Piquant Charitable Thoughts

Archiving this charity blog

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sat, 13 Jul 2013 17:14:00 +0000

ok, folks, i am now going to archive this blog, not doing that much with the charity end and frequency of posts is very low, so am going to archive this, all posts have been moved into the daily salty blog. See you there, thanks for visiting and for all the fish! :)

Grameen Foundation and other charitable bits and bobs

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 05:55:00 +0000

Its been a long time that I updated this blog. How time flies. And fruit flies like bananas.

So I have now joined up this Bankers without Borders outfit. Its a fascinating place started by the Grameen Foundation..famous organisation in its own right. The basic idea is that bankers with particular qualifications can help charities with various tasks such as finance, administration, recruitment, strategy, cash management, transformation, recovery, etc. etc. Usually for few months in some wonderful out of the way places. I applied to one outfit in Ghana who wanted a recovery piece (a charity which was facing problems and needed a bit of recovery…got some experience of that) but well, wasn't selected. So looking forward to the next opportunity.

Home Start Hillingdon is going well, well, as well as it can in these financially constrained times. But good news, the Mayor of Hillingdon has decided to join our summer event where we celebrate the wonderful work our volunteers do. So chuffed about it all.

Every month, I manage to get into a real funk, when I hear about some of the family situations we have to handle, its just crazy. I sometimes feel that before people can become parents, they need to go through exactly the same level of scrutiny that adoptive parents have to go through. The level of cruelty and pain and suffering and and and that kids go through is just amazingly painful. Through no fault of their own, they suffer so badly when their parents are made redundant, get drug addicted, imprisoned, etc. etc. sighs. hate hearing but also love hearing how we recover these families. each year we help up to 100 families. Brilliant work our staff and volunteers do.

On the Animal front, not much action, did potter around with some financials but haven't really managed to make as much of a difference as I wanted. But hopefully would be able to help raise some funds soon and also put my camera to good use with the munchkins. Every time I go there and see the mute hopeful look in the eyes of the dogs, it rips my heart out…sighs. cant wait till I retire and then have my own dogs :)

Helped out with some lectures to some educational trusts and foundations, hosted a group of students from the USA, that was fun, I actually got a T-Shirt out of it. Its very cool, pale blue..very nice. But cant wear it till I lose another 10 kilo’s, heh, so there’s a good incentive.

University lectures are proceeding apace. Am going to my old alma mater in 2 weeks time :) will be good

Enough already…

British institutions: livery companies

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:28:00 +0000

I was a freeman of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists till recently. Had to resign unfortunately as I simply couldn't manage to attend their sessions, they are usually held in the city of London, start at around 5 and I cannot get back into the city from Canary Wharf by that time..So had to regretfully resign, but still, given their halls, we end up having quite a lot of dinners at the various Livery Companies. My last sojourn there was to the Ironmonger’s…I have been there before. See here. Also to the Butchers. And pottered around the garden of the Barbers. And then the Makers of Playing cards. Anyway, they do a shedload of charity things, so was involved with them to raise funds for schools, was a mentor for few of their journeymen, gave lectures at the hall and then helped other charities. Anyhow…Here’s the wiki entry on these livery companies.

Here’s a lovely overview of the Livery Companies from the FT. Good place to be in, very long history, very good work being done and something that the professions could do a bit more of..

The Mayhew wins the Wetnose Animal Aid prize

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 21:27:00 +0000

very good news

The Mayhew has been awarded the Lester Middlehurst Award by Wetnose Animal Rescue Awards for 2013. We were nominated by Wendy Turner Webster.
http://www.wetnoseanimalaid.com/2012.html
There will be an Award Ceremony in March next year in London.

I just love the name of the award, wetnose so sweet and cute…

June 12: When the buttercups walked for charity

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 05:14:00 +0000

It was a strange day, weather wise, that day in June when I popped over to RNOH for their annual charity Buttercup day.

An old old old broken down clock on its own clock tower…

The grounds are full of lovely majestic old trees. This one obviously lost its head

Somebody taking it easy before the race starts

Old gnarled trees

I reached the top and saw this banner stretching out across the road. The walk is from one end of the hospital to the other and back. About 1 mile in total.

A member of the radio Brockley team

People started collecting around in the start finish line

Even teddies got into the act.

Some of the very brave adults and children and their carers all who came up to support this very worthwhile charity

Smiling at something

You can almost see the determination on the face

I don't care if I need walking sticks, but walk a mile I will.

The little girl in the middle, she is from St. John’s Ambulance. there was a celebrity there to help wave off the walk and these two girls were going nuts about him.

With face painted.

Loads of people clicking away.

