I love the Soul Survivor youth festivals. This year was particularly special as we took a mixed group of church young people, some from the LA-UK community project, and some from the Littlehampton Academy (school). Of 60 young people, 15 made first time commitments to follow Jesus, and the others had a range of positive experiences of God!
However there was one thing that frustrated me about Soul Survivor this year – and it’s nothing to do with the event itself. It’s in relation to Soul Survivor as a brand and how they have various aspects of the organisation such as SoulNet youth leaders training and Soul Action, the social justice arm.
This year Soul Action is running a campaign called ‘Not For Sale’ which focuses on the problem of poverty and how it creates and perpetuates slavery. Here is their video explanation (also available here):
But this is my problem: there are already a large number of charities running massive global campaigns to end slavery and human trafficking, many of them Christian based. Examples include Stop The Traffik, Love 146, A21 and Destiny Rescue, although I’m sure there are many, many more. While each of these organisations may have a particular focus or objectives, they all share a similar desire to end slavery.
So why are Soul Survivor starting their own campaign rather than throw their considerable weight behind one of these existing organisations? In fact, why don’t some of these big organisations join forces to have more resources to achieve their aims?
This short post from intelligent giving back in 2008 articulates my point well:
there are a number of organizations out there which seem to do very similar things. Age Concern and Help the Aged, for example, cannot easily be told apart. Beating Bowel Cancer and Bowel Cancer UK likewise are difficult to distinguish.
So isn’t it therefore a good thing when some charities clear off, and put an end to duplication?
It’s a good question. I guess there are a number of motivational and political concerns for why organisations develop as they do, but the story of two rival cancer charities who merged back in 2001 gives some hope of how orgs can come together for the greater good.
As I said before: I love Soul Survivor. I also love the fact that they are inspiring young people to think about the issues of global justice. I just wonder why they have to launch their own vehicle for doing it.
Photo Credit: Sam L via Flickr
24 responses to “Soul Survivor and Charity Duplication”
Hi Jon,
This is something I get frustrated about too. I remember the first year I went to New Frontier’s youth event Newday and being frustrated as the guy on stage said “the reason we started Newday is because there wasn’t anything for young people” and I almost felt that was arrogant! Now in the case in point, obviously there are theological differences etc and these may lead to reasons why often we end up with these different duplications of charity. The question I guess is how do we move these charities forward and stop such duplication from happening and rather put those new ideas (or old ideas even) into the original package and boost that instead?
There doesn’t seem to be any easy answer, but it is clear duplication can be an issue. I guess often its to do with who created it and why, but you have to wonder, if these charities weren’t duplication, would that enable equipping of the original charity to actually reach more people and take a larger step into a sphere of influence?
What i’ve found a lot with trying to connect to some of these projects is that they want to tell people how amazing there projects are. Here in Bogota there are some people helping with rescuing children from trafficking. it would be really easy for us to create our own branch of the work they are doing but in actual fact we are wanting to work with them to help them become more successful.
I think the question we should ask is why are we doing the work? Its ultimately to set people free which is what the Church should be doing but the projects want to show people they are doing amazing stuff and to make them look good.
If there was some how to connect all these groups up and work as one body we could go much further then if we all run our own individual projects.
Thats my thought anyway..
Thanks for the responses guys. It is a difficult argument. I’m not saying that any of these charities ARE duplicating work, it’s just that, from the outside they seem to do very similar things. I’m sure they would all go about things in a different manner, work in a different geographical area, etc, etc.
Shaun, I take your point about people promoting their own work. If I were running one of these charities, I’d want to tell people about it and have our logo on stuff so that we could get better recognised, draw more sponsorship and ultimately achieve more! But you’re right in asking “why do we do it?” Maybe if people were more graceful and humble, and less concerned about protecting their work a lot more could be achieved!
For me, i came to Colombia to work with these Children and i would love to have these amazing stories of houses and so many children rescued but I know i can’t do it on my own. Firstly I need a great team locally on the ground, people i can run stuff by and people to who will work with me (out side agencies). A couple of the charities you mentioned above are very boastful about what they do and in actual fact when I contacted them to look at ways we can work together they completely shut me down.
All the charities above you mentioned in terms of the sex industry stuff were all setup with an initial Christian perspective and it’s great seeing the Church realising they have a part to play in combating some of the outrageous stuff that’s going on in the world but in the same way we are one Church i believe we should all be working together to being the change we all desire.
Im not sure if that makes sense but it makes perfect sense to me.
