Paid Holidays or Genuine Charity?

keelanj69

Passed a sign today advertising a charity event so a local girl from a well to do family can go off to India to teach.

Are these type of things charitable or is it some young chancer getting a nice holiday?

Personally they annoy me. Almost as much as bag packing to send the local u10s football club to France for a week.

HondaSami

I'm not a big supporter of these type of events tbh, if people want to help in other countries they should fund it themselves.

biko

Yup, dem kids need Irish edumacation dontchaknow.
Lol d4 4 lyf

keelanj69

Does it actually benefit anyone except the girl? No benefit to the people who pay for the trip. India gets a teacher for a few weeks. Hardly enough time to get through a body of work, especially when 30% of the time will be spent convincing them to get their Communion. :P

discus

I don't mind if its the UCD/Trinity med students collecting so they can head off, same with the engineers or other similarly skilled people. But schoolkids and wasters who're just doing it to teach english can sod off!

mattjack

HondaSami wrote: »

I'm not a big supporter of these type of events tbh, if people want to help in other countries they should fund it themselves.

One of my kids came home from school asking if we could help with a donation/cake sale event for one the teachers who is heading off to Moldova for month to do some charity work.She was there last year for two days .

I work for charity myself but haven't the brass neck to ask if anyone wants to fund my lunch,travel etc.

mawk

I think india needs microfinance loans more than it needs inexperienced teachers personally.

IM0

its a scam when you think about it

keelanj69

Same type of situation happened last year. Was roped into a tablequiz for sending a teacher to India. 20e for the table, or so I was told until I got to the door and she was chancing her arm asking for 40e.

Did I pay? Did I fûck.

Its the same with those Kilimanjaro and other foreign mountain climbs for 'Charity'. Why not climb a mountain in Ireland? We have plenty of them.

Pilotdude5

Its voluntourism is what it is.

I have also heard that a UCC med student trip to Africa every summer is one big session. Open to correction on that one.

The ones that get me are sponsorship fund raisers. I know a few people who have paid a lot of money to go sky diving.

I also know a few people who have done sponsored sky dives. In other words, they get people to pay them money to fund their sky dive, and then if there's any left over they give that to charity. That's madness! And all the while the person who's getting the free sky dive also gets the praise and publicity of being some sort of philanthropist. Ugh.

I mean, sponsored walks/runs/etc. don't make much sense to me, but at least the money raised actually goes to charity. Sponsorship that funds the fund-raiser's holidays/hobbies/opportunities to have fun are ridiculous.

keelanj69

true-or-false wrote: »

The ones that get me are sponsorship fund raisers. I know a few people who have paid a lot of money to go sky diving.

I also know a few people who have done sponsored sky dives. In other words, they get people to pay them money to fund their sky dive, and then if there's any left over they give that to charity. That's madness! And all the while the person who's getting the free sky dive also gets the praise and publicity of being some sort of philanthropist. Ugh.

I mean, sponsored walks/runs/etc. don't make much sense to me, but at least the money raised actually goes to charity. Sponsorship that funds the fund-raiser's holidays/hobbies/opportunities to have fun are ridiculous.

Makes me wonder what else people will pay for. If I was honest and said I fancy a weekend away or to get back to university would people cough up?

Gorilla Rising

Paid holidays.

Stay at home. Use the money you'd spend flying to Peru to walk the Inca trail to donate along with whatever you generate through a genuine sacrifice.

It just doesn't look like those people care enough to make that sacrifice, but will happily use donated money to fund their ambitions. It's beyond crass.

I will never give towards any of these 'missions'.

Seachmall

keelanj69 wrote: »

Are these type of things charitable or is it some young chancer getting a nice holiday?

Why can't it be both?

People know what they're supporting in these fundraisers, a chance for the person to see that part of the world and give a helping hand. If people want to support that then they should.

I volunteered in Africa and had a fantastic time. The first week I did touristy stuff (part of the package) and for the rest worked in an orphanage. Charity work doesn't have to be depressing, and you shouldn't be looked down upon for enjoying it like a holiday. If I wasn't working I would've tried to collect funding from others as it's far from cheap.