Its very very near starting time…

This is the celebrity. To my eternal shame, I have no clue who he is

And we are off, this girl was skipping to the end

While I was on my wheelchair, and face painted!

And with my walking sticks.

Now for some faces in the crowd.

But the weather turned and the rain started to come down.

The brollies and jackets started to come on as the rain started to come down.

But Mamma, I dont want to get out of the rain, I want to go for the walk…

But I wont let a little rain stop me, I will wear my jacket, I will hold hands. But I was again humbled by the sheer courage of the various patients who, despite their infirmities and disabilities and illnesses and challenges and the disgusting weather, had shining eager motivated faces. What an amazing display of courage. Hats off to you.

I went and took refuge inside a ward

Orthotics Department..

The first returnees..

I have no idea why there is a barbie doll here…

Some pallets

An old entrance to some storage site

Then as the race was over, we all made our way to the fun place, and passed this posh loo

A Bus Fund got this? But enough of all this, I noticed a cake stand..and made a bee line for it…

A most extraordinary set of delicious cakes and muffins and and and..beautiful.

Unfortunately, the rain came down again..

People sheltering under the marquee on the left..but the rain then went away..to Spain's plains presumably…

Then we had some kids from a Church group dancing..

Nice

The spectators thought so as well

Very nice….taking the final bow.

A stuffed toy shop..

The two girls from St. John’s Ambulance..

A climbing wall…I think I will avoid this..

I dont want to show my face

Wet hair and chewing on a burger

Waiting for food

This burger is good, just smell the smoke

What are they doing?

mmmm, I love icecream

Couldnt take it any more and haired it to the burger stand for a burger and then left..

As I said, it was a lovely day and the grounds have wonderful trees..

Old ancient trees

Mr. Crow has found something nice..

Hmmm, an old abandoned building in a hospital, I mean, this is perfect Horror Movie material

A crimson tree

Sunbeammmmmmmssssss

A creeper going up a tree

Another road into the abandoned ward

the sunlight dappled leaves

A calm weeping willow?

An excited weeping willow?

the tree is leaning over…

Some ferns

I think they are weeds…

a container next to where I was parked.

A lovely day out indeed.

Mayhew Animal Home

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 17:47:00 +0000

So as you might know, we closed down IT4CH for a variety of reasons so had some little space in my diary to help another charity. This time I decided to see if I can help animals so went and interviewed for the Mayhew Animal Home Trustee position. It is a lovely place and for some very strange reason, they agreed to pick me! promises to be very fun.

Will say more when I get formally inducted next month..

Very chuffed, I love animals…

When the dogs expressed mute hope

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 06:45:00 +0000

I popped into an animal rescue charity to interview for a trustee position. I hope I can get it, but before the interview, a lady took me around the place.

There were cats, rabbits and kittens. But you know what grabbed me? Was the dogs, who were mutely sitting in their little cabins with TV and classic music playing. They were looking out of the door. Looking up. Watching the people go by. And hope in their eyes. Hope that they will get rescued. Mute hope. Big warm scared hopeful eyes.

ripped my heart out.

Beyond Food

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 09:11:00 +0000

I was invited to a dinner at a great restaurant near London Bridge by my alma mater to talk about the economy and stuff with other alumni and associated academic greats. The food was great and I, as usual, poked people after listening to some serious pap about how bankers ruined their lives. HA!, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about. I want to talk about the restaurant itself.

Its hosted by the Beyond Food Foundation. And it is a great and simple idea. I quote

Our mission at the Beyond Food Foundation is to inspire people who are at risk of or have experienced homelessness to gain meaningful employment.
We run two programmes to do this; Freshlife and United Kitchen Apprenticeship. Both of these programmes use food as a catalyst to build relationships, talk openly, and support and challenge individuals through their development. Our holistic approach ensures that we fully support everyone we work with and gives them the best chance at success.
To us, meaningful employment is emotionally, economically and intellectually fulfilling to the individual, as well as beneficial to the society we live in.

Here are some of the alumni

It really inspired me. What a great idea, eh?

Help a man raise funds for the British Heart Foundation

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 09:58:00 +0000

One of my colleagues is walking for 50 kilometres to raise money for the British Heart Foundation. I don't do stuff like that, its against my religion, but I am happy to look and admire people who do this kind of strenuous activity for charity. So if you can help him out, that would be good.

Click here for the link.

