# Short shrift for Red Cross fundraising

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/1998/06/03/short-shrift-red-cross-fundraising/
- Published: 1998-06-03T23:00:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

International Development Secretary Clare Short accused the Red Cross and other 
agencies of launching pointless fundraising appeals on the back of international
disasters and emergencies. 
Addressing a media conference at which aid agency representatives
were present, she argued that aid agencies focus far too much on fundraising appeals
and have created a sense of “competitive fundraising.” Addressing appeals launched
for work in Sudan, she said that the unnecessary appeals create a feeling among 
the UK public of hopelessness in the face of such unrelenting images and reports
of mass starvation and poverty. These, she argue, produce a distorted view of the
Third World and the reasons for such “disasters.”

The Red Cross, not surprisingly, were not pleased with Ms Short’s comments. They
felt that they were “a little bit like blaming 999 crews because we have a lot of
road accidents.” The Disasters Emergency Committee, which co-ordinates major disaster
appeals by UK charities, also rejected Ms Short’s criticisms.

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