Everybody should do it imo, but the above attitudes put people off (which is a massive shame).

keelanj69

Seachmall wrote: »

Why can't it be both?

People know what they're supporting in these fundraisers, a chance for the person to see that part of the world and give a helping hand. If people want to support that then they should.

I volunteered in Africa and had a fantastic time. The first week I did touristy stuff (part of the package) and for the rest worked in an orphanage. Charity work doesn't have to be depressing, and you shouldn't be looked down upon for enjoying it like a holiday.

If I wasn't working I would've tried to collect funding from others, they're far from cheap. Everybody should do it imo.

If it's far from cheap though shouldn't you:

A) Save for a (long) while to afford it

Or

Not ask everyone else for the money if you can't afford.

Saying that, I see your points but the few grand she would collect would go a long ways to educating a person over there who will be a more permanent fixture.

Not as glamerous but more charitable, maybe?

byhookorbycrook

As a person with MS, I am amused by "MS walks" in various exotic locations.

Gorilla Rising

Seachmall wrote: »

Why can't it be both?

People know what they're supporting in these fundraisers, a chance for the person to see that part of the world and give a helping hand. If people want to support that then they should.

I volunteered in Africa and had a fantastic time. The first week I did touristy stuff (part of the package) and for the rest worked in an orphanage. Charity work doesn't have to be depressing, and you shouldn't be looked down upon for enjoying it like a holiday.

If I wasn't working I would've tried to collect funding from others, they're far from cheap. Everybody should do it imo.

You still had a bit of a holiday.

I should hope people know what they're supporting and I'm not bothered if that's what they want to do, fair enough.

I personally find it difficult to swallow that you went away and had a 'fantastic time'. You don't seem to have been affected by what you saw there.

I think there's a big difference between people who go for the experience and the people who genuinely care and make a personal sacrifice to help charities.

Seachmall

keelanj69 wrote: »

Saying that, I see your points but the few grand she would collect would go a long ways to educating a person over there who will be a more permanent fixture.

And then we'd have a thread about chuggers instead of holiday/charity fundraising.

Not as glamerous but more charitable, maybe?

Charities do need people going over. Where I worked seemed somewhat well run (if not entirely corrupt) but a woman I met over there was in an orphanage where she was the sole carer of about 30 children. She'd volunteered there before and the only reason she went back was that she knew the kids aren't looked after. Now that she's reaching her 60s she felt she probably couldn't do it for much longer.

They do need volunteers in these places. And people don't really donate much unless there's a familiar face trying to raise the money.


Shitting on people trying to do something charitable because it's not entirely selfless is also a dick move. Especially if you're doing nothing charitable yourself.

Seachmall

Gorilla Rising wrote: »

You don't seem to have been affected by what you saw there.

Oh, and is that your professional opinion?

Seachmall

Seachmall wrote: »

Why can't it be both?

People know what they're supporting in these fundraisers, a chance for the person to see that part of the world and give a helping hand. If people want to support that then they should.

I volunteered in Africa and had a fantastic time. The first week I did touristy stuff (part of the package) and for the rest worked in an orphanage. Charity work doesn't have to be depressing, and you shouldn't be looked down upon for enjoying it like a holiday. If I wasn't working I would've tried to collect funding from others as it's far from cheap.

Everybody should do it imo, but the above attitudes put people off (which is a massive shame).

Why the hell should I (if I were your mate) fund your sightseeing? I work really hard and barely get to travel myself. If you want to go to Africa or whatever, why don't you save up and pay for it yourself? It takes some gall to take other people's money and use it for a week's holiday. Seriously.

Shitting on people trying to do something charitable because it's not entirely selfless is also a dick move. Especially if you're doing nothing charitable yourself.

Asking for money to go abroad is a d1ck move. If you're so bothered about the cause, pay for it yourself. I know lots of people who do this stuff and it's funny how none of them are willing to give up the daily lattes/iPhone/gym sub or make any kind of sacrifice themselves but think they're God's gift for gallivanting around Peru for a fortnight under the pretext of 'helping people'. I'd love to do something like that. I haven't yet, because I can't afford it. I do plenty of charity work here for the time being.

