Charity begins abroad

Julian Daniel is one of the organisers of the Alliance Ball, a charity event hosted by Bovis Lend Lease and Stanhope. Last year Daniel visited Malawi to make a film to show at the evening.

We thought it would be more credible if we went out there and made a film to show on the evening. We thought it might have more impact. Although it’s a large event, we know most of the people who are buying tables between us. We treat a lot of these people as friends so we thought if they saw us, it might have more resonance.

We did worry whether going out there was the right thing to do. We wondered if it would be better to give the money which our companies paid for the flights. In terms of impact, you cannot really describe it. The sense you get is that Malawi is such a beautiful country. When you take a panoramic view, all you see is beauty and splendour. When you look up close you see what an imbalance there is.

We met a 13-year-old girl who was the head of her family. Her mother had been dying for six months, her father had died the previous year. She was looking after her 11-year-old sister, nine-year-old brother and four-year-old sister. She said she was a businesswoman – every morning she got up very early to go and pick vegetables then walked five miles to the market to sell them to support the family.

We got into a bit of an argument over that particular family. Paul (Sims, Bovis operations director) was adamant that he wanted to cancel the rest of the tour itinerary and do up the house. But if we did that, people would see they were getting preferential treatment. We didn’t know what would happen to them after we left. Direct action is very difficult. But I could see where Paul was coming from, he was not wrong in what he wanted to do.

Everybody is on foot. The only vehicles I saw were UNICEF vehicles. Everybody walks everywhere and most of the population live outside cities. That’s what makes it so difficult to get them care and attention. They have a 100-mile walk to get to a hospital.

It’s certainly humbling. The other thing is that the people are so happy. This is what makes it a mix of sadness and hope. If you can get them help, they will help themselves.

When we held our first event six years ago, our ethos was “a bloody good night out for a good cause”. Now it’s turned into something significant. We now feel that we are giving significantly back. I would not say I am a reluctant charity giver, but I did not foresee I would be in this position.

I would support someone getting involved in charity work because it is rewarding. And it can help your development which helps your work. There’s a lot of win-wins, it’s hard to find any negatives.