Kite mark for new Service charities

21st October 2010

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Apologies - it's been a while since my last blog, but The BFF has been so busy planning shows and doing stuff there's hardly been a moment. The main news has been the creation of yet more Armed Forces charities, and while I'm in favour of this I do think there needs to be some sort of kite mark of entry to avoid creating yet more organisations who are doing the same thing as others already. More often than not they are formed without doing any research into what's already out there.

One such example is Tickets for Troops, which is essentially a Tory-backed attempt to persuade us, before the next general election, that they are pro defence. However, pro defence or not, the reality is they will not spend any more on the defence budget than the current government.

We at The BFF, as well as at least four other charities I can think of, also do a tickets for troops type offering. The problem - which no one has explained to Tickets for Troops - is that it is easy to get tickets donated to shows and events that are not a sell out but very few people will donate the 'hot' tickets to the big sell out shows.

However, should, for example, Arsenal donate tickets to the Man United game, the reality is, knowing the military as well as I do, that these tickets are just as likely to end up on ebay as much as rightfully providing a good day out for a deserving member of the Armed Forces. (Maybe it's a cunning way for the Tories to increase Service salaries!).

These things are very difficult to control and there's a real danger, when only tickets to non sell out shows are provided, that it in a sense under values the intent of the gesture.

Mark Cann Director of The British Forces Foundation (These are the personal views of Mark Cann and not necessarily those of the Charity)