March 31, 2005
The ICR and the refusal of donations from a member of the shooting sports
I have finally received a direct response from the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) on this issue of their refusal to accept a rather hefty donation from a member of the shooting sports. Philip Black (Philip DOT Black AT icr DOT ac DOT uk), the Director of Fundraising, took the time to respond with the following:
We would really like to thank you for taking the time to write to us: your comments have been carefully noted. This was an extremely difficult decision for us to make but we did what we thought was best in the circumstances. Thank you again for your interest.In reply I sent the following as I do not believe the situation has been satisfactorily resolved. It is in everyones interest that it is:
Philip,Yes, but what were the circumstances? Did you refuse this donation
simply because the donation came from an aspect of the shooting sports?
If so, does your refusal to accept donations go for the whole of the shooting community or just parts of it? If so, which parts?Would you also refuse donations from industries that exploit animals
for profit, such as various parts of the food industry? If not, why not?I have a number of readers who are waiting expectantly and with some
distress for some clarification on this issue.Currently the fact that the situation is cloudy is resulting in further donations tragically being held back and this situation will only get worse as time goes by without clarification.
Many thanks.
