Dear sirs,
I have long been a supporter or Macmillan Cancer Support as I have been impressed by the work that your organisation does with cancer sufferers, including some friends of mine in their last days of life.
However I am afraid that I will no longer be supporting your charity following the way that your spokesman Mike Hobday seems to have coordinated his appearance on The Daily Politics show with Ed Miliband's attack on the government at Prime Ministers Questions. I am disgusted that a charity would enter into the political arena but not too surprised as I learn that Mr Hobday is a former Labour Party staffer and councillor, as well as standing for Labour in Welwyn Hatfield at the last general election. I further read that 'Hobday just admitted to Sky that he was “pre-warned”'
My contribution to Macmillan Cancer Support was not huge but I did also recommend your charity as 'one of the good ones ' to friends and colleagues; that I will no longer do either. I will transfer my money to a non-political cancer charity; perhaps you could recommend one.
Regards
NotaSheep MaybeaGoat
I have long been a supporter or Macmillan Cancer Support as I have been impressed by the work that your organisation does with cancer sufferers, including some friends of mine in their last days of life.
However I am afraid that I will no longer be supporting your charity following the way that your spokesman Mike Hobday seems to have coordinated his appearance on The Daily Politics show with Ed Miliband's attack on the government at Prime Ministers Questions. I am disgusted that a charity would enter into the political arena but not too surprised as I learn that Mr Hobday is a former Labour Party staffer and councillor, as well as standing for Labour in Welwyn Hatfield at the last general election. I further read that 'Hobday just admitted to Sky that he was “pre-warned”'
My contribution to Macmillan Cancer Support was not huge but I did also recommend your charity as 'one of the good ones ' to friends and colleagues; that I will no longer do either. I will transfer my money to a non-political cancer charity; perhaps you could recommend one.
Regards
NotaSheep MaybeaGoat
3 comments:
well said.
This appears to contravene the Charities act: A charity may give its support to specific policies advocated by political parties if it would help achieve its charitable purposes. However, trustees must not allow the charity to be used as a vehicle for the expression of the political views of any individual trustee or staff member (in this context we mean personal or party political views).
Thank you for your open letter to Macmillan. I am really sorry you feel you can no longer support us. We rely entirely on the generosity of the public to provide our vital services to people affected by cancer - so thank you for your support in the past. However, we do feel we've been misrepresented and I would really like to put the record straight about the accusations being directed at Macmillan. I would encourage you to look at the response from our Chief Executive on the Guardian website (http://www.guardian.co.uk/voluntary-sector-network/2011/jun/16/macmillan-cancer-support-reponds). At the end of the day, our priority is the up to 7,000 cancer patients who will lose over £90 per week at a time when they are most vulnerable. We will continue to represent their needs, without fear or favour.
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