My Thoughts SFYL and the Charity

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Money is a dirty word.

 

All change

Have been really fortunate

and still are really fortunate
We have great support - the charity - respiratory team. 

It's all felt very informal and safe.

No body likes red tape 
Greater demands from those high up. 

Not a conspiracy

Felt like it at times

Seeing SFYL as new - building it's self anew.

There is a wonderful history of support from the respiratory team, the charity and singing facilitators. We've received a wonderful service. (unlike the cafe at Kenwood) without having to take any real responsibility. As members to make sure the group survives - and it has survived the austerity imposed on so many of public services. I suspect due to the believe in the group from those mentioned.

What we need to do to ensure the groups continuation is the we work with and liaise and support those services and people that have been supporting us.

Let's take baby steps and one baby step is to support the charity through personal donations. We would hope that the money raised by us and our friends is audited as such within the charities accounts. While fully accepting that it is the charity that is in receipt of our money. To my knowledge there is no ring fencing of donations within the charity for specific projects. So anyone donating to the charity is donating to the charity and not a specific project. Whether that's SFYL, the Parkinsons Walking Football project, the garden or other projects. 
I think that is important that if members donate to the charity that it is recognised as a donation to SFYL so when the charity audit shows it has funded SFLY to the tune of 6K it also shows that SFYL has raised x amount to support the charity. But that is just my opinion, I am not an expert on how these things balance out. But if someone tells me that they have paid for my meal I want it also acknowledged that I paid towards it. 

As to how much? Well that is a personal choice. We will all have our own feelings towards being asked to donate toward things - ie I rarely donate to a theatre when I go and see a show - I have already paid. 
I wish that SFYL was paid for out of NHS budgets but it isn't and is highly unlikely to be in the foreseeable future. So for me it feels that as with all donations what you can afford and you may take the view that the principle of free at the point of delivery is sacrosanct.
What we do know is that there is strong support within the charity for SFYL. I am pretty sure that the pressure to feel that our survival as a group depends on our ability to raise funds come from outside of the staff of the charity and that they also need to show that they are raising money. 

 

The premise:
SFYL existing because of the Charity

The Charity needs our support.
We could think more about how we support the Charity to support us.

Money is the main way to support the Charity/ 

Direct Personal Donations

Asking friends and family:

FaceBook

The more donations / fund raising we can show we can do the more we show how we are supporting the Charity