The Archbishop should really step out

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sun, 24 Jun 2012 21:01:00 +0000

The archbishop of Canterbury apparently has defined the entire concept of Big Society as Aspirational Waffle. Nothing wrong in aspiration, but for him to say its waffle is extremely rich. He says

"Introduced in the run-up to the last election as a major political idea for the coming generation, [the Big Society] has suffered from a lack of definition about the means by which such ideals can be realised.
"Big society rhetoric is all too often heard by many therefore as aspirational waffle designed to conceal a deeply damaging withdrawal of the state from its responsibilities to the most vulnerable."
He went on to say that if the Big Society is "anything better than a slogan looking increasingly threadbare as we look at our society reeling under the impact of public spending cuts, then discussion on this subject has got to take on board some of those issues about what it is to be a citizen and where it is that we most deeply and helpfully acquire the resources of civic identity and dignity".

It works, take for example the work which we do at HSH. We have some public sector funding, we have some private sector funding, we mix that with about 40-60 volunteers, with 2.5 FTE’s, 6 trustees and we help about 100 families per year. Each child which goes into care costs up to £50k, and we end up saving a ton more than just one. So we are saving a shed load of money, we are showing volunteering, our volunteers use this opportunity to learn to get back into work and it is a win win all over the place.

Withdrawal of the state? What on earth is this man talking about? Stick to your platitudes mate, leave the real work to people are actually doing something in the real life. JESUS (and yes, pun intended).

closures, additions, plans

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sun, 27 May 2012 08:45:00 +0000

Gosh, feels like I havent updated this blog for yonks, but still, some things have been happening.

We have unfortunately decided to close down one of the charities that I was involved in which helped children in hospital, it was simply not viable any more given the changes in technology and lack of funding. Shame, I have to admit, I was hoping to have so much done with it…but sad
On the other hand, the Hillingdon Home Start is going from strength to strength, we had 3 more trustees join and we are now sustainable, agile, mobile and fun times indeed.
We are going to hold a nice little celebration of our wonderful volunteers, who help the families in need, a big big fuss needs to be made of them. Here is a sample of feedback we received for our wonderful volunteers. A big big thank you for them

We also have now got a nice little website going for the charity, it should be launched pretty soon, I am quite chuffed about it.
You know i was volunteering to several charities to see if they needed a photographer, but both came back and said no . they already have too many photographers helping, drats. I was so looking forward to it.

What do you do when you face a problem like Haiti?

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sat, 12 May 2012 04:19:00 +0000

Haiti, along with so many other countries which are in distress, is a problem which was made worse due to the help of the United Nations and the white saviour complex. Or the white man’s burden. Read this brilliant book by William Easterly on this. I quote:

The world's poor need more focused, trial-and-error programs like the Malawian net distribution and fewer ambitious plans to cure poverty, Easterly argues. There are two tragedies of the world's poor. The first is the one we hear about: that so many people suffer so much for lack of inexpensive remedies.
The second, he says, "is the tragedy in which the West spent $2.3 trillion on foreign aid over the last five decades and still had not managed to get 12-cent medicines to children to prevent half of all malaria deaths. The West spent $2.3 trillion and still had not managed to get $4 bed nets to poor families. The West spent $2.3 trillion and still had not managed to get $3 to each new mother to prevent five million child deaths." The West is not stingy. It is ineffective.

This is the primary reason why I never donate to any of the international appeals. Ever. I am simply not sure that my contributions (the voluntary sort) and the contributions that the government does on my behalf (the involuntary part) is being used effectively. I cannot do much about the government’s donations but I can stop spending my hard earned money being frittered away at incompetence. I wouldn't do that to my money with a bad fund manager, why not for charity? After all, both are investments designed to provide good outputs, no? Basically, in many ways, this entire western world aid industry to the other world is a colonial and frankly racist exercise. It is just dressed up in some “do good” clothing and we are done with it. The disasters committee shows some heart wrenching images and video on tv and we, the poor saps, think, awwwww, SOMETHING must be done, money is thrown at the vast aid machine and nothing (usually) gets done and if something does get done, its usually the wrong thing. Think back on the Kony madness. 2 months after that ridiculous bout of videos and facebook updates, what has actually happened? nothing. See what I mean? This is feel good hypocrisy at its best. Dont worry, this is not just for charity, same with foreign policy as well. See the current Arabian revolutions, when the revolutions were happening, then everybody was jumping up and down to help and object and moan and groan. Now that the problem in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Bahrain is worse (they are still ruled by despots, they are still no jobs), nobody cares. Heck, the USA is back to selling arms to Bahrain. Brilliant.

