FakeCharity du jour ...

From Yahoo! News:

More than a million children in the UK are living with parents who abuse alcohol and need urgent support, a charity has said. A lack of specialist services means youngsters are forced to carry the burden of the "family secret" alone, Turning Point said. The group estimates that up to 1.3 million children are living with parents who misuse alcohol and the number could rise as more and more people drink at hazardous levels.

OK, notwithstanding that this is just their "estimate" and that drinking levels have been fairly stable for decades (the apparent increase in the number drinking at hazardous levels is because the level considered as 'hazardous' is being reduced every year, of course), a quick look at their 2008 accounts shows that their total turnover is £63,575,000 (from the income and expenditure account, page 11).

Note 2a on page 16 then shows nearly all of this was income from "Supported housing accommodation" of £62,932,000, split up into "Residential services" £28,972,000 plus "Non-residential services" £33,960,000.

The income figure is also split up into "Net rents receivable" of £11,238,000 and "Revenue grants from local authorities and other agencies" of £51,694,000 (Note 3a on page 18).

Having sheltered or supported accommodation may or may not be a good idea, but a charity it sure ain't; it's a quango trying to drum up a bit more business on the "Non-residential services" side of things, end of.