Staff and children at the Winchester Project call on Tory donors to back the “Big Society”

Published: 31 March 2011
by JOSIE HINTON

A CHILDREN’S play centre threatened with closure has called on leading Tory donors to back the “Big Society” by putting their hands in their pockets to save services.

Staff and children at the Winchester Project in Swiss Cottage have penned a heartfelt letter to each of the top ten contributors to Conservative coffers.

They have asked the donors, largely hedge-fund managers, to “disprove the notion” that major investors are “only interested in tax cuts for the rich and big breaks for large corporations”.

“The Winch”, as it is known, provides an after-school and holiday club for children aged from four to 12. But with up to 80 per cent of Camden’s play provision facing cuts, most services of this kind could be lost.

Written by chief executive Paul Perkins and signed by children who use the after-school club, the letter tells Tory donors: “The policies being pursued are a direct result of your putting your eggs in the right basket.” 

It adds that the Big Society reforms invite donors “to bypass the wasteful bureaucracy of local and central government and make sure 100 per cent of the financial and in-kind contributions you make reach the causes which make a difference.

“We would be delighted to meet you to explain our work, the social return on your investment and to invite you to participate in the development of our organisation.”

Mr Perkins said: “We’re still waiting for a reply, or even better a cheque, from the recipients. We live in hope.”