Concern ads on television;

junkyard

Why is it that every time I sit down to eat a meal a Concern ad comes on looking for more money? Its not as if I don't give to charities, I do and so does the Government on my behalf, whether I like it of not. I'm just so tired of all this begging particularly at meal times. Does anyone else think the same?

tman

woah!
deja vu:eek:

Dave!

Not me... You giving a fiver every so often doesn't put food on everyone's plate, I'm afraid. There is still plenty of poverty and disease in African countries, and they need money among other things. So until people stop dying from starvation, I don't think it's unreasonable to continue asking for money.

MrJoeSoap

junkyard wrote:

Why is it that every time I sit down to eat a meal a Concern ad comes on looking for more money? Its not as if I don't give to charities, I do and so does the Government on my behalf, whether I like it of not. I'm just so tired of all this begging particularly at meal times. Does anyone else think the same?

The irony is astounding... Ad's about starvation at your dinner time? If thats as bad as you have it you should be thanking your lucky stars. The things people moan about these days... :mad:

junkyard

I've heard of some horror stories regarding waste within charities tbh. Some of the charities would sooner leave old vehicles that they had rot instead of giving them out to people who could make use of them, by old I mean only 5 or 6 years old. Only a small amount of the money actually gets to the poor at the end of the day. My sister was involved with a famous charity some years ago and left over these issues.
As I've said already I do give to charities and its not just a fiver here and there, I honestly think charity begins at home anyway.

Dave!

junkyard wrote:

I've heard of some horror stories regarding waste within charities tbh. Some of the charities would sooner leave old vehicles that they had rot instead of giving them out to people who could make use of them, by old I mean only 5 or 6 years old. Only a small amount of the money actually gets to the poor at the end of the day. My sister was involved with a famous charity some years ago and left over these issues.
As I've said already I do give to charities and its not just a fiver here and there, I honestly think charity begins at home anyway.

yeah true charity does begin at home, so you should be writing letters to ministers or somethin like that. There's an election coming up, make the homeless people in Ireland, an issue.

And however little money actually gets to the people who need it (the charities have to pay for ads, employ people, pay for offices if they use them, etc), it's still needed. Just cos most of the money gets lost in beaurocracy or whatever doesn't mean we should stop giving it. It's not the citizens' fault that their rulers are corrupt.

Ruu_Old

Yep count yourself lucky its not you starving away while scoffing down your big steak:eek:

Tha Gopher

Id sooner have the ads than some ugly mutt from Trinity who gets paid a tenner an hour to jump people on O`Connell/Grafton street demanding donations.

Plug

My teacher told me when we started giving them money they are now 150 times poorer:eek:

HelterSkelter

Plug wrote:

My teacher told me when we started giving them money they are now 150 times poorer:eek:

So does your teacher think if we stop giving money they will get richer?

Dragan

DaveMcG wrote:

Not me... You giving a fiver every so often doesn't put food on everyone's plate, I'm afraid. There is still plenty of poverty and disease in African countries, and they need money among other things. So until people stop dying from starvation, I don't think it's unreasonable to continue asking for money.

Okay, so lets look at a good view of the African nations. We're talking about a continent that has massive wealth, yet where does it go??? Their own crooked governments selling contracts to rich Western companies.

It's all bollox. I help where i can, i like to think i have done some great things for different charities but i can't help feel tha the efforts will become meaningless unless other countries start applying pressure.

We can lobby Iran over Plutonium but we can't lobby some African nations of kids starving to death?

Bollox.

Terry

DaveMcG wrote:

It's not the citizens' fault that their rulers are corrupt.

yes it is.
well, kind of.

this country was once governed by a corrupt people. then some people said 'no more'. a war was fought and the corruption ended (mostly. but at least the corrupt politicians go to jail these days).
or take poland and the solidarity movement. or the spanish and their stand against franco and his fascist government.

what the people in these countries need to do is to stand up for themselves. some will die, but no more than will die from starvation anyway.
at least their children will live in a fair and just society if they succeed.

viva la revolution and all that.

iFight

DaveMcG wrote:

You giving a fiver every so often doesn't put food on everyone's plate

You you think he should give all his money to Concern? He cant possibly put food on everyone's plate. Giving a fiver is doing his bit, that is all he should be asked of

Ciaran500

Completley ignore these ads at this stage. Laying a guilt trip on me is never going to get me to hand over money.