This is my pet peeve at the minute, as you may have guessed.

AGHHHHHHHHH :mad:

sassyj

No problem donating to someone doing this, IF when you click in to their charity page they have stumped up a decent wedge themselvesto cover flight/accommodation costs etc., otherwise you're just funding their holiday.

Gorilla Rising

Seachmall wrote: »

Oh, and is that your professional opinion?

No need to get testy.

I would hope that after a visit to poverty stricken areas of Africa, the last thing a person would come out with was 'I had a fantastic time'. :rolleyes:

Capt'n Midnight

keelanj69 wrote: »

Passed a sign today advertising a charity event so a local girl from a well to do family can go off to India to teach.

What can she teach that a local can't ?

Has the charity an exit strategy in place where they upskill the local partners such that they can provide the teaching, and the training of local teachers ?

Seachmall

Gorilla Rising wrote: »

I would hope that after a visit to poverty stricken areas of Africa, the last thing a person would come out with was 'I had a fantastic time'. :rolleyes:

I could tell people about the time I had to bring food to a 10 year old who couldn't get out of bed because he couldn't get the proper medication for his HIV, or the time an emotionally unstable girl was shipped off because the staff couldn't bother to deal with her, or on the last day when one of the kids came running to the gate crying because we were leaving but those aren't the memories I like to focus on.

I spent a tiny fraction of my life with those kids and while not every day was easy my time there was amazing. They were born into circumstances that no child should be born into but they were still full of life, they were children like any other.

You can go over there and focus on how shit their lives are, or you can remember the good times. Either way I won't apologise for enjoying my time there, and a swift "fuck off" will be directed at anyone who thinks I should.

Grandpa Hassan

They're just holidays paid for by suckers. I wonder how many of the 'volunteers' who justify it by the good they are supposedly doing would be happy doing an equal or greater amount of good volunteering in a Ballymun youth centre for the summer....

Seachmall

Brooks Big Script wrote: »

Why the hell should I (if I were your mate) fund your sightseeing?

You don't have to...

If you want to go to Africa or whatever, why don't you save up and pay for it yourself?

I did pay for it myself.

Asking for money to go abroad is a d1ck move.

It depends on your reasons for going abroad.

Seachmall

Seachmall wrote: »

You don't have to...I did pay for it myself.

And the whole point of the thread is that people ask for money to do this stuff. And you seem to think that's OK.

I can't be bothered going into the ethics of and arguments surrounding 'voluntouring'. I would say that if you can fund it yourself, grand, but expecting someone else to is pretty crap. To me, paying for some to go up Machu Picchu and call into an orphanage on the way back is like me asking them to fund my week in Tenerife.

I don't think taking your own 'expenses' out of charity donations is ever cool.

It depends on your reasons for going abroad.

If someone is a doctor going to work in a third world country that's just been hit by a natural disaster, maybe they could justify asking for donations. Most voluntourists don't do anything like that because they don't have any skills which would actually be useful. Most people I know who have gone abroad to 'help' don't seem to have done much at all.

keelanj69

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

What can she teach that a local can't ?

Has the charity an exit strategy in place where they upskill the local partners such that they can provide the teaching, and the training of local teachers ?

I dont know if it's part of a wider charity. I have no idea what she could offer apart from maybe english? I have a feeling its a case of knowing your return date before you leave type operation.

It seems like a CV building exercise at others expense. The attitude amoung people seems to be 'ah go on I'll give you a few bob sure isnt it grand for you to be going off'. Very cyclical.

FTA69

Friends of my girlfriend are mad for doing this and my refusal to part with cash for these "causes" has caused a bit of friction in the past. One of her friends, who is a child care worker was off to South Africa to work in an orphanage and was looking for donations as well as holding a paid-entry function in a pub. How long was she out there for? Two bloody weeks, which included weekends going looking at wildlife as well as going on the p*ss. Fair enough if someone is making a lasting commitment to a project, like going there for a year odd in order to help out. By all means I would support something like that, but funding a two-week holiday dressed up as "making an impact and helping others"? F*ck that.

