UKC

I have a friend who is in the Ukraine evacuating people. He's using his own savings which are rapidly dwindling and he has appealed for donations for fuel and food. If you can spare a few pennies or pounds then it will directly help someone.

This is his appeal:

https://ko-fi.com/post/Update-1--My-Mission-and-How-You-Can-Help-G2G5BL62N

I've known Ben for about a decade and he's a keen base jumper, climber and highliner. Please help if you can, here's a video of Ben jumping:

youtube.com/watch?v=nwka9yAkkms&

I can also vouch for Ben. While people talk about doing 'something' he's usually there already doing it. Helping Ukrainians got the Gingold treatment as well.

Any donations will definitely be well spent, helping people on the ground and making a real difference 

Good show that man. Love the idea of this going straight to the coal face, as it were. Donation sent. 

Thanks for sharing the link. 

done/bump

Donated.

I have beenooking for somewhere to donate but I never know how much goes to people in need and how much pays executive wages. Sending direct to someone who is out there doing and known personally by members of this community is perfect. 

Normally I would see this as a scam. Donated. Great to see he has reached 154% of  the £4000 goal. That should keep him/them going for a while but maybe he should set a higher goal.

Thanks for posting, and Mr Lopez for also vouching for Ben, which has given me the confidence to donate. Awesome effort!

Setting a goal too high can lead to people not donating because they feel your asking for too much. It's just my opinion but I think asking for a small amount that runs over will get more people jumping on board. 

Thanks for those who have helped. The update through Facebook is that after 2 days driving Ben has managed to reunite Neli, an 84year old grandmother from Kiev with her family in Berlin. She had remained behind unable to make the journey on trains and buses but had approached Ben when she heard about what he was doing.

In the last 24 hours around £7,000 has been donated which will buy a lot of fuel which he can reunite more grandparents with their families and feed scared hungry children waiting in border queues. 

I don't know about anyone else, but I have felt powerless to help and that's why knowing someone who is there on the ground has really struck a chord. It's very difficult for one person to change the world, but by picking his battles Ben Gingold is changing the world for a few people. 

Thanks Mr Lopez for vouching for Ben and giving people the confidence to donate in the knowledge that this isn't a scam. Ben Gingold is definitely the real deal, normally posting videos jumping from Beachy Head or opening new base exits in Cornwall but now he's using his high skillset for fear management to get people out of danger and reunite families. 

Thanks again folks, have a great day. 

Jon

It’s my birthday today and I’m feeling generous so sorted it. Say thanks from all of us you next see him.  Amazing guy by the looks of it. 

Happy birthday Mick! 

Done/bump

Thanks for the heads up with this.

For every 1 you donate to the Disaster Emergencies Committee  the govt doubles it to 2.

Its a far better financial scheme for maximising the amount to give.

Not wishing to detract from individual efforts but giving money that way really adds up.

So that 7000 could be 14000.

I think that 2 for 1 offer is finite and appears now finished. Certainly not mentioned on the DEC Ukraine appeal page I've just visited though you can add gift aid.

£14000 with DEC pays 6 weeks of the director's salary, or 3 months of the communications executive, or a couole of seconds of a tv ad, or an invoice for a graphic designer. 

7 grand with Ben pays 7 grand of fuel and food for people seeking safety and medical supplies for those who stay behind. That's a lot of fuel and food and a lot of people being helped, which is arguably a better use of the money than the annual golf club membership of mr/ms top dog or a new set of armani snakeskin boots for mr/ms graphic designer.

The offer to match was up to £25 million and that was more than beaten on day 1 of the appeal; last I heard on the news was the DEC appeal had raised over £120 million in five days. 

Plus that £14k often will progress through the system at the speed of glacial drift and what isn't being spent on running costs will end up being used on some scheme that doesn't nessesarily benefit the people who need it. 

By the sound of it Ben is out there every day and helping people in need. I know where I want my money to go. 

That's a bit disingenuous.  Big charities pay competitive salaries because they deliver more value to beneficiaries if they're run more like business.  I'm in awe of what Ben is doing but while it makes a nice soundbite to slag off the director of the DEC's salary and say things like "I'd rather give to someone at the coal face" the reality is that if relief operations were run by giving load of subcontractors vans so they can drive in and out and a budget to buy supplies at shops they'd be spectacularly inefficient.  Ben is also one guy with (I assume) a van and limited capacity.

For what it's worth I've given to Ben and the DEC.

Regardless of the politics of big charities, this is very tangible and direct way to help.

Ben knows that I have posted his appeal here and thanks everyone for their support, he will post updates via his page and I'll repost here.

Fingers crossed for Ben's safety too. 

You do know the DEC does not do any charity/relief work. right? They just collect the money when they run an appeal and then hand some of it to the member charities a few months later.

Better off supporting the charities 'at the coal face' and skip the middle man. YMMV

I’m not saying otherwise and I didn’t intend to criticise Ben in any way. But I think that the multiple comments on this thread that people shouldn’t give to bigger aid organisations/charities because they have overheads are missing the point a bit.  

Thank you for the link. He’s doing great stuff. 
 

Steve

Donated and posting to bump this thread

Agreed. The reason his ‘overheads’ are low is that he’s donating them himself.. his van’s cost, maintenance, his time, food… etc. Thats incredible of him but you wouldn’t expect every charity worker to do the same and not get any salary. Nor would I expect him to be able do it in the long term.

7 people delivered safely to Poland. 2 mums, 4 kids and an individual. 

https://www.facebook.com/580380246/posts/10166395345240247/

‘Some’ of the money = 91.2%  I don’t know how quickly they give it out, but using the larger charities would allow them to use their own cash and receive the money at a later date (which I doubt is months but don’t know). 

Smaller charities can give a bigger bang for their buck. I wished there was a way for people like Ben being able to claim gift aid (technically he isn’t a charity so he can’t). There might be a way, need to think harder  

Update from yesterday, Ben helped a lady who had lost everything but the clothes she was wearing after her apartment was hit by a missile to get some new clothes, shoes and essentials before moving people to a refugee camp (it was too late to take anyone over the border). 

Today he was planning to get 2 families to Warsaw. 

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10166398134865247&id=580380...

Total top bloke. 

Latest update: https://www.facebook.com/580380246/posts/10166416668000247/