Haiti is a classic example of how the western world has managed to screw it over. It is one of the classic cases of how good intentions lead one to hell. Here, read about what one aid worker says. For example, the USA used to do good sometimes, but these days? Every time it intervenes in any country, it usually manages to screw up things and leave things behind which are more broken that others. You don't have to look at Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. etc. just look at Haiti. I quote

1. Good intentions aren't enough.
2. Rose-colored glasses are bullshit.
3. The white savior industrial complex is real, demonstrated daily by feel good aid programs that probably don't work, or feel good causes like Kony 2012 that generate plenty of buzz but don't add up to much when people are actually supposed to do something.
4. You can't help people who don't want to help themselves.
5. True altruism is an incredibly rare thing. (See #3)
6. Little victories must be celebrated if you want to protect yourself from the crippling effects of the larger failure.

So what do you do? the author says this

If I were to do it all again, I wouldn't design a solution. It isn't my place to do that. What I'd do is try and be a useful resource for a group of people or a community that have a much better understanding of their problems than I do, and want to work together toward finding solutions. I wouldn't come in as the guy with the answer. I'd come in as the guy willing to try and help them in any way possible as they find their own answer, and act as the bridge between that answer, and the money and resources needed to make it happen.
Or, perhaps if I really wanted to help, I wouldn't ever come to Haiti to begin with. I'd keep my fight at home in the United States, rallying people to try and build awareness that places like Haiti suffer because of policies benefitting our government, our corporations, and ultimately, ourselves. Policies created by our politicians, sometimes with our consent (the Iraq War) and sometimes as a result of special interests (the Supreme Court's campaign finance reform ruling), result in massive problems for other people in the world. Sometimes I wonder if that truly ever can be remedied.

ha!

Making good with Photography

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Wed, 02 May 2012 05:22:00 +0000

I decided to do a bit more with the photography bit, so have volunteered to help two charities with my photography.

First is Age Concern at Kingston upon Thames. I find OAP’s faces extremely photogenic. I look forward to helping them with my camera.

Second is the Hammersmith and Fulham Volunteer Centre. This should be nice.

I am looking forward to this and hope I get selected…

Charity tax row: Donors warn of 'brake' on donations

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 08:14:00 +0000

As you know, I have been associated with charities here in the UK for some time now. With my economist hat on, with the donor hat on, with the charity management hat on, with my libertarian hat on and with my citizen taxpayer hat on, I am therefore conflicted by this proposal. Basically, the proposal here says that

From 2013, previously uncapped tax reliefs - including on charitable donations - would be capped at £50,000, or 25% of a person's income if that is higher. The government says it wants to end the practice of wealthy people minimizing their tax bill - sometimes to zero - by charity giving.

First the basic reason why tax relief is granted. All for a good reason, that the government wants to encourage philanthropy. So far so good. But given the potential of the tax abuse and the need for the bloody government to squeeze more taxes out of us, it is reducing relief. In any case, I dont like taxes anyhooo. So that is a different argument.

So here is my economist position. Suck it up. You are paying your charity donations out of your own free will. You should pay for taxes on ALL your income, irrespective of where you spend it. This idea of tax credits/relief being dependent upon where I spend my money is stupid. How about this argument which is absurdo reductio? The government wants to improve the shipbuilding capability in the UK so it decides to give tax relief on the amounts you spend to purchase your own mega boats and super tankers. How do you think that will go down? You laugh? The government already does it for companies who invest in plant and equipment and research and development and and and. This is a stupid way to drive industrial policy. Simplify life, and remove all these bloody exceptions and stuff.

My libertarian position is similar. I shouldnt be taxed at all, but if I am, then I should be taxed on my philanthropic giving just like I am taxed on all my consumption.

My charity management hat on, £50k? lol, I should be that lucky to get that much. The charities that I am involved in are tiny, less than £150k in revenue, i can only wish I had donors who donate more than £50. This wont impact me at all, if you are donating £200-3000 which is our usual individual contributions, the tax hit wont make a difference.

With my donor hat on, I dont think I will donate more than 50k any time soon, but my estate could, and I dont see a problem in paying taxes on my income. Why would I want to have tax credits? Only if I think that I am replacing government activity with my charity donations no? But I dont, i see this as a different activity so tax away.

With my citizen taxpayer hat on, can the frikking government please stop taxing me?

How volunteers are turning around families in distress

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 09:53:00 +0000

Home-Start UK's volunteers were meant to be a helping hand for families - now they feel more like firefighters. Channel 4 News meets some of the families struggling to cope in jobless Britain.

Politicians often talk about the financial pressure on Britain's families - they use phrases like the "squeezed middle" and the "working poor" to describe parents who hold down jobs but have been hit by economic uncertainty and rising prices, writes Victoria James.

But we have been told by charities working across Britain that money worries are just the start of people's problems. Until recently, national family support charity Home-Start UKtold us, a family might be able to weather a shock like unemployment. But with incomes stretched, people are now a lot less resilient. And when the financial problems can't be fixed, other ones pile up on top - depression, housing problems and ill-health. Families approach a "tipping point", barely able to keep things together, and on the brink of tumbling into crisis.

