(rich) Boys with toys. Children in need

[Leaway2]

Is anyone else feeling a little uneasy about Chris Evans on Radio 2 auctioning off, for over £150,000,
trips to the Monaco grand prix, for children in need?
Rich people offering trips to rich people in the name of charity.
Yes I know its for a good cause, and perhaps it does not matter how its raised............

 

[Leaway2]

My thoughts, It could have been offered as £20 tickets to the hoi polloi and raised just as much (perhaps).

 

[Fnaar]

It's things like this that put me off the whole charity-thon approach, and yes, it does matter how the money is raised. You get the feeling that thinking up 'different' ways of raising money has become more important than raising the money or what it's for.
I'm also uneasy with the whole 'celebs walking up kilimanjaro with cameras following their every moan and locals carrying their bags' approach. However, I'd probably do a charity bike ride to Paris or some such, with a van taking my luggage, and I haven't yet managed to deal with the contradiction.

 

[Beebo]

There have been complaints about this going back at least 5 years when Terry Wogan used to do the same. Rounds of golf with various celebs and Cooking lessons with top chefs all go for well over £10,000.

The auction fiormat could be changed to a raffle with tickets for say £10 each then anyone could enter, but maybe they feel they can raise more money this way.

 

[wormo]

No issues at all. All of the money is going to a good cause. Can't afford to pay even 20th of what these people are paying. Good luck to you if you can afford it.

 

[ianrauk]

No issues at all. All of the money is going to a good cause. Can't afford to pay even 20th of what these people are paying. Good luck to you if you can afford it.

Agreed.
The more money it raises for charity the better as far as I am concerned.

 

[BrumJim]

I'm also uneasy with the whole 'celebs walking up kilimanjaro with cameras following their every moan and locals carrying their bags' approach. However, I'd probably do a charity bike ride to Paris or some such, with a van taking my luggage, and I haven't yet managed to deal with the contradiction.

Ethically, you should get locals to porter for you. This puts money directly into the local economy. Otherwise most of the money you spend on such an expedition won't stay in the country. It's like we have all the best gear, but you have all the best mountains, but we still won't give you enough when we use them. Just a thought.

I get what you are saying about auctioning off such high-value items. On one hand, this is a money-can't-buy item that people would probably have second thoughts about buying, unless it was for such an occasion. On the other hand, what is Children in Need? Is it about raising as much money as possible by squeezing the rich and influential until they get very generous, or is it a country-wide collective approach where if everyone gives £1, no one is noticeably poorer, some are substantially better off (those needing support) and everyone learns something about how lucky they are?

 

[Fnaar]

Ethically, you should get locals to porter for you. This puts money directly into the local economy.

Fair enough