Save the Children turned down a donation of £750,000 to help Ukranian refugees because it came from a North Sea gas producer. As a result I have cancelled my monthly standing order and sent the following email:
I wanted you to know that I have today cancelled my monthly standing order to Save the Children in protest at your rejection of a £750,000 donation because it is linked to fossil fuels.
If you can afford to refuse so much money, and deprive potential beneficiaries of that amount, you certainly don’t need my chicken-feed contribution.
I have for many years believed your
highly-politicised organisation, with its excessively over-paid executives, was
squandering the money it received from poor idiots like me but I am now quite
convinced you are more interested in feathering your own nest,
virtue-signalling and playing to the Guardian-reading gallery than you are to
saving children.
I do hope you will forward this email to some of those exalted powers-that-be, not that it will make any difference but it would at least alert them to how contemptible they have become in the eyes of at least one long-term supporter.
Mili Sargeant from the alleged charity replied:
Thank you for getting in touch and sharing your thoughts on this matter.
Save the Children is committed to making decisions that are in the best
interest of the charity but ultimately in the best interests of children. Our
Donation Acceptance and Refusal Policy ensures we do not compromise on our
mission and values when it comes to raising income. This policy governs the
acceptance and refusal of donations by Save the Children UK where there is
perceived risk to our programming, staff, reputation, financial position or
brand in accepting the donation and is reviewed regularly by our Board of Trustees
and Executive Directors.
Our work is focused on meeting the immediate needs of children in crises
around the world, as well as protecting their futures. We will take tough but
calculated decisions where needed to achieve this. This means raising and
spending funds responsibly, but also turning down funding where we believe
doing so could have a greater long-term impact for children. Climate change is
one of the biggest threats to children’s future and now is the time to do
everything we can to minimise the impact of this.
We are in the process of reviewing our global policy on accepting
donations from fossil fuel companies to ensure it reflects our position on the
threat the climate crisis poses to children.
We understand that not everyone will agree with this decision, though I
hope this goes some way to explaining why we have chosen not to accept funding
from Neptune Energy.
Thank you again for all the support you have shown Save the Children. As
you mentioned your regular contribution to Save the Children via standing
order, you will need to cancel this at the bank. If possible, please can you
kindly provide me with your address so that I can update your records with us
and log your complaint.
I look forward to hearing from you again soon.
I responded:
Thank you for your cut-and-paste reply. I can't believe anyone takes this
guff seriously.
The long-term impact of climate change is all very well but the immediate
and necessary needs of refugees from a war zone surely take immediate priority.
Either that or Save the Children now has so much money it doesn't know what to
do with it all.
It is deeply regrettable your organisation has such delicate sensibilities
it cannot see the pain and suffering before its very eyes.
