Category: Charities

ACE Opera but not in Fulham

Arts Council England (ACE) doled out the dosh on Tuesday. There’s plenty of it – about £400 million each year. Poor folk, who should know better, chip in £71 million by fecklessly buying lottery tickets.

Microfinance

Time for an update on Kiva, a charity that arranges small loans to people in eighty-four countries. Small loans but they add up to almost $1 billion. You can see some of my loans above. 

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Kiva

I have only had one bad debt on Kiva. I lent a few dollars to Golden Services Organisation in Kenya. GSO raised $4,950 in total but only paid back $1,653. The money had been use to sell charcoal fuelled stoves but they were sold on credit and you can guess the rest. I wrote about… Continue reading Kiva

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Sentebale

I only glance at a restaurant bill but when I glanced at this one I didn’t recognise the £1 charge for Sentebale. It’s not the money, as people say when it is the money, it was curiosity.

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Strictly Social

Robert says that I have a habit of going up to complete strangers and then rambling on about nothing for ages. There is some teeny-weeny truth in this but it does often provide background that adds to the pleasure of a walk, for instance. Of course in London I’d never dream of doing such a… Continue reading Strictly Social

Near and Far

At this time of year many newspapers adopt charities and invite their readers to contribute. I never have but it has led me to reflect on how I allocate my charity budget. It comes down to this.

What Brexit Means, Everything You Need to Know

The CEO of Rolls-Royce made a fleeting appearance here a few months ago and was dubbed a Super Good Egg. The news spread (not far) and I’ve heard his wife sometimes calls him an SGE. Well, I like to keep an eye on SGEs to make sure they are staying up to the mark.

Landmarks

John Smith and I share a birthday, albeit his was in 1923. Rather a common name, his I mean? Certainly, but he was an uncommon man.

What’s Cooking?

  The UK stock market has been doing much better than I expected in the aftermath of Brexit. However, it is early days in an economic narrative that will unfold over many years. Here is an update on something which is playing out more rapidly.