This week 1worldinternational deviates from its usual themes of human rights, global affairs and international development to highlight some fantastic causes supported by the law firm of Overburys Solicitors based in the East Anglia region of England.
It is perhaps an understatement to assert that the concept of capitalism has taken a bruising battering in the last few months, what with Jamie Dimon’s JPMorgan Chase & Co embroiled in a billion dollar trading scandal, the Barclays Plc LIBOR rate fixing scandal which brought to an end the reign of its pugnacious CEO Bob Diamond and the dark clouds enveloping the private security firm G4S which somehow managed to muck up its own side of its contract with the British government by failing to provide the numbers required to secure the Olympic venues. The founding fathers of capitalism must have heard the shrill screams emanating from the public’s unease from the comfort of their graves as a result of these developments. One is almost certain that the parents of capitalism are somewhat ecstatic at the fact that they are not alive to face the public’s wrath at this time.
Coming to the rescue of capitalism is the super hero in the form of the aforementioned East Anglia based firm which hosts a quarterly open microphone event called OUTSPOKEN. The funds raised from each of the events go to a different nominated local charity. The charities tend to be less well known and smaller in size than those which attract national attention.
The event has various aims which include raising money for local charities which do not benefit from national or government funding, raising the profiles of these organisations which perhaps do not have the financial might to publicise their work in the mass media, supporting local businesses where the event is held and also providing a platform for up and coming local singers, song-writers, poets and writers to showcase their talent.
The third instalment was organised for the benefit of the Norfolk & Norwich Association for the Blind (NNAB), a 207 year old charity which provides assistance to the partially sighted. The well attended event was held within the ambient surrounds of HOUSE Café in Norwich on 27th July 2012 and was also a fantastic event. The event featured singer-songwriters such as the inimitable Cara Winter, Peter Appleyard, Emily Hirst and the talented Tom Cox. Poets and writers including Hilary Stanton, Tish Kerkham, Peter Goodrum and Sarah Walker wowed the audience with their impressive verbal gymnastics. Perhaps even more important than the money raised on the night was the publicity which the charity benefited from on the night.
The moral of the story is that whilst no charity is, for want of a more suitable word, ‘better’ than the other at least in the view of the writer although the writer very much welcomes a debate on the subject, it is vitally important that we continue to support our smaller local charities. Our support for organisations of a size similar to the likes of Amnesty International and Save the Children et al should not be at the expense of the charities located a stone’s throw away from our door steps.
In a lot of cases these charities lack the financial muscle which Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have hence their inability to effectively publicise the good work which they carry out in the community. Against the background of austerity measures being waged by the present government, the task of survival for these organisations has become even more arduous than it ever was. To sound off, one is certainly not overstating matters in surmising that we are all a bad decision away from losing our self sufficiency and when this happens, we will have no option other than reverting to the assistance of the charities which we neglected to support when we had more than enough resources to do so.
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