 | Chris Beales Director of Afghan Action [1] | |||
 I'VE SET UP SEVERAL CHARITIES and they’ve all gone through the same process: an exciting start followed by a longer-term struggle. Some survived. Others didn’t. I’ve learned a lot in the process.My latest venture runs training for carpet weavers and a factory in Afghanistan producing carpets for sale in the UK. I have a great team. “Strings-free cash lets us take the risks we need to take to succeed”Most of our cash comes from a government agency. But it’s not a charitable grant – it’s money designed to set up a business. The agency understands the need for this and unlike most big funders and wealthy donors they’re not hung up on detailed plans and reports. They want to see a solid local business established in Kabul and they’re leaving us to get on with it. What better way to help people survive and prosper? It’s a big contrast to the ghastly tick-box culture that comes with so much funding and which impales us with tasks and targets which may become irrelevant half-way through a project. It’s the best kind of help for us and it’s as welcome from individuals as much as it is from governments. If a charity has experienced staff like ours, sometimes you just have to trust it with no-strings-attached donations. Then we will be free to react quickly to rapidly changing environments and take the risks that you have to take to succeed in difficult environments. |