Another one was her friend looking for sponsorship to go skydiving. I paid $250 to do my one in America, why would I possibly "sponsor" someone to do the same thing? Surely the €400 odd cost of doing one in Ireland would be better off going to the actual charity?

As others have said above, fund raising to send doctors to stricken parts of the world or even to send teachers or care workers to overcrowded facilities, that's all well and good provided they are making a real and stoic commitment to put themselves out there for a period. Two weeks in Malawi looking at giraffes and getting your photo taken with black children though? That's nothing but a glorified human safari and asking others to pay for it is an even bigger insult.

Seachmall

Brooks Big Script wrote: »

And the whole point of the thread is that people ask for money to do this stuff. And you seem to think that's OK.

I do, because they do need people to go over.

So what if they get a few days doing the generic touristy crap? Does charity have to be entirely selfless for you to consider it worthwhile enough to donate?

If someone is a doctor going to work in a third world country that's just been hit by a natural disaster, maybe they could justify asking for donations. Most voluntourists don't do anything like that because they don't have any skills which would actually be useful. Most people I know who have gone abroad to 'help' don't seem to have done much at all.

I've no skills that anyone would immediately consider valuable in an orphanage but when I went over I spent much of my time doing stuff that doesn't need specialist skills. I cleaned in the mornings, helped with lunch in the afternoon, helped with homework when the older children got back from school and did odd jobs whenever I got the time (painting walls, fixing gates and so on) .

They're small things but when you realise that even at 16 many of them can't multiply 10 by 5, or that the play area gets littered with glass after the weekends, or that the staff don't care enough to change the younger ones' clothes you realise these small things do matter to their day-to-day standards of living.

Even just painting a flower on a wall gets a response that makes it seem far less trivial that what we imagine it is.

I don't think anyone goes over with the idea that they're going to rescue anyone from poverty or disease but regardless of skills or education you will make some difference. Even if it's only in small ways.


EDIT - Essentially my argument boils down to the end justifying the means. Volunteers are needed, even unskilled ones, and I think they should be supported regardless of how selfish or selfless their motives are.

Carry

Seachmall wrote: »

I could tell people about the time I had to bring food to a 10 year old who couldn't get out of bed because he couldn't get the proper medication for his HIV, or the time an emotionally unstable girl was shipped off because the staff couldn't bother to deal with her, or on the last day when one of the kids came running to the gate crying because we were leaving but those aren't the memories I like to focus on.

You see, that's the problem with these short term work-holidays for 'charity' (in this case an orphanage). People go over to a place like that to feel good about themselves and don't considerate the children at all.
How do you think it's for these children when now and again some people come over, are all helpful and cuddly and then go away again? They feel abandoned every time.
It would be by far more useful to collect money to get constant staff in an orphanage. Children not only need food, shelter and medical care, but stable relationships, too. Otherwise they are not properly prepared for life after the orphanage.

Seachmall wrote: »

I spent a tiny fraction of my life with those kids and while not every day was easy my time there was amazing. They were born into circumstances that no child should be born into but they were still full of life, they were children like any other.

Full of life? Children like any other? Really? Infected by HIV, emotionally unstable, being abandoned again and again... I'm sure they have an amazing time as well with all these white holiday makers...

The selfishness of such oh so well-meaning actions astounds me.

Capt'n Midnight

keelanj69 wrote: »

I dont know if it's part of a wider charity. I have no idea what she could offer apart from maybe english?

English ?
In India ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20500312

India now claims to be the world's second-largest English-speaking country. The most reliable estimate is around 10% of its population or 125 million people, second only to the US and expected to quadruple in the next decade.

http://newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/article607202.ece

In a major verdict, the Kerala High Court on Friday directed the CBSE/ICSE Boards to immediately enforce a condition that schools seeking affiliations should pay a minimum monthly salary of Rs 10,000 to primary and middle school teachers, Rs 15,000 for secondary school teachers and Rs 20,000 to senior secondary teachers with an additional amount to headmasters/principals of all unaided schools in the state.

10,000 INR = 139.718 EUR a month



how much does yer one need ?

