![[Flag waving Bernese]](bernwav6.gif)
Although as a Team we display our dogs and carts primarily for the pleasure that both we and our dogs get out of it, and for the pleasure we give to those who watch the displays, a very beneficial side effect is that a number of charities and other deserving causes are able to benefit from the funds that we raise in the process.
Since this is a part of our activities which goes largely unreported, we decided that it would be a good idea to make available on the website a list of those organisations whom we have managed to help over the years.
NOTE: - Not all of these organisations are registered charities, some being what we would class as "deserving causes", so the word 'charities' on the links to this page is used in the very broadest sense, to denote both types of beneficiary.
The funds we donate come from three sources -
Firstly donations made by event organisers in lieu of an appearance fee
Secondly small change donated by members of the public into 'Bernie's Begging Bowl' and other collecting buckets
Thirdly cash generated from the sale of Bernese Mountain Dog related items, such as cuddly toys.
Everything that we collect is donated to charities and deserving causes, and NOTHING is kept for administrative or travel expenses.
Donations made by event organisers -
We do not charge a fee for appearing at events, and ask instead that the organisers offer a donation to a charity or other deserving cause of our choice, providing that their event has made sufficient profit for them to be able to do so. When the event is being run entirely for charity (such as the Island Farm Donkey Sanctuary events for example), then we donate our own services 'free', and do not ask for a separate donation. Generally at these sort of events, we will also donate to the event charity any cash that is donated into our buckets or 'Bernie's Begging Bowl' by the public who attend the event.
Whenever a donation is offered by the organisers, the carters take it in turns to nominate the particular beneficiary to which such donations should be sent, and thus everyone gets to help their own favourite charity or worthy cause.
Small change donated by members of the public -
Most events permit us to collect spare coins donated by members of the public who attend the events. There is no pressure to do so, but buckets or 'Bernie's Begging Bowl' are placed by our pitch for those who wish to make a donation.
Funds collected thus are put into a 'pot', which at the end of each year of carting, is divided up between deserving causes nominated by whichever carters have not had the chance to propose a beneficiary for one of the donations offered by event organisers.
Cash generated from the sale of Bernese Mountain Dog related items -
This operates slightly differently, in that the funding for the purchase of the original stock was provided by two of our carters, so although the purpose is to donate any surplus profits generated to charities and other deserving causes, before this could happen the original 'loan' to buy the stock has had to be repaid, and enough cash generated in order to replace it on a rolling basis.
The sales generated sufficient funds to purchase more stock and to repay the'loan' in 2005, following which the donation of surplus profits took place - the details are in the 'DISTRIBUTION of FUNDS raised during 2005'.
Since then we have had to purchase stock in bulk from a different (& more expensive) source, so it has taken some time to generate sufficient funds to buy more stock and generate a profit, but we are now approaching the point at which a further donation of net profits can take place.
The list below has been completed as far as 2017 and includes historic details of our charity donations stretching right back to our days as the 'Central Bernese Carters':
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CARTING CALENDAR |
CONTENTS |
![[Berns and Hearts]](anibernht.gif)