| 1 | 1 | | Supporting an astonishing variety of good causes is typical of the famous in the |
| 2 | | late-80s. Pop sta rs, film stars, comedians, old rockers, are all now united as never before |
| 3 | | by a new role. Being a caring celebrity means lending your name to good causes, |
| 4 | | donating cash, making time to appear free of charge in fund-raising concerts, and |
| 5 | | sometimes even organising them. |
| 2 | 6 | | According to Peter Walker, producer of fund-raising activities for Amnesty |
| 7 | | International, 'Charity events are particularly useful for celebrities for setting up new |
| 8 | | partnerships. They also regard them as social occasions where they see their friends and |
| 9 | | have achat, and they meet people they'd ne ver work with otherwise. It has a sort of |
| 10 | | networking effect.' |
| 3 | 11 | | There are drawbacks, though, to this development. Ever since rock sta r Bob Geldof |
| 12 | | started org anising charity rock concerts, there ha s been ta lk of self-promotion. Take for |
| 13 | | in stance the concert organised in 1988 on the occasion of the seventieth birthday of |
| 14 | | Nelson Mandela, the black South African freedom fighter. It ha s been suggested th at the |
| 15 | | rea son why it attracted so many stars, compared to other, similar events, was that it was |
| 16 | | televi sed world-wide to over one billion viewers. Singer Tracy Chapman, for example, |
| 17 | | certainly owes her fame and a lot of money to her short appearance at it. |
| 4 | 18 | | But, as Walker comments, where's the harm in that ? 'Charity events are a |
| 19 | | commercially sound idea for all in volved,' he says. 'Why shouldn't celebrities get |
| 20 | | somethi ng out of it? After all, the y turn up for free . |
| 5 | 21 | | Of course, self-promotion is evident, but it isn't getting out of control. Though I do |
| 22 | | remember at one charity event the stage was invaded by a ll these uninvited, ageing rock |
| 23 | | stars - only the older members of the audience could remember who they were!' |
| 6 | 24 | | In reply to accusations of self-interest on the eve of the Human Rights Now Tour, |
| 25 | | rock star Sting exploded : Tm the sort of person who really needs publicity, ha, ha! ' Peter |
| 26 | | Gabriel had a more practical approach. 'Let's suppose every one of us here is entirely out |
| 27 | | to get publicity. Does it really matter? If people are being rescued from torture, from |
| 28 | | execution, does it really matter a damn ?' |
| 7 | 29 | | Stars don't so much choose their charities as the charities choose them. And while |
| 30 | | there are thousands of would-be sta rs willing to lend their names to a good cause, it is |
| 31 | | the success ful sta rs th at the charities try to lay their hands on . |
| 8 | 32 | | Before long, a celebrity might find there is no time to tour, write new songs or even |
| 33 | | go on holiday - there is still the charity compilation LP to complete, the three benefit |
| 34 | | concerts to appear at and the uni versity talks tour to do . Th is in turn causes far more |
| 35 | | bre akdowns th an the usual pressures of being constantly in the public eye, a symptom |
| 36 | | that has now been identified as charity-fatigue. 'The problem is, everyone's after the same |
| 37 | | bands as us,' an Amnesty spokesperson sa id sheepishly. |
| 9 | 38 | | Which bring s up another argument. Are we being bombarded by so man y messages |
| 39 | | from so many different charities th at we forget last month's cause in favour of the latest |
| 40 | | one? Not so, according to Tracy Ward. She org ani sed the Rainforest Ball and believes |
| 41 | | the message stic ks. ' I just wanted to get the mes sage across to hundreds of people. People |
| 42 | | already knew about the terrible condition of the ra inforests through TV and new spapers, |
| 43 | | but th e ball made them read about it again.' |
| 10 | 44 | | This is the caring side of celebrity charity, where people are actually concerned |
| 45 | | about the causes they support. But a more calculating side is emerging, where celebrities |
| 46 | | are almost being blackmailed into lending their names to causes. Fortunately, few have |
| 47 | | been fooli sh enough to give in. |
| 11 | 48 | | 'Rock stars are always being asked to help charities,' sighs Sting. Another star who |
| 49 | | gives a great deal of his time and resources to good causes, illustrates the bad effect |
| 50 | | charity appearances can have on your own career. 'There is a danger of people perceiving |
| 51 | | you as Mr Cause and getting tired of you turning up yet again.' Even saints, it seems, |
| 52 | | have their limits. |