Seachmall

Carry wrote: »

You see, that's the problem with these short term work-holidays for 'charity' (in this case an orphanage). People go over to a place like that to feel good about themselves and don't considerate the children at all.
How do you think it's for these children when now and again some people come over, are all helpful and cuddly and then go away again? They feel abandoned every time.

Absolutely it crushes the children, I've experienced it first hand. But the alternative is them getting the bare minimal care (in terms of nutrition, health, and attention).

There are volunteers who go back year after year, I worked with one. They are saints, but unfortunately they don't exist everywhere they're needed.

It would be by far more useful to collect money to get constant staff in an orphanage. Children not only need food, shelter and medical care, but stable relationships, too.

Where I worked the staff did just enough to keep the children alive. I've heard similar experiences from other volunteers.

In the orphanage I was at (in South Africa) it was us that brought the HIV infected kids to the hospital, gave them their medication in the morning, changed their clothes, kept the place clean, hired repair men, and so on.

The staff, bar two, were just there to make a wage.

These children homes aren't in nice places nor are they necessarily staffed by altruistic angels.

Also, if you think the money donated goes directly to the kids think again. There are plenty of people taking their cut along the way.

Full of life? Children like any other? Really? Infected by HIV, emotionally unstable, being abandoned again and again...

See, this one of the reasons I don't talk about these things. You hear about it and imagine a bunch of a children born into crappy circumstances and nothing more. And I while you can obviously appreciate that's not the case you can't understand it unless you've been there.

The selfishness of such oh so well-meaning actions astounds me.

Oh so judgmental from someone with, presumably, no experience.

keelanj69

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

English ?
In India ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20500312

http://newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/article607202.ece10,000 INR = 139.718 EUR a month



how much does yer one need ?

These are the type of people who often go over though. 'ah sure I'll go teach English'. Given the qualifications she has not much else is on offer.

That info is not disclosed, unsurprisingly. A few grand no doubt. Don't know if she'll be paid etc so a few grand more? Open to correction.

Carry

Seachmall wrote: »

Oh so judgmental from someone with, presumably, no experience.

Now, now...
I worked in my hometown with disadvantaged families and neglected children - constantly for about a year and for a pittance. No need to travel abroad or collect money to see misery in exotic countries, I even paid the tickets for the metro myself to get to their part of town.
I'm sure where you live there are children in need, too?

Seachmall

Seachmall wrote: »

So what if they get a few days doing the generic touristy crap? Does charity have to be entirely selfless for you to consider it worthwhile enough to donate?

Charity doesn't need to be entirely selfless, but it does require not being greedy.

Let's look at an example:
- Friend decides to go to volunteer in Africa.
- Friend organises fundraiser.
- You refuse to go to fundraiser and everyone thinks you're an ass.
OR
- You go to fundraiser and give €50.
- You then have to tighten your belt for a week (in my case it'd be more than a week). But it's worth it, because it's for charity.
- You applaud friend for being so altruistic.
- Friend uses the funds to go to Africa.
- Friend performs charitable deeds.
- While in Africa, the friend also goes out touring and drinking and enjoying themselves with the spending money they brought.

The issue is not that the person went over, or that they needed funds, it's that if the friend can afford to go out on the piss and touring around the place, why squeeze their friends for money?

There's nothing wrong with enjoying doing charity work. There's nothing wrong with taking a break during charity work to see nearby sights. There's nothing wrong with taking a holiday in general. But I do see something wrong with pressuring your friends to fund your charity work, when you've enough money to have a ball out there, because to me that's essentially pressuring your friends to pay for a holiday.

Seachmall

Carry wrote: »

I'm sure where you live there are children in need, too?

Which is why I've volunteered in various places over the years...

I even paid the tickets for the metro myself to get to their part of town.

And I paid my way to S.A.


Are you trying to one-up-me in terms of charity? Really? That'd be an extremely odd approach to this argument.

Ave Sodalis

Yup, you're right. Every single person going abroad for charity will waste the money on getting drunk and having fun. I mean, I know for a fact that all of them will hardly work over in the various places at all!
Also, when working with a charity, you should be working at all times. No, you should not learn the culture or the landscape. I didn't give you money so you can actually enjoy what you're doing. You have to work the entire time you're there and even if you're doing some seriously emotional type of work, you are not allowed a day off. If your work effects you in anyway, tough. Be miserable. I didn't give you that tenner so you can relax at any stage...