Dave!

Dragan wrote:

Okay, so lets look at a good view of the African nations. We're talking about a continent that has massive wealth, yet where does it go??? Their own crooked governments selling contracts to rich Western companies.

It's all bollox. I help where i can, i like to think i have done some great things for different charities but i can't help feel tha the efforts will become meaningless unless other countries start applying pressure.

We can lobby Iran over Plutonium but we can't lobby some African nations of kids starving to death?

Bollox.

I already said that alot of the money goes to the governments. Obviously the ideal situation would be to get those governments out and get good ones in, and then the aid would be better distributed, but unforunately things aren't that simple, and Western governments won't do that. So giving money to NGO's and the likes is the best help we can give as citizens.

julep wrote:

yes it is.
well, kind of.

this country was once governed by a corrupt people. then some people said 'no more'. a war was fought and the corruption ended (mostly. but at least the corrupt politicians go to jail these days).
or take poland and the solidarity movement. or the spanish and their stand against franco and his fascist government.

what the people in these countries need to do is to stand up for themselves. some will die, but no more than will die from starvation anyway.
at least their children will live in a fair and just society if they succeed.

viva la revolution and all that.

Riiiight...... Unfortunately the dictators like to spend our aid money on building strong armies, so telling the starving citizens that they need to start whooping ass doesn't really help the situation. It's up to the richer countries to sort this out, since we're supposedly all moral and sophisticated. If the will was there, we could have these regimes toppled no problem.

iFight wrote:

You you think he should give all his money to Concern? He cant possibly put food on everyone's plate. Giving a fiver is doing his bit, that is all he should be asked of

No... What I said was that him giving money doesn't put food on everyone's plate. Just cos HE gives money doesn't mean that other people do, so until people aren't starving, more money will be needed, and so the ads are necessary. Makes sense!

Miss Fluff

junkyard wrote:

I've heard of some horror stories regarding waste within charities tbh. Some of the charities would sooner leave old vehicles that they had rot instead of giving them out to people who could make use of them, by old I mean only 5 or 6 years old. Only a small amount of the money actually gets to the poor at the end of the day. My sister was involved with a famous charity some years ago and left over these issues.

Yeah, it's terrible that some charities spend a ridiculous amount of money on "admin". GOAL is an exception though. John O'Shea runs a very tight ship and not a penny in donations is ever wasted unnecessarily. Definitley a good one to donate to, as is The Refugee Trust. I used to donate to the Red Cross quite a bit and have now stopped. I specifically said that I did not want to be contacted by letter every time I made a donation and they continued to post me out letter after letter....huge waste of money imo.

iFight

DaveMcG wrote:

No... What I said was that him giving money doesn't put food on everyone's plate. Just cos HE gives money doesn't mean that other people do, so until people aren't starving, more money will be needed, and so the ads are necessary. Makes sense!

Sorry, i thought that you were saying that he doesnt give enough

Dreamer 7

Whats boils my blood is the always use the children to try and raise funds. How long have these countrys been in poverty??? I was bringing home trocaire boxes 20 yrs ago for these charities!! Does there lack of water food or a home stop them from having sex??? Evidently not, these people continue to have kids year after year yet they know they will die because they dont have enough to feed themselves.
I dont see why I am responsible for all the kids they bring into the world each year, CONTRCEPTION is what these people need. Then the donations they do recieve will go alot further

Terry

DaveMcG wrote:

Riiiight...... Unfortunately the dictators like to spend our aid money on building strong armies, so telling the starving citizens that they need to start whooping ass doesn't really help the situation. It's up to the richer countries to sort this out, since we're supposedly all moral and sophisticated. If the will was there, we could have these regimes toppled no problem.

get the right people high up in these governments and turn the armies on the dictators.
i'm not suggest running at the armies with plastic forks from gorta, ffs.
a properly oganised coup is what is needed.

