotier here and that should not be damaged by the desire to hit back at anything Armstrong).
Source: H4H Annual Report 2011.

As stated by others on this thread where Armstrong took a fee of $1M for doing a charity event in the name of his Livestrong charity. Each participant raised $35k of which $25K went to the charity, the rest went to Mr Armstrong (according to the report). IF this is true then he is using the charity to fund himself, whilst not illegal it's not exactly ethical considering how rich he already is. Although, he may need that cash soon, given the likelihood of lawsuits to come in his near future.

Those figures quoted in respect to H4H mean nothing without context. We would have to know what the market rates are for the lease and legal fees compared to what they actually paid. I'm sure they can justify it with preferential rates (or something like that) whereby going through companies or agencies owned or associated with trustee's gets them a better deal. Those salary figures are not unreasonable given that H4H took £141M in 2011, so the staff bill was less than 2%, and we don't know how many staff that supports. That £2.8M figure will also include NI, tax and pension contributions so is not what directly goes to the employees.

Charities tend to be run as businesses today, and rightly or wrongly they do have costs, often quite high, that they need to cover. So whilst it may seem distasteful to some that such large amounts get spent on salary and legal fee's, it's a necessary evil for doing business.

I tend to pick my charities carefully and only get involved where I have a personal connection. The most distasteful aspect of modern charities I hate is the street 'chuggers' who attempt to sign you up on the spot. They are often agency staff, poorly paid and quite pushy (as they get paid by results). Often you think you are giving a one off fee, whereas they are signing you up for a direct debit or repeat mobile phone charge. I make it a rule never to give to these people. I'll take a leaflet off them, and if I want to donate I will do it directly to the charity concerned.

Anyway this is all getting a bit off topic from Mr LA and his circus........

 

[mickle]

I was having this discussion elsewhere, regarding the livestrong kit.

It's not necessarily that folk are wearing them out of admiration of Mr Armstrong - it could well be that the Livestrong message got them through a tough time in their lives, and they wear it because of that.

Seems to me that Livestrong wrist bands made the wearer feel better about themselves. And I can say categorically - as a cancer survivor - that seeing other people wear a yellow piece of plastic never had any effect on my sense of wellbeing.

Im looking forward with eager anticipation to the day that the Armstrong Foundation comes under some proper scrutiny

 

[Red Light]

As stated by others on this thread where Armstrong took a fee of $1M for doing a charity event in the name of his Livestrong charity. Each participant raised $35k of which $25K went to the charity, the rest went to Mr Armstrong (according to the report). IF this is true then he is using the charity to fund himself, whilst not illegal it's not exactly ethical considering how rich he already is.

From the 2011 Financials:

During 2011 and 2010, the Foundation received contributions of $2,388,585 and $1,512,579, respectively, from board members. During 2011 and 2010, the Foundation made payments of $315,146 and $90,216, respectively, to related parties who consisted of various board members and their companies for services provided and related expense reimbursements. During 2011 and 2010, the Foundation had promises to give due from board members of $2,285,970 and $4,626,522, respectively.​

​

I don't see a $1m payment out there to a Board member (which LA is) and I see a big inflow of money from the Board. So the evidence for his being paid $1m would be welcome.

Those figures quoted in respect to H4H mean nothing without context. We would have to know what the market rates are for the lease and legal fees compared to what they actually paid.

Ditto Livestrong. I am not trying to diss either charity but just illustrating how if you want to you can construct a bad story around any charity. You seem to want to defend one charity because you like it and tarnish another (with information that is of far lower standards than you are suggesting are needed "context") because you don't like an individual associated with it. And where you are dealing with the help and support of cancer sufferers and their friends and families I think we owe it to them not to seek to destroy or tarnish the charity that helps them for petty personal motives.

 

[Red Light]

The story appears to be that the money was split on receipt, so the proportion that went to LA did so directly and wouldn't pass through those accounts.

Do people really pay $35,000 to ride with Lance Armstrong. And are they all so financially inept that, despite being apparently totally pissed off with the experience, only the bus driver notices and reports it? And moreover doesn't report it for seven years?