:rolleyes:

Seachmall

true-or-false wrote: »

But I do see something wrong with pressuring your friends to fund your charity work, when you've enough money to have a ball out there, because to me that's essentially pressuring your friends to pay for a holiday.

I guess I can agree with that, particularly in terms of pressuring others.

I'd guess it depends on a case-by-case basis. In my situation the volunteer work cost thousands, where as a bit of sight-seeing and nights out probably worked out at less than €800 (worth mentioning again that I paid for it all).

I'd understand if someone could afford the holiday but not the charity, in which case you'd be paying for the charity and them the holiday.

I'd have no problem paying up, but I can see why others wouldn't.

JustAThought

I agree in general ( ie I am against personally coughing up for) students 2 week or worse, 10 day, trips to Africa to " volunteer"/sightsee. I typically don't get involved in giving to them - I " expect" their parents, or friends & family to support them for their fun trip. However, despite my view on the " usefulness" of these trips ( first few days arrive & orientation/heat exhaustion etc, 2 days sightseeing, final day fare-welling & commuting to airport etc) there IS merit in the long term social justice/social conscience that that student will have for the rest of their life as a consequence of what they saw/experienced ; and in the hope that they will start a habit of giving/supporting from afar efforts to finance or change that society & this will last a lifetime.For this outcome then I think this is a long term worthwhile & useful investment - by their families.

The medical students I support uniquivically. Google Mediciens Sans Frontiers & have a look at the students images, or blogs. They go out there for months at a time, or a full year. And can provide skilled lifesaving , literally, vital and desperately needed skills. Did anyone remember seeing the " event" they did outside Blanchardstown & in town last year where they set up a sample emergency tent like a one you would have in a famine (famine!? ) or in a medical emergency like mass dehydration & starvation because of drought, or cholera caused by flooding due to changes in weather patterns. In it you saw McGyver type medical facilities - wooden fold up beds with strategically cut holes in them for sanitation & buckets placed underneath. Old fold up deck chairs as " bed" relief with poles for holding drips for starving & dehydrated brest feeding mothers. Etc. it really showed a vivid & stark harsh reality of what medical desperation was. I'd find it hard to refuse a few euro to a trained/training student nurse/ doctor to go over to those primitive conditions & live in tents in a desert with little resources for a year/ few months where they are actually contruibuting something real and desperately needed.

decisions

true-or-false wrote: »

The ones that get me are sponsorship fund raisers. I know a few people who have paid a lot of money to go sky diving.

I also know a few people who have done sponsored sky dives. In other words, they get people to pay them money to fund their sky dive, and then if there's any left over they give that to charity. That's madness! And all the while the person who's getting the free sky dive also gets the praise and publicity of being some sort of philanthropist. Ugh.

I mean, sponsored walks/runs/etc. don't make much sense to me, but at least the money raised actually goes to charity. Sponsorship that funds the fund-raiser's holidays/hobbies/opportunities to have fun are ridiculous.

I'm planning to do a sponsored skydive in a few months, but I'm covering the cost of the jump myself so all funds go to charity. I think it's ridiculous that there is even the option to have the sponsers pay for your jump unless you have raised a significant amount of money.

JustAThought

decisions wrote: »

I'm planning to do a sponsored skydive in a few months, but I'm covering the cost of the jump myself so all funds go to charity. I think it's ridiculous that there is even the option to have the sponsers pay for your jump unless you have raised a significant amount of money.

There's the trade off -what do you consider a" significant" amount of money? & out of interest is there an option of " if you make" x amount, your dive is free? ( do you know?)

The dilemma is, that if people didn't want to do the dive they wouldn't raise the money & the charity would get none of it !!! But amn' t I right in thinking there a minimum you have to raise otherwise you won't be eligible to do the jump - so the venture is profitable for the charity.
Let's face it, the charity wouldn't be trying to make the fundraising attractive & incentivise people if they didn't need to & if they didn't need the money/fundraisers!


