@LucyH 

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LucyH

Rant: MS research fundraising?

Dear All I have just discovered that the UK's MS Society gave £1.2 million in research funding to universities in 2015. Yet it spent £6.9 million in the same year on fundraising, and a generous £10.5 million on salaries that year too. This information was given to me by the MS Society itself, so this is not hearsay etc. What?! It spends SEVENTEEN million plus pounds to raise ONE million plus pounds for research? Evidently, they need an Economist! It is clear that individuals with MS are very low down the food chain and I am furious. We look to this society to help us and we are clearly non-entities eh, unless we are walking the Great Wall of China or bullying our friends into walking sponsored 10kms etc. Effectively, these organisations want us to raise funding and then disappear. Plus, it takes weeks to get a response. Can anyone tell me otherwise? Can someone say they had a massage, a wheelchair, a counselling treatment countesy of the MS Society? Would anyone be interested in getting together (ie meeting) so we can organise our own group, or can Shift MS help us to shift the balance? Thanks for listening/reading...rant over! LucyH xx
@Stumbler

@lucyh , I'm cynical like you too. But, I've just viewed the MS Society's audited accounts for 2015. Given the number of staff, their salary bill averages out to a figure that isn't much different to the UK average salary. And, they don't have anyone earning over £100k, which is pretty conservative when you consider the fat cat bankers on seven figure salaries. I know, accounts don't always tell the whole story - look at Tesco, who made a six figure error! But, they are audited by charity commissioners, etc., so we have to try and keep everything in context.

@Bloomers1968

Lucy I am not surprised by the figures, its a business for them we are just an add on. do you think its any different at other Charities (I dont)