Happy Friday dear charity folk on this fine St. Patrick’s Day. Stay tuned for some imaginative charity celebrations of Ireland’s patron saint.
But first, Diary was tucking into its lunch on Wednesday, while keeping one eye on Jeremy Hunt as he unveiled his spring budget. It nearly choked on its cucumber sandwich to hear the charity sector get a shout out from the chancellor himself within the first few minutes.
Hunt said charities will get £100m, a surprise windfall and campaigning success. However, he did also say potholes will be getting £200m, which slightly rained on the sector’s parade. That said, Diary’s been tripping over the same divot each week for the past year every time it takes its Swegway out for a Sunday drive.
Mind your language
Elsewhere in charity land, sector disruptor GiveDirectly caused a stir this week with its suggestion that we should “ditch paternalistic proverbs” like “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”
The organisation offered four alternative suggestions and Diary particularly liked “Put a fish in their hand; they eat for a day. Send cash to their phone; they choose their own way.” Although, by the time that phrase has caught on, phones will probably have been replaced by holograms or microchips.
Let’s ditch paternalistic proverbs like “teach a man to fish.” Vote for your favorite replacement below – see 🧵for the full options. 1/3
— GiveDirectly (@GiveDirectly) March 13, 2023
It also reminded Diary of Peta’s classic attempt to remove speciesism from English idioms.
Four and a bit years on, Diary has no regrets about getting “Take the flower by the thorns” tattooed on its back.
Wakeboarding for Saint Patrick
In Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, this St. Patrick’s Day people should be on the lookout for wakeboarding leprechauns.
The colourful daredevils will be performing their stunts in island town Enniskillen, in a fitting tribute to the fifth-century bishop.
There will be an array of celebrations, including a parade and face painting, with money being raised for Home-Start Lakeland.
Meanwhile, Copenhagen’s three-legged charity race tradition will also continue this St. Patrick’s Day 2023, with a maximum of 100 teams taking to the streets of Copenhagen to raise money.
The event takes the form of a pub crawl race, and Diary was wondering whether we bring this to CSM offices in Clapham too? After all, it would be for a good cause, and Diary is nothing if not charitable.
Charities and social media
The Charity Commission’s consultation on its social media draft guidance closed this week, and with Gary Lineker's Twitter escapades leading to his temporary removal from Match of the Day over the weekend, many charity sector professionals were wondering if this could happen to them. (Not the Match of the Day part)
Would the new social media guidance limit charity professionals' freedom of expression on social media, they wondered? One user took to Twitter to express their views via a meme, and it resonated with many in the sector.
When the Charity Commission tries to tell your staff what to post, but you just let them be normal people with opinions… pic.twitter.com/ghmyymNeSl
— Matt Smith (@InnovationMatt) March 14, 2023
Related articles