Terry

Dreamer 7 wrote:

Whats boils my blood is the always use the children to try and raise funds. How long have these countrys been in poverty??? I was bringing home trocaire boxes 20 yrs ago for these charities!! Does there lack of water food or a home stop them from having sex??? Evidently not, these people continue to have kids year after year yet they know they will die because they dont have enough to feed themselves.
I dont see why I am responsible for all the kids they bring into the world each year, CONTRCEPTION is what these people need. Then the donations they do recieve will go alot further

the thinking behind that is having more vhildren will mean the parents will have someone to look after them in old age.
same thing happened in this country for years.

Pigman II

MrJoeSoap wrote:

The irony is astounding... Ad's about starvation at your dinner time? If thats as bad as you have it you should be thanking your lucky stars. The things people moan about these days... :mad:

I think just as ironic is that they always seem to be on the Paramount Comedy Channel!

muppetkiller

I agree that the ads are good for highlighting the issue but like a previous poster said ..the money is being wasted on Admin..I give to charities like Goal or Simon community...but I i get harrassed on the street again by the same muppets with different bibs on for different charities I'll go insane.
I wonder how much of their commision they donate :rolleyes:
Shop street in Galway is probably the worst I've seen in Ireland. at least 15 people in the space of 100m. They just jump in front of you if you try and avoid them..should be arrested if you ask me.
Anyway Rant over but in response to opening post..I don't like the ads but they do highlight the issue. yes they shouldn't be having more kids when they can't feed them but if everyone puts 5 euro into their choosen charity it might save one life ...and that's good enough for me.

Terry

who's the bint talking in the ad?
the voice sounds familiar and it grates right through me.

Pigman II

I wonder would it be feasable if a small percentage of everyones paycheck was automatically given over to charity? The individual could choose the charity themselves but they'd be be obliged to give some money to something at least.

In return all this street pimping and manipulative ad campaigns could be made a criminal offence.

Ardent

Pigman II wrote:

I wonder would it be feasable if a small percentage of everyones paycheck was automatically given over to charity? The individual could choose the charity themselves but they'd be be obliged to give some money to something at least.

In return all this street pimping and manipulative ad campaigns could be made a criminal offence.

They are also sending direct debit mandate forms by post now! Personally, I think all this bombardment is excessive.

jaggeh

Riiiight...... Unfortunately the dictators like to spend our aid money on building strong armies, so telling the starving citizens that they need to start whooping ass doesn't really help the situation. It's up to the richer countries to sort this out, since we're supposedly all moral and sophisticated. If the will was there, we could have these regimes toppled no problem.

so we should stop sending them aid. the leaders will soon cop on that they cant buy new toys if they cant take care of their people.

even when it was the bears i knew it was the immigants

base2

By putting on an ad they are just spending money the money they colllect. Either way charities are pointless. Africa is poorer than ever despite all the charity it has gotten in the last 30 years. Best leave the place alone.

I wonder would it be feasable if a small percentage of everyones paycheck was automatically given over to charity?

Yeah and we could call it something crazy like tax.

Terry

we could leave them alone, but the christian missionaries wouldn't.
they're just trying to up their numbers anyway.

no, i'm not cynical at all.

muppetkiller

jaggeh wrote:

even when it was the bears i knew it was the immigants

LMAO

Degsy

Pigman II wrote:

I wonder would it be feasable if a small percentage of everyones paycheck was automatically given over to charity? The individual could choose the charity themselves but they'd be be obliged to give some money to something at least.

In return all this street pimping and manipulative ad campaigns could be made a criminal offence.

Do we not get taxed heavily enough as it is?We're allready supporting the spongers of this country i dont see why we should be responsible for the rest of the world as well.