Home-Start UK allowed us access to their work in two areas that have seen a real rise in families at this tipping point, Birmingham and Bedford. As their family services specialist Julie Garbett told us, across the country they are seeing "more families, with many more needs". Once, Home-Start's volunteers were a helping hand for families - now, we heard, they feel more like firefighters.

• Home Start UK surveyed its more than 300 centres nationwide for Channel 4 News - of those responding, every one reported a significant increase in the number of families presenting for  support; 
• Birmingham has seen a 70 per cent rise in the number of families coming to Home-Start for help. Other parts of the country also saw a big rise in cases. In Newport in Wales there was a 30 per cent increase. And the figure is around 25 per cent in Doncaster and East Lindsay, in Lincolnshire.

Surge in referrals

We spent time with Anna, Russ and their twin boys, and heard how this once comfortably-off family was left struggling after health issues for the twins, tight finances and depression hit them in quick succession. In an already difficult situation, ongoing struggles for Russ to find and maintain work puts them under more pressure and ill-health means Anna's job at a local primary school is under threat.

The couple have begun selling off some of their possessions to keep afloat. And we met Rebecca, raising her two-year-old son Kieran and running a home on her partner's minimum-wage pay-packet. Her house has very little furniture - almost all of it is donated. Rebecca constantly juggles their budget - making a little go a long way - but when it came to Kieran's birthday this year, finding the money for a trip to a local play center is beyond what they have in the bank account.

As both families told us what life was like, they described a moment when they had gone from being able to juggle their daily demands, to that "tipping point" when they needed help to carry on. As the big problems overwhelm parents, simple daily tasks like getting the weekly shopping becomes too difficult. Once isolated parents don't know where to find the help the need to stop problems escalating. Its is at this point that charities like HomeStart have become a real lifeline, often the only support the family is receiving.

It was clear that concern to give their children the best future possible was a powerful motivator. And the latest research to emerge from the Millennium Cohort Study - a longitudinal research project tracking the lives of around 19,000 british children born in 2000-01 - offers some powerful insights into why these anxious parents are right.

The study looked at families struggling with multiple risk factors - things like worklessness, young parenthood, overcrowded housing and financial stress. Where two or more of those factors are present in a family, there are measurable threats to children's development. The researchers were surprised that the threshold for risk was so low. By their calculations, some 28 per cent of families in Britain are already over that threshold.

"These aren't extreme examples," said Research Director at the Institute of Education Dr Kirstine Hansen. "These are just very normal families. It's a very easy progression from zero risk factors to one, two or more."

Home-Start UK is bracing itself for a further surge in referrals. Already some of its centres are having to close their books or recruit more volunteers. It seems clear that for many more families, that tipping point is a lot closer than they think.

Dr Victoria James is executive producer of the Channel 4 News Film Fund.

Pat Ryan considered race favourite

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 08:22:00 +0000

Our charity, IT4CH, is sponsoring several wonderful runners to run in the London Marathon to raise money for the charity. And look at what they have done to popularise it

Pat Ryan, our wonderful CEO, has been considered to be a race favourite An extraordinary lady indeed.

Creating apps for families in financial distress

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 10:48:00 +0000

As you might know, I am working with Home Start Hillingdon as well as LSE SIFE. I got these two organisations together. Home Start Hillingdon helps families with young children which are in distress. LSE SIFE wants to do something for the community using free enterprise. What better way to do this than to have LSE SIFE to push for improved financial and debt management of our families in need?

So LSE SIFE are working on coming up with a financial education package for our volunteers in HSH which will be deployed soon. In the meantime, I was very impressed and very very happy that these young un’s in LSE have started developing an app for debt management. Now isn't this impressive? Its just early days yet, but I am seriously impressed.

Good for you chaps, very good indeed. If this works out, I am going to try my level best to ensure that LSE SIFE pushes this out nationally if not globally.

What SIFE is doing with IT4CH

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 06:38:00 +0000

SIFE Nottingham is working with IT4CH to help provide training to kids who are unemployed or whatever, this training is to fix computers which we provide, South Notts College provides the training, while SIFE helps procure the equipment and mentoring the kids on to further employment. A win win indeed.

Very chuffed with what the kids in SIFE Nottingham have done.

