28 September, 2014

Dear Sir,

I have been following the debate about the closure of the Centre Against Abuse, and listened yesterday to Laurie Shiell on a radio talk show, implying that it was all Government’s fault that it was closing.

I know a little about the operation of the Centre — enough to know that that is not the case at all. The Centre had a grant from Government, which was cut from $100,000 to $75,000 this year. It’s an operation that normally costs about $500,000 a year to run, so although Government may be a big contributor, it is far from the only contributor, and a drop of $25,000 in income isn’t exactly the game changer that people are saying it is.

The real reason the Centre is in the financial mess it is in was given by Ms Shiell in an interview with The Royal Gazette some time ago — they hadn’t bothered to do a lot of fundraising.

She said the Centre had been “unable to dedicate as much time as it would have liked” to fundraising because they had been focusing on the charity’s application to be accredited by the Bermuda National Standards Committee.

Are you kidding me? I know filling in forms is a pain in the neck, but I didn’t realise it was that big of a pain that it could take you off your game for a whole year. Is that an excuse that holds water?

No, the Centre has overplayed its hand. They were sure that the community would put enough pressure on Government to make sure it bailed them out. Instead, the Ministry, which is faced with demands from a wide variety of organisations like the Centre, has told them it is prepared to help, but not to be their sugar daddy.

The Centre has made it clear that it does not want to alter the way it does business. Ms Shiell and her board chairman have refused any suggestions to make appropriate changes, such as merging or at least share a building to save money,

The Centre is a charity that spends a lot on its staff. Of the $413k-odd that was their total income during 2013, approximately $365k was paid out on salaries and benefits. That’s a figure you can check by looking at the Centre’s financials, which are available for public inspection at the Registrar General’s office.

It’s also a figure that fails to get anywhere near the benchmark that the watchdog Charity Watch recommends for effective charitable organisations. They say that charities that spend more than 33.3% of their total budget on overhead are not being effective.

The Centre needs to get creative to adjust to reality. Shutting down its operation is not the answer. There are other answers. Management needs to try harder. Show some grit. And commitment.

Yours sincerely,

Joe

St George‘s