Charity defends fundraising event with Army band
Howard Lake | 17 September 2012 | News
An Irish children’s charity has been criticised because of its planned participation in a fundraising event with a British army band.
According to the Sunday Independent, the charity has been singled out for an ‘abusive campaign’ on the Internet after it was revealed that it would receive funds from a charity dinner and concert planned for the K Club featuring the band of the Irish Guards.
The Irish Guards band were invited to play at the K Club by an organisation representing uniformed staff from the Republic’s fire, ambulance, coast guard and Defence Forces as well as the gardai. The organisation, known as SESIF (Security & Emergency Services Ireland Forum), nominated the Jack & Jill Foundation as the beneficiaries of any monies raised from the event.
Criticism of the Jack and Jill Foundation for participation in the event has been posted on the charity’s Facebook page. Comments made reference to the British army’s involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as Northern Ireland.
The charity’s CEO and founder Jonathan Irwin said they were ‘honoured’ to be part of the event on October 5th. Mr Irwin said that with less than 18 per cent of its budget coming from the HSE, Jack & Jill has to raise more than €2m this year to keep this vital service going.
“We are grateful for all the help and support we can get,” he added.
www.jackandjill.ie
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.