Rest in Peace John Butler, thank you

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:38:00 +0000

When I joined Home Start Hillingdon early last year, it was mainly from the perspective of having something nearby so that I can do something for the local community. As well as that, the idea that the charity is a bit public funded, quite a bit foundation and private funded, we have 40-50 volunteers and we touch up to 100 families every year is very good. When I joined, the charity was in deep financial trouble and if we didn't sort it out, the charity would have closed. This was just 1 month after I joined. Plus then we lost almost 60% of our trustees for a variety of reasons and we ended up with just two trustees, John and I. John was previously the treasurer and then he became the chair. I couldn't do it, I am already stretched with the other charities that I am involved in and refused to become the chair.

John worked his butt off to ensure we have a good financial foundation, he drove us getting good funding from the council and made the business case and ensured we are now in a sustainable element. We spoke to so many people, got stakeholders to buy in and we were successful. This was when John was unwell and he was in hospital pretty much the last quarter of last year. Very brave of him.

And then came the shocker in December, he resigned saying that he has to go back to hospital and then early this week, I heard the shocking news that he had passed on. I was seriously shocked, he was very healthy, about 38 years of age, a practising lawyer and he was finishing his MBA, writing his dissertation, very sporty and eating good food. He apparently had skin cancer and it became virulent and just in a matter of weeks he died.

We had a board meeting last week and I spoke about all what he had done for the charity. Frog in the throat time. Really feel bad about his loss. But this is the amazing thing about people like John. They get about their jobs and do so much for the community, over and above what one would have expected. They do not get recognition, they do not get the kudo’s, they are not publicly welcomed or congratulated, but they spend hours on doing things that help others, they are passionate about the downtrodden, the sick, the disabled, the ill, the poor, the mentally disturbed of the society. That’s the power of this society, how people quietly go about helping others, without expecting any return.

But I felt I had to write about these quiet people today. My father is another one of this kind of people, I have been speaking to him frequently these couple of weeks ever since my aunt died, of cancer as well. He was sobbing on the phone, poor chap. He was very close to her. She was also one of those quiet helpful kinds. And she used to make some brilliant dishes. Its not a good feeling to hear your father cry but such is life. So this week has been a very difficult one indeed.

So here’s to you, John Butler, I am sure you will be recognised in heaven for all the wonderful work you have done on earth. Thank you for all your help and all the families in Hillingdon who have been helped and will be helped more in the coming years will be cognisant of your brilliant work for the charity.

Rest in Peace.

Trustees and education

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 19:25:00 +0000

We are advertising for more trustees at Home Start Hillingdon. Here’s one which went into the Women in Technology Group.

3 - Enthusiastic volunteer trustees required for Home-Start, the UK’s leading family support charity
Home-Start is the UK’s leading family support charity - they support families struggling to cope with young children who with serious problems such as mental illness, alcoholism etc. Home-Start train volunteers (who are themselves parents) who then work with social services, health, police, etc. to recover the family and avoid the children being put into care (each child in care costs up to £50,000) and Home-Start have managed to intervene in about 100 families per year over the last 12 years or so in Hillingdon. They have had a few trustee retirements recently and they would like to increase the number of trustees who have experience in fund raising. This is a high governance charity (since they work with children) and would appeal to people who want to gain board level experience of running a firm. They also have three MPs as their trustees and work closely with the local council. It would also ideally suit people who are within commuting distance of Hillingdon (north west London) as they hold their monthly meetings there and fund raising takes place in and around Hillingdon. In particular Home-Start Hillingdon would like to seriously increase the amount of technology they use - such as having revenue generating efforts through a web shop, having a better website, providing financial education to their families via mobile or e-learning, providing e-coaching, assisting the volunteers with knowledge sharing on the website, better Facebook/social media interaction etc. So somebody who has an interest in applying technology to assist and help fundraise would be ideal. Trustees can expect to spend around 12 hours a month on this rewarding role which enables much needed support for vulnerable families. For more information please contact Bhaskar Dasgupta, an existing Home-Start Hillingdon Trustee, on 07545 236 207 orbhaskar.dasgupta@hsbc.com or Tanya Link, Office Manager at Home-Start Hillingdon, on 01895 252804 or office@homestart-hillingdon.org.uk.

In other aspects relating to HSH, I had a nice meeting with LSE SIFE team and HSH Senior Coordinator and we agreed to push for more financial education training to our great volunteers and the families. We will do the first pilot run in Q1 2012 and then see how we can improve the offering. If it works out, it would be brilliant. The LSE SIFE team has been doing great, they have hooked up with Microsoft, did a great job in reviewing the current offerings for financial education out there and have got a full fledged team working on this. Good stuff chaps.

The background to this is important. The families which we help, are usually one step away from calamity and total disintegration. While the volunteers help in recovering these families, if we can give them some help with improving their financial condition, that would be brilliant. The kids wont have problems, well, not too many, but will be able to get the little bit extra. So I am very chuffed about this..