I have two thoughts here:
1. There seem to be a lot of duplication in the specific area that you mention Jon. While I think there’s greater room for partnership working I think that each of the specific charities targets a particular niche. Globally there’s a very wide demographic – the target of Soul Survivor’s “Not for sale” is going to be very different from Stop the Traffik’s.
2. Looking at things from a Love146 perspective – as far as i’m aware they’re the only charity who offer care to those who they rescue in the SE Asia. They also welcome partnership working whenever they can. Here in the UK they partnered with Cross Border Initiatives who were working in Eastern Europe. They’ve also partnered to with the makers of the Call + Response (http://www.callandresponse.com/) to provide the ongoing support in the UK.
Just my two pence.
I know what you mean Shaun. It’s a tough road. It’s particularly frustrating as you are right, we’re all meant to be one church. Trouble is politics always enters the fray. It amazes me organisations like Soul Survivor keep managing to run, particularly when you look at controversies like Steve Chalke and Spring Harvest etc. Soul has managed to walk very carefully whilst letting the spirit move which is amazing. I believe you’re right in that sometimes they just seem uninterested, and its often important to look at what they are doing and we can find there are just subtle differences. Still, if there was unity, funding would be a lot easier to manage, and again back to my original point , I think more could be achieved.
Thanks Dave,
This isn’t a pop at any particular charity. I’m sure that Love146 are brilliant at what they do and it’s good to hear they partner up. There’s probably good reason why they haven’t joined with Stop The Traffik (for example).
But you can see from a public perspective why it seems a bit odd. I’d love to see all these orgs doing their thing, but joining a coalition with a commitment to share practice and resources to benefit those most in need. I guess though, that it’s a big logistical issue.
I recall a discussion I had with a local vicar once about how the Church of England was working to combine some parishes because neither had sufficient resources to survive. The argument roughly went like this – each Church/Parish had 30 members and individually they could not meet their quota. If the two groups came together and became one church then with 60 members they could meet their quota and pay for a priest and everything would be hunky-dory. So after much discussion they combined the churches and set the bulk of the meetings at one place and started to close down the other. Unfortunately, instead of one church with 60 members the end result was 30 members. Those who had to move didn’t, or maybe some did and the church where they moved to didn’t like the changes either and some left that church instead.
The same argument about duplication gets applied to youth work and youth organisations as well. If there are two groups in the same patch doing the same work then why not join them up?
The thing is – it’s all about relationships. Sometimes you’re lucky and you know about Stop the Traffik and Soul Action and wonder why they are doing the same thing. But think about it this way – there are different groups of people they may work with or target. The messages they give will strike a chord with some people at some points and not others. Better to have two groups working and reaching more people rather than one reaching only half.
Or shall we close all our different churches (CofE, Pentecostal, RC) and have just one mega church in a town?
After posting this I recalled another story from years ago. The Soviet Union at one time built a mega-factory to produce all the cigarettes for its people – closing down smaller concerns as inefficient. Then one day there was a strike and production stopped, effectively depriving the whole Soviet Union of cigarettes.
Duplication? Or all your eggs in one basket?
Help the Aged and Age Concern are now http://www.ageuk.org.uk – they must have read your blog Jon…
:o) glad you had a good time at Soul Survivor
Sim
Good comment Chris. I not suggestesting we merge all the projects together for that same reason you mention but i do think we all can learn something from each project if we worked together.
I tried to contact a couple of those project mentioned above because im wanting to get some of these projects to partner with the work we are doing here and as soon as i mentioned we are talking with another charity they said we dont want to partner with them. While there will be some political issues i do also think that we are all trying to do the same thing out of compassion.
Hi Chris, Thanks for the comments. Did we ever arrange a time to meet up? Would be good to chat over a coffee!
With regard to your points above, I think you make a good argument. It is similar to having many church denominations in the same town – they cater for different people and theologies, but I would always hope that they communicate and collaborate through gatherings like Churches Together.
For big Christian charities doing similar work, I would also hope that there is some sort of shared agenda and a chance to work together (even if some of the details between the organisations are different).
With Soul Survivor for example, I would have loved to have heard a “we’re doing this thing for these reasons, but we are in partnership with/have talked with these guys from this charity who are doing something similar” (obviously, it would be a bit catchier!)
Without any acknowledgement of other people’s work in a similar field, it all comes across as a bit arrogant (and ignorant). But maybe I’m being too picky now?
Thanks Sim. The blog post I quoted was over 2 years old so of course, things have changed!
Hope you’re all OK.
I agree entirely. I think the problem lies with money, ie charities competing to get access to grants and donations – your phrase “rival cancer charities” says it all.
