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Post by jbc12 on Aug 6, 2023 12:57:01 GMT
I should have checked before posting, but didn't. It was what I remembered. I´ll edit the post. No worries. I was also posting from memory and didn't re-read the article I posted (I remember the SA accusation and that they handled it poorly, and that staff felt bullied and unstable). I'll read it again when I've got some time. I know the point you were making even if your figures aren't exact, which is that the money seems to be going towards operational costs rather that the people they're meant to be serving. It's such a difficult balance for charities like this because they need to be able to keep running and that costs money, but they sometimes end up with so little left to help those they're aiming to support that it ends up being a futile effort. I'm interested in it because I wonder if their high-profile efforts of recruiting celebrity endorsements is eating up some of the funds, or if it's just admin costs are high because they're partnering with groups in so many countries. It's interesting.
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Post by mllemass on Aug 6, 2023 13:01:05 GMT
I know that Benedict is holding open his jacket so that the audience can see his t-shirt, but to me he’s saying “Go ahead and count how many layers I’m wearing today!”
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Post by jbc12 on Aug 6, 2023 13:03:41 GMT
“Go ahead and count how many layers I’m wearing today!” Literally what I did when I saw the photo! I love his layering habit. It's such a relatable quality, ha ha.
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Post by sgev1977 on Aug 6, 2023 13:20:58 GMT
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Post by sgev1977 on Aug 6, 2023 13:46:18 GMT
Wikipedia has a summary of their “scandals”, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choose_Love_(organisation)If I understand it right, they don’t manage themselves the money but are part of of a “collective fund” and the polemic is around their relationship. If you read the piece, it seems the accusations came from an “anti-capitalism” activist group called Corporate Watch and apparently their criticism against them began after they decided to leave Calais so there could be a political motivation behind it, even if the criticism is true (or not!). The Guardian went for the celebrities support them so they can’t really be radicals which it’s not necessarily true because there are a lot of very radical celebrities! Lol That seems it was the first attack against them when they decided to left, they are “the favorite celebrities charity”! My guess is that they attract celebrities because the two founders have a lot of contacts with the entertainment world. Also, there is a link to another The Guardian article championing them so the newspaper doesn’t seem to be very different to those celebrities! We will see but apparently there aren’t any formal investigations against them yet. Just accusations by Corporate Watch. EDITED I read another article by an activist in Calais and it seems they were really angry at them for, what they saw, as abandoning them and cutting the money they were sending to their more humble charities on the ground. The article speculates which was the reason behind they leaving and decides that it was because the right wing UK government which I think it’s the logic conclusion (I immediately thought it when I read about it!) and they criticize them for not be really independent but, without justify them, it would be extremely difficult for any charity to do something that your own government considers illegal and still functioning. But yeah, UK government immigration policies are awful and inhumane!
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Post by sgev1977 on Aug 6, 2023 14:23:00 GMT
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Post by sgev1977 on Aug 6, 2023 14:38:40 GMT
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Post by sgev1977 on Aug 6, 2023 15:11:48 GMT
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Post by ellie on Aug 6, 2023 15:38:37 GMT
I’ve read up on Choose Love and I don’t think they’re a bad lot. I think they started off as just a few friends wanting to help refugees. Then the whole thing grew exponentially really quickly and they didn’t really have the experience to manage a big organisation or the relationship with Prism who acted for them on occasion. They’ve admitted this and have taken various actions to ensure they are better equipped and experienced to deal with the issues that can arise in organisations. I think their hearts are in the right place. They just didn’t have management experience. It’s like people thinking they can run a restaurant business just because they enjoy cooking. It usually ends in disaster. Likewise wanting to be charitable doesn’t mean you’d know how to manage a Charity.
As for the rape allegation. It’s quite complex. Prism/choose Love did launch an investigation. They sent an experienced team, including two ex detectives used to dealing with sexual assault allegations, out to the country (not named) where the rape was alleged to have happened. They questioned both parties. The woman claims she was traumatised by the questioning. But in fairness what were the investigators supposed to do? The man was steadfastly claiming the sex was consensual. The woman was saying it was rape. It happened after both had been out to dinner together and there are no witnesses to confirm or deny either one of their stories. So the investigators had to ask difficult questions. In the end they reached stalemate as there was not enough evidence to bring a case. The man was nevertheless no longer allowed to work with the charity. So I’m not sure what else they could have done.
Anyway. That’s what I discovered from delving a bit more deeply but there many well be stuff I’ve missed.
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Post by jbc12 on Aug 6, 2023 15:53:21 GMT
Thanks for the more detailed info sgev1977 and ellieI only posted what I could recall reading and didn't intend to suggest they were dodgy at all. I had remembered the one piece I'd read that said employees were unhappy for those reasons, so I linked it. As you know, UK-based charities are closely governed, so if anything problematic was happening, it would be shut down.
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