Trusted Trustees in Technical Test

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 09:01:00 +0000

So we had our first meeting of the IT4CH charity where our brilliant technology ladies joined us. And they immediately made a huge difference. Its obvious that male trustees are utterly useless, and I include myself in that. We had brilliant ideas, we had great initiatives, we had spiffing discussions and we are going to move this forward. Hard. So brilliant stuff. One more trustee will join us soon, but in the interim, we should have fun.

But if there are anybody else who wants to help us? Volunteers, advisors, all welcome to join in and help. We are now starting to initiate projects relating to technology assisting sick children.

Mind you, we can also do with some trustees for the Home Start Hillingdon Charity. We are very happy, we have now confirmed funding from the council. Before people jump on this being a tax payer funded boondoggle, that is not true, the taxpayer money is used to fund a tiny team who train and manage up to 100 volunteers who actually deliver the benefits. Now if that is not community engagement, what is? I am very impressed with the girls in the charity and would appreciate having more trustees to help assist us to make this into something very good.

What else? Well, popped down to Swansea to lecture the MBA students, working with another university to potentially help them with an internship project, started this year’s mentorship with Manchester Business School, working with Essex on curriculum re-design and strategic positioning and finally i am sucking at Farsi, lol.

Two wins and a great feeling

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 08:46:00 +0000

It was a good week indeed. Firstly, we received information that the funding for the HSH charity is now confirmed for another year at least and that is excellent news, we were on the verge of starting our close down process which would have been tragic for all the families in severe distress we support and our employees. But very happy about it and now we are going to really fix this place.

In particular, what I want to do is to launch an initiative where we train our families in proper financial management and literacy. This will improve their lives and be able to handle financials. Lack of financial management in families is one of the biggest causes and symptoms of family distress. Plus I should be able to get some funding for this. So I have engaged the LSE SIFE team to see if they would be able to find out what is out there in terms of financial education for families and explore ways that we can deliver thi provision. Should start hearing back from them soon.

I am having a chat with a chap from India who has done some amazing work with technology for social purposes, that is promising indeed, hopefully we will get some traction on that end and can get the IT4CH charity to fund it.

Found out some people in India who are working in the area of West Bengal and education, hopefully will be able to speak to them next week to determine some more local details on what can and cannot be done locally. Also speaking to somebody who is in the government to see what are the requirements that charities have to fulfil to operate in Didi’s state.

Tomorrow we have the launch of the Transformation Trust’s pilot with LSE SIFE with the trading futures game, that promises to be an excellent large impact initiative which, if it works out, will hit almost 800 schools and we will be able to improve financial literacy and hopefully get the students interested in trading.

Might also be helping to run a strategy session for STIR sometime this side of the year. I just hope my imminent knee operation doesnt muck up all these plans..

Good stuff, but I am personally very happy, extremely happy with the fact that HSH got funding, now we can make it sustainable and real high impact. Very very chuffed. It took a heck of a lot of huge effort, pain and work to get there. I was quite depressed and disheartened for several weeks, we lost people, we lost trustees and we lost hope (almost) but we succeeded. Pushed very hard, spoke to the MP’s, spoke to the council, spoke to funding agencies, spoke with the employees, constantly emailed and spoke with the trustees, big big job done by the Chairman. Big Society, here we come. Very happy.

Expanding, extending, setting up and pushing forward

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 08:48:00 +0000

Curiously, we don't educate our kids in England in basic personal finance education. I still fail to understand the arguments against it, if there is one thing that people need to know, its personal finances, specially given the issues around too much credit, too little savings, too much debt, its not good. Within LSE SIFE, the chaps are trying to expand the usage of trading futures game, the game which helps to teach kids about economics and investments. Look here for what our cousins over the pond are doing: We should learn from them.

Virginia. When the state of Virginia moved to require financial literacy for its high school students, it was met with some resistance. Some felt that the material could be adequately covered in math and civics courses, while local school boards didn’t appreciate being told what to teach by the state. At this time though, Virginia does have a curriculum for middle and high school students that covers topics like opening an account at a financial institution, balancing a checkbook and filling out a loan application. Additional topics include consumer rights and responsibilities, debt management and understanding contracts.
Pennsylvania. One high school is adding a course, but doesn’t have the funding to hire more staff.
Maryland. Several years ago, a Maryland school board president expressed concern that a single course wouldn’t be enough to fully educate students about financial matters. He also pointed out that the course is relatively expensive at $600,000 — and he feared it wouldn’t be effective.
Missouri. Students in Missouri can take a personal finance class in the tenth, eleventh or twelfth grades. They study budgeting, banking services, and saving and investing. Other themes include credit and consumer skills. Also, goals and decision making as well as career planning are covered.
Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute is worried that the state’s lack of a requirement for economics and personal finance classes and inadequate number of trained teachers for the subjects will be detrimental to the residents and to Wisconsin’s overall economy.
Tennessee. Students here are expected to learn about money management, income, saving and investing, and credit and spending.
Utah. Utah teaches its students about basic budgeting, investments and even bankruptcy education.
Illinois. This state requires a consumer education course of 50 minutes a day for nine weeks for its high schools. The students are taught about credit scoring, income taxes and the role of consumers.
Georgia. They have an economics course that incorporates personal finance into one of its themes.