( good luck with your jump -if you don't raise enough do they only give you half a parachute!!)

decisions

JustAThought wrote: »

There's the trade off -what do you consider a" significant" amount of money? & out of interest is there an option of " if you make" x amount, your dive is free? ( do you know?)

The dilemma is, that if people didn't want to do the dive they wouldn't raise the money & the charity would get none of it !!! But amn' t I right in thinking there a minimum you have to raise otherwise you won't be eligible to do the jump - so the venture is profitable for the charity.
Let's face it, the charity wouldn't be trying to make the fundraising attractive & incentivise people if they didn't need to & if they didn't need the money/fundraisers!


( good luck with your jump -if you don't raise enough do they only give you half a parachute!!)

In most places you need to raise €500 and half of that goes to the jump and the other to the charity. AFAIK there isn't any amount that you can raise and get the jump free but I could be wrong. As for a significant amount, I'd say something along the lines of €2500 because the jump is only 10% of the money raised.

Norwesterner

I'm teaching English in a 3rd World Country.
Paid my own flights.
Pay my own rent.
No self benefit whatsoever.
No contact with "charity group" at all.
Never even thought of charging others to pay my way.
Maybe I'm too working class.
Work available to those interested.
PM me.

Norwesterner

decisions wrote: »

In most places you need to raise €500 and half of that goes to the jump and the other to the charity. AFAIK there isn't any amount that you can raise and get the jump free but I could be wrong. As for a significant amount, I'd say something along the lines of €2500 because the jump is only 10% of the money raised.

Because the jump is imperative, of course.

c_man

I always have a laugh at some of the people looking for money heading over to"build a school". Im talking people who have never lifted a hammer in their lives. oh wow, you'll be some asset over there! why exactly couldn't donations go through the charity to employ local people to do it? well then nobody would be getting a holiday...

I could never see the sense in bringing Chernobil children to Ireland for a month or so. Is it to show them a lifestyle they can never have? Treat them like little Princes and Princess's, then shove them back to their orphanages? WHY, WHY, WHY? Would it not be better to treat them in the safe areas of their own country, rather than give them a glimpse of Heaven, then snatch it from them again? Imagine how far that money would go in their own country? (Not all of Chernobil was destroyed, there is a huge part of it unaffected) Then again, that wouldn't show their charity organisers in such a glowing light, now, would it?

hardCopy

If people were happy to give their money over to charity without being coerced by friends and family then these trips wouldn't exist. But people don't and charities know that if they recruit a few boosters by offering these trips then they can raise enough money to keep operating. These trips usually have a minimum fundraising target, if you don't bring in enough to make a profit on the cost of your package then you don't fly.

I did one of these trips years ago for Crumlin Children's Hospital and said I'd never do it again, the trip was great but the stress of trying to raise €5,000 in a couple of months was too much.

I have a charity in mind that I'd like to help at some point in the future but there won't be any target I have to hit and I'll be paying all of my own travel and racing expenses myself.

fishy fishy

Deleted User wrote: »

I could never see the sense in bringing Chernobil children to Ireland for a month or so. Is it to show them a lifestyle they can never have? Treat them like little Princes and Princess's, then shove them back to their orphanages? WHY, WHY, WHY? Would it not be better to treat them in the safe areas of their own country, rather than give them a glimpse of Heaven, then snatch it from them again? Imagine how far that money would go in their own country? (Not all of Chernobil was destroyed, there is a huge part of it unaffected) Then again, that wouldn't show their charity organisers in such a glowing light, now, would it?

it's a holiday for their lungs. The air here is very good for them, and they get a holiday too - they also come back to the same people every year for their holiday.

But then again, why would anybody bother wanting a little holiday, never mind a sick kid wanting a holiday. Sure we could all just head to the aran islands and never mind them foreign places.

And while we're at it - lets get rid of the "make a wish" foundation - it would be wasted on those kids.

Theta

A few of my friends did this, what they did however was they fully funded their own trip (flights, food, clothes, place to stay etc.) but they raised money for the kids they are teaching for. Books, learning materials and clothes and stuff. It was very unclear at the start that this is what it was for so maybe the OP's local charity is the same?