Duplication or non duplication if it’s kept in the public eye it’s going to raise the profile of the issue. If a young person learns about the issue at Soul Survivor, then is reminded about it via the media or a 3rd party non-christian event (hope to write something more on this on my blog in the future but something is in the pipeline) and signs up for a mailing list, then hears about a campaign from Stop the Traffik.
The young person stays engaged in the issue and while the organisations aren’t directly working together the issue is staying in the public domain and enabling each others existence. Surely the abandoning of this form of slavery is the far bigger issue – yes there would be greater efficiencies if these places could, dependant on territory, share resources, office space, staff.
Excellent point and the same thought occurred to me at this years SS Week C. Interesting that Help the Aged and Age Concern have now joined forces and are now known as Age UK.
I think this illustrates the danger of success… Soul Survivor is obviously hugely successful in both secular terms (how many businesses can get thousands of young people at their events – yes I know concerts can but SS does so much more than just music) and in spiritual terms…. out our group of 16 teens 3 became Christians this year and everyone had amazing experiences (including healing). However, as SS has grown so it has become less clear what its brand is (or focus if you prefer).
The temptation to start all sorts of initiatives is ever more powerful but they should support the existing work done by others to avoid diluting the message IMHO. Stop the Traffik and Love 146 do excellent work (and are different). We don’t need another organisation jumping on the bandwagon so come on Mike & team, hand the baton over to those who were there first and focus on what you do best. Humility means admitting that sometimes we have got it wrong and making amends.
Steve
In having worked in faith contexts i used a phrase ‘unity with diversity’ believing that we need multiple responses to issues but with a collaborative spirit. In this slavery context there are multiple agencies tackling modern slavery but there is also diversity in terms of specific focus and tools used to serve those ends, there is lots of space in this issue. We dont need to do the same thing, but it is perhaps best practice to be on the same side of the table facing these issues together and strategically within this diversity. My assessment is there is little duplication on the ground but a collective voice is a louder voice if we are to be heard. The relational chords between UK agencies cheering each other on is strong and growing stronger. Perhaps Soul Survivor can fuel a significant leap in collaboration in mobilising people around this issue to see significant change and bold outcomes. Very Exciting.
gaz – love146
Hi Steven,
Good to have you on board! 🙂
Hi Gaz, thanks for the comment – it’s good to get feedback from one of the charities mentioned here. I love your positivity about the collaboration within the UK – it’s a very gracious response. You guys are doing extremely important and dangerous work in trying to end slavery. Let’s hope more young people become aware of the situation and get involved.
Raising the public profile isn’t enough though mate. I remember some of the stuff we done with spring harvest about the children in Africa but i spoke to a child the next year and completely forgot what the mission focus was all about (that year was stop the traffic)
Some great points to read and work through! When thinking about duplication and Chris’ comment about all your eggs in one basket, I think the key maybe in open communication and a recognising of each of the organisations and how they work. I mentioned the comment made at Newday the first year I was there, but I also know last year they actually had Mike Pilavachi do a bulk of the teaching and acknowledged what he did. That is probably one of the big keys in the communication, recognition of each organisation and the humility to say “we’re not the only one, we’re not saying we’ve got it totally right, but we want to help in this area” and finalise better exactly what the differences are.
I like this Rich. I think you’ve got it exactly right. It is about acknowledgement and communication.
Hi,
Really great news about your time at Soul Survivor this year. Stories like that make it all worthwhile!
Also share all your concerns about duplication- which is why we haven’t launched our own vehicle for ending slavery! We have felt challenged by God about the issue and found a global abolitionist movement that we felt would work well with the Soul Survivor constituency. Soul Action is Not for sale is part of the large global Not for Sale campaign and will be working with them over the next year. We also have started making contact with others to see if there is some common ground in the run up to the London Olympics which will be a big magnet for trafficking. Soul Action itself is a partnership between Tearfund and Soul Survivor in order to equip a new generation of disciples with God’s heart for the last, the least and the lost without creating a new organisation. The whole approach is to join together the skill and expertise of organisations like Tearfund and Not for Sale with the passion, vision and heart of Soul Survivor.
David Westlake, Soul Action Director. http://www.davidwestlake.com
Brilliant! Thank you David, firstly for taking time to comment here and respond to these concerns, but also for explaining that Soul Action is doing exactly what I was criticising it for NOT doing.
It’s really good to hear that you are partnering with other groups to promote a larger global campaign. I guess my only comment would be, it would have been helpful to know about the wider partnerships as part of the initial push at the Soul Survivor festivals – but I suppose it’s not as important as getting the Not for Sale message out.
Soul Survivor (and TearFund for that matter) have been really significant in the lives of many of our young people and I’m really thankful for the work that you and the team do.