Please Help Raise Money for Kids Company... Post Reply

[D&G1]

HELP US CREATE A HAPPY CHRISTMAS

This year the Douglas & Gordon and Kids Co partnership gets real with three D&G teams restoring three properties you simply wouldn’t believe could be home to children. It’s practical and we’d love you to help us help them.

Many inner-city children live in chronic deprivation due to their parents/carers being unable to sustain an appropriate standard of living. Kids Company has set up a housing intervention programme that aids families by creating a healthier and happier environment for these children by completely redecorating parts of their homes.

This unique intervention improves a child’s sense of dignity and wellbeing through this mini home renovation. We will be deep-cleaning, decluttering, painting, hanging wallpaper, assembling flat-pack-furniture, doing household repairs and lots more and need your help!

Look out for more information through your doors but in the meantime, to find out more, please pop into your local D&G office or visit our Just Giving page:

http://www.douglasandgordon.com/blog/kids-company-2014/

[hjm]

D&G can you please clarify whether the donations via Just Giving go direct to KidsCompany or are to pay for the renovations? In my view if you want the publicity for this you should pay for the renovations in full. I think your wording could be much clearer so that people understand exactly what you are paying for and what their donation is for.

[klw]

My thoughts exactly h&m.

I have donated food/toys/nappies etc to Douglas and Gordon's christmas hamper collection for kids company every year, as I think it is a wonderful charity. But I was confused by your just giving page too, my assumption was that the decorating works would be covered by D&G.

When I worked in the city, my old firm used to run initiatives like this and all the materials, plus our time was covered by the company as part of a CSR initiative. Please can you clarify? Happy to donate, if the money goes straight to Kids Company.

[tprout]

Thank you for your interest in our fundraising this year. The just giving page donations go straight to Kids Company, we have to raise £9000 for the renovation of three flats, which we are doing by various fund raising projects in all our offices. If you would like to come to the Northcote Road office and partake we are selling raffle tickets whereby you could win a double magnum of red wine. When the Northcote Road Christmas lights are switched on we will be handing out Mulled wine and again all donations will go to Kids Company and the renovation of the three flats.
Douglas and Gordon of course makes a substantial contribution, however we are hoping that the community in which we serve will support us in this great cause.
Please do ask me any questions and I will happily help.

[hjm]

So to clarify, D&G is not fully paying for the renovation of the three flats but is making a 'donation' and expecting NVN users to pay for the rest?! Or have I misunderstood. If I am correct I think your campaign is very misleading. I think Kids Company is a great charity by the way, but as klw says when firms do things like this they normally cover all the costs themselves

[gruffalo's dad]

I think that it would be better if Douglas & Gordon were upfront about how much of the money the office is contributing and how much they are fundraising from the public.

However, I really think it is a bit out of line for posters to be saying things like "When I worked in the City, we did this as part of CSR (corporate social responsibility for those who don't speak acronym) ... therefore that is what you must do."

[hjm]

How is that out of line? From what I can see D&G is trying to get publicity for being a good corporate citizen, but is not actually paying for it, while at the same time not being very open about that fact.

If they are going to do this I personally think it would be better to say something along the lines of 'we are paying for one flat to be renovated. We'd like to renovate three and we need your help to raise money to renovate flats 2 & 3''. If they did that I would happily donate but they are not being upfront and I find that very irritating.

Rant over

[NorthcoteLuvvie]

I think we are being unfair!

Lots of us will take a pop at estate agents but these guys are spending time trying to make a difference. Maybe we'd like them to spend some more money, (and I don't disagree with that) but they're putting some effort in.

I think we have to be careful we don't adopt a "dammed if you do, dammed if you don't" attitude as that doesn't help anyone!

[hjm]

I kind of agree with you, but I guess my point if you 'do' then at least be upfront about what it is you are actually 'doing'.

[tprout]

Dear HJM, I am sorry that this has made you so cross. We are simply trying to enhance three families lives, who live in poverty. As I mentioned Douglas and Gordon are making a contribution to the £9000 that we need to raise, not only financially, but also in terms of our staffs time and the organisation that goes in to doing this kind of project. Sadly we are not a huge city company that has an abundance of money to put in to these projects, which is why we turn to our communities. We are a family run business who doesn't have the corporate cheque book behind it.
Please rest assured that all money that is donated goes straight to the charity and from that they will buy all the furniture and materials so that we can renovate these flats.
It's pretty devastating to visit families who live on the breadline like our three families do, so I just feel truly humbled that we can help in any way we can.
I apologise if we have caused any offence to anyone, and can only see what we are doing as a good thing. Please do come in to my office and I will happily answer any questions that you may have.