Dragan

Degsy wrote:

Do we not get taxed heavily enough as it is?We're allready supporting the spongers of this country i dont see why we should be responsible for the rest of the world as well.

I'm rolling with Degsy on this one folks.

Terry

well, if you can't get a job in this country at the moment, you are either unemployable of lazy. so, spongers they are. don't thnk there are too many of them left though.

larrylonglad

I wonder would it be feasable if a small percentage of everyones paycheck was automatically given over to charity?
Yeah and we could call it something crazy like tax.

haha. True enough. Our taxes do already go to charity.

Degsy

julep wrote:

well, if you can't get a job in this country at the moment, you are either unemployable of lazy. so, spongers they are. don't thnk there are too many of them left though.

There's plenty of them left,most of them are women nowadays,usually tracksuit wearing and buggy-pushing.

Rollo Tamasi

i only give money to Irish Charities, i prefer to see where the money goes as in my local community. We have poor people in our own country too! Amazing isn't it!
Simon Community in Cork and The Guide Dog Association(up the road from my house) get my money and that's it.

Pigman II

Degsy wrote:

Do we not get taxed heavily enough as it is?We're allready supporting the spongers of this country i dont see why we should be responsible for the rest of the world as well.

What is enough? 1% would be enough for most people because they don't like paying tax, so that's meaningless. We're on a par with the majority of European counties and Austria , Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway and Spain all have higher tax levels than us.

I'm just suggesting a few pence a week out of your pay to go to charities (and they don't need to be foriegn charities either). The icing on the cake would be that you could say you've done your bit and tell the chuggers to **** off (or indeed you wouldn't even need to tell them because they wouldn't be there anymore).

junkyard

Thanks for the replies everyone, for a minute there I thought I was going to be mobbed by the PC police. Seriously though I think there are some genuine charity cases but when listening to the radio at peak times it seems to be nothing but charity appeals and tbh the people who genuinely deserve it don't always get it. Its a case of the squeaking wheel getting all the oil when it comes to charities and whoever advertises most gets the bigger share of the market.

Degsy

junkyard wrote:

Thanks for the replies everyone, for a minute there I thought I was going to be mobbed by the PC police. Seriously though I think there are some genuine charity cases but when listening to the radio at peak times it seems to be nothing but charity appeals and tbh the people who genuinely deserve it don't always get it. Its a case of the squeaking wheel getting all the oil when it comes to charities and whoever advertises most gets the bigger share of the market.

Thats because the big charities are actually a business,with directors,board members and premises.Charity is a big money spinner and very little of it goes to the people who are supposed to be benefiting.

Hagar

The price of the two 500lb bombs dropped on Al Wasabi, or whatever his name was , would probably feed a small African country for a whole day.

What get's me is not the ad looking for €3 for Concern it's the one that comes on immediately after looking for €5 for stray dogs or cats. Where is the sense of values in that?

Degsy

Hagar wrote:

The price of the two 500lb bombs dropped on Al Wasabi, or whatever his name was , would probably feed a small African country for a whole day.

What get's me is not the ad looking for €3 for Concern it's the one that comes on immediately after looking for €5 for stray dogs or cats. Where is the sense of values in that?

Some people like dogs and cats but arent so keen on people in distant countries.

larrylonglad

Some people like dogs and cats but arent so keen on people in distant countries.

Myself and my girlfriend only give to a few animal charities. Giving charity is just a selfish act to make us feel better as we care about animals. Others about starving africans.

Degsy

I reckon we could dovetail the two chairities..send teh unwanted bunnies and hamsters and dogs and stuff to africa to feed the starving people.Hey presto!No stray dogs,no more hunger and nothing for the charity-muggers to pursue you up the street over.AND it means people will be able to eat thier tea in peace.

DublinWriter

Degsy wrote:

Thats because the big charities are actually a business,with directors,board members and premises.Charity is a big money spinner and very little of it goes to the people who are supposed to be benefiting.

