People often associate voluntary organisations with fundraising especially during Christmas or when high profile national events like marathon runs are sponsored by large business organisations. But voluntary organisations should be more about creating a culture of philanthropy at a time when social inequality is growing, as the rich get richer and the poor remain where they have always been – the lowest priority in many leaders’ agenda.
Helping people to survive from one day to the next is unquestionably a noble objective of many voluntary organisations. Many dedicated people of all ages feel a burning urge to help those who cannot help themselves. Getting our priorities right is often challenging, especially when dealing with children and young people who early in life find themselves in a distressed environment. They frequently have little hope of exiting the vicious circle of poverty, lack of social and communication skills and substance abuse.
Our educational records, when compared with those of the leading EU countries, do not make us proud. This reality cannot be attributed to just weaknesses in our educational system, but to socio-cultural developments in our communities where the functionality of the family unit has lost much of its traditional importance.
It is, however, not all bad news. Some socially motivated individuals are making a difference by trying to give young people the skills they need to succeed in life. The Relationships Are Forever Foundation is one non-government organisation set up by a dedicated couple Julian and Joanna Sant Fournier. This organisation is about the importance of communication skills to make friends and succeed in life.
Often at the root of most dysfunctional families is the inability of younger and older generations to communicate effectively. Children are the ones to suffer most from this growing communication gap. The Relationships Are Forever Foundation objective is to help children, couples and families build healthy relationships through education, assistance and group activities aimed at assisting children, couples and families to develop life and communications skills. This mission should help to nurture stable and long-lasting relationships.
The stress on young couples to keep the family together in today’s economic environment is indeed daunting. With both parents in most cases in full-time employment, children are often left to kill their time idling in front of TV and computer sets in the homes of ageing grandparents who do their best to help out but often fail to understand young children’s needs.
Schools, like some voluntary organisations, are giving more importance to developing emotional literacy and conflict skills for children to help them manage their latent frustrations and boredom. Parents often unwittingly encourage a culture of entitlement in their children’s upbringing by buying them the material goods they ask for to fill their unproductive time.
In the long term, such a strategy often fails as living happily in a community is much more than being able to play computer games, chat on social media and wear the latest branded clothes.
Voluntary organisations need financial support. It is difficult for business organisations to prioritise the social causes that deserve the most help in their corporate social responsibility strategies. Philanthropic organisations are undoubtedly good at what they know best – promoting their mission to help specific sectors of society that need their expertise.
Competition for raising funds on a national level could create friction between voluntary organisations that depend on their ability to appeal to the public for financing their tightly controlled budgets. The mass media more often than not puts its weight behind the efforts of national philanthropic organisations that are well known to the public.
Smaller voluntary organisations depend on their networking with business organisations as well as EU sponsored funds to get the resources they need to fulfil their philanthropic dream of helping others in the social sphere they focus on.
The mass media, as well as business organisations, need to give more importance to the philanthropic efforts of educational institutions and charitable foundations to promote the wellbeing of sections of our society that suffer from particular deprivations.
Helping people survive will always be a top priority for those who care about our communities. But giving people lifelong skills to enable them to aspire for a better future is a close second important priority especially for the young and most vulnerable in our society.
Closing the social gaps created by an ever-changing economic model is an ambitious objective that requires a long-term view of how we envisage our future as a nation.
johncassarwhite@yahoo.com