Got some major initiatives brewing with LSE SIFE as well, lets see what happens. SIFE Nottingham is also working with us to operationalise the training school with South Notts college with contributions of technology from the IT4CH charity. That’s very promising.

What else has been happening? Well, as I mentioned last week, I am hoping to help this new charity which does sterling work here in UK schools and helps to improve literacy in West Bengal, India. Had some good conversations around how best to structure the board, what do you need in terms of trustees and their skills, etc. etc. I also cautioned about operating in India, its not a trivial exercise and India is scattered with wastelands of foreign charities who came to grief. For example, see here. Also see the original article on the Bill Gates imbroglio. If such a brilliantly managed and funded charity can come to grief, then smaller ones are far too easily screwed up.

The response to us asking for more women trustees for IT4CH has been fantabulous, we now have 3 absolutely brilliant ladies who are interested in helping out with exciting projects. Cant wait till the trustee meeting on the 9th of November to introduce them to the rest of the gang and take this forward.

We also met with somebody from my old alma mater, Manchester Business School and figured out some good ways to take the alumni bit ahead with the firm.

Much to do, so little time…

Request for more trustees

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 08:02:00 +0000

I met with an amazing lady, Maggie Berry, who runs this outfit, Women in Technology. They try to get more women into technology and Finance and believe you me, we need more women. Its just full of boring old gits. When you keep on seeing ugly ass iggiots like me, you wonder. Anyway, spoke to her and she popped up this lovely note in her newsletter. Already had two responses and both of them are brilliant.

15. Could you be a trustee for the charity Information Technology for Children's Hospitals?
Information Technology for Children's Hospitals, IT4CH, is a 14 year old IT charity which provides technology to long term and terminally ill children in hospital. They take equipment from firms, refurbish them while training young adults (who are challenged due to drugs, domestic violence, psych problems, etc.) and give them a skill and then deploy the computer equipment to hospital schools and kids who are stuck at home. They also provide laptops for hospital teachers who are then better able to go about training bed or house ridden children. Over the past 14 years, they have contributed thousands and thousands of PCs, laptops and other IT equipment to children in more than 250 hospitals here in the UK. They are the only charity in the UK which is involved in this area. It's a fairly small charity - they have a CEO, lots of volunteers (fund-raising mainly) and a turnover of c£100,000 each year. They are now looking to improve and change direction. Rather than just give PCs and laptops to the kids they would like to see if they can extend their role and assist people undertaking research in educational technology assisting sick kids, better communications, perhaps some scholarship to research students etc. As such they would like to expand the board of trustees (currently five members) to include senior technologists who are willing to help the charity with their technology vision, assist in fund raising and thus deploy technology to really help long term sick and terminally ill children in the UK. If any senior technologists in our network would be interested in finding out more, please contact Bhaskar Dasgupta, Programme Director, GTB PCM Sales Transformation Programme at HSBC - 020 7991 0691 or 07545 236 207 or bhaskar.dasgupta@hsbc.com. He would be very happy to have a chat/coffee with you. Alternatively if anyone has any old computer equipment, especially laptops, that they are willing to donate to the charity or if you're willing to sponsor the charity in their Christmas card appeal, please get in touch too. More information about IT4CH can be found here

A New Charity–RISE

noreply@blogger.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 06:20:00 +0000

RISE is Rural India Schools Enterprise. I popped in for a session which explained what the charity does. I was simply gobsmacked, this lady has done some amazing stuff, improving literacy at a school in West Bengal, running some excellent social enterprise schemes in schools in the UK and and and. They now need a proper governing board of trustees to provide them with some guidance on strategy and make it sustainable. Good stuff. They also need to create a charity in India and do some more boring old stuff. So I will sit down with them to see what I can do to assist as a trustee. I think with the 100books project, and DISHA and other contacts that I can beg, borrow, steal from India, this can be a good dual country effort. I also think that using technology to spread the word, we can have a bigger impact. And I can also see few crossovers with the other charities..Quite excited about all this…

Very good team that the RISE team have, very impressed.