True. Charaties in this country are not legally obliged to publish just how much is going to the actual 'cause'. I remember a Primeline programme about two years ago that said a lot of the bigger 'professional' charities only pass out about 25% of the gross total of what they receive to the actual cause.

Personally, any charity that uses chuggers is off my Christmas-card list, and Concern is one of these.

I'd prefare to give to totally voulenteer charities, such as Fr.Peter Mc Verry's Home Alone, or Alcon, Sr.Consillio's, etc.

RoundyMooney

DaveMcG wrote:

And however little money actually gets to the people who need it (the charities have to pay for ads, employ people, pay for offices if they use them, etc), it's still needed. Just cos most of the money gets lost in beaurocracy or whatever doesn't mean we should stop giving it. It's not the citizens' fault that their rulers are corrupt.

Good lord. Would you have us give €5 to underprivileged farmers, and €95 to Robert Mugabe or some other puffed up despot in a military uniform.

No fcuking way. If the charity system cannot sustain efficiency and work correctly, then they won't get stink from me. Any set up that simply throws money around the place, with very little practical result is not worth the contributions that prop it up.

Similiar to Saint Bob, and his crusade to wipe out Third World debt, and thus propogate these corrupt regimes for another generation. Misguided, misplaced emotive crap, that so many bought into...

Let these countries reach a level of sociological maturity sufficient to plant the seed of democracy, and then they deserve everything we can give, and more.

It's hard to see who suffer the worst government/management here, certain charities, or certain tin-pot dictator states.

Degsy

DublinWriter wrote:

True. Charaties in this country are not legally obliged to publish just how much is going to the actual 'cause'. I remember a Primeline programme about two years ago that said a lot of the bigger 'professional' charities only pass out about 25% of the gross total of what they receive to the actual cause.

Personally, any charity that uses chuggers is off my Christmas-card list, and Concern is one of these.

I'd prefare to give to totally voulenteer charities, such as Fr.Peter Mc Verry's Home Alone, or Alcon, Sr.Consillio's, etc.

Fr Peter Mc Verry's Home Alone?That sounds like an irish re-make of a hollywoood comedy with an ecclesiastical twist.

RoundyMooney

DaveMcG wrote:

If the will was there, we could have these regimes toppled no problem.

Quite, old son. Just like Afghanistan, and that nice Hussein chap in Iraq.

Not our place, had we not tinkered about in both in the first place, we wouldn't have the problem we have today.

Arguably, Africa would be where it is today, with or without colonial or Cold War meddling.

Anyway, the French and Israelis would only sell them more guns anyway. It could get nasty...

DublinWriter

RoundyMooney wrote:

Let these countries reach a level of sociological maturity sufficient to plant the seed of democracy, and then they deserve everything we can give, and more.

Funnily enough, the Brits used the same argument about us during the potato famine and during successive Home Rule bills.

DublinWriter

Degsy wrote:

Fr Peter Mc Verry's Home Alone?That sounds like an irish re-make of a hollywoood comedy with an ecclesiastical twist.

Although I renounced my Catholicism eons ago, Fr. McVerry does some fantastic work with under priveliged kids, so I'll forgive your attempt to be funny.

Bless you my son, now go in pieces.

Degsy

DublinWriter wrote:

Although I renounced my Catholicism eons ago, Fr. McVerry does some fantastic work with under priveliged kids, so I'll forgive your attempt to be funny.

Bless you my son, now go in pieces.

Attempt?I'm hurt..i thought that was pretty good..ah well.:(

RoundyMooney

DublinWriter wrote:

Funnily enough, the Brits used the same argument about us during the potato famine and during successive Home Rule bills.

Ah yes, the old "The Irish are not fit to self-govern". Funny that they'd say that, having a strategic interest and all. In the period up to the Famine times, they were probably not too far off the mark either. Given the lamentable mismanagement of this country since the foundation of the state through corruption and ineptness (with one or two shining ministerial exceptions), particularly in the 70s and 80s, one would wonder...

Degsy

There are parts of africa where they didnt know what the wheel was untill colonists showed them 150 years ago..