Do you trust your doctor?  No, I mean really really REALLY trust them?

Over the years there have been countless scandals of alcoholic doctors, or worse still doctors hooked on prescription drugs.  Would you know if your doctor was one of them?

Then there’s the issue of pharmaceutical control.  It’s a matter of record that doctors usually prescribe manufactured drugs rather than naturally occurring ones.  Sometimes this is because of scientific rigour .. sometimes it’s down to nothing more than a carefully targeted marketing campaign and an entry in a book.

I’m starting to get the feeling corporate CSR professionals are a little like doctors.  For sure, they have big hearted intentions, although it seems inevitable there will be a few who cause scandals along the way.  But they seem to always ignore the world on their doorstep in favour of some glamorised fix-it-all solution.

Typical CSR Activities

Think CSR, think.... what?  The first thing which springs to mind is Africa and lots of companies giving money (and, hopefully, employee time) to charities working there to alleviate poverty and hunger.  Brilliant.

The next thing which springs to mind is carbon offsetting.  Not so brilliant, but now is not the place for a discussion. Suffice to say that it’s better than the proverbial blunt stick.

Then I think of the weird and the wonderful.  Sponsoring a local ladies darts league as CSR or, as one FTSE 100 business has it, having a company barbeque.  Not so sure about those.

But there is one thing which happens throughout the UK and across the World which I’ve never seen mentioned in any CSR report.  It’s on the doorstep of every business and every home, yet we’ve all developed a blind spot for it.

Homelessness.

Local CSR Activities

Now I find it just as difficult as anyone else to work in the centre of a large city without becoming cynical about the number of beggars with clean jeans and good haircuts.

Yet the fact remains that there is a hard core of homelessness at the centre of each city and all large towns.  And, I have to ask, what is the point of giving money to Africa if there is rampant destitution, illness and death on your own doorstep?

For example, on 30th December 2009 The Sock Mob conducted a survey of south east Westminster, around a mile square, and found 87 rough sleepers.  This was nearly three time the number they expected to find.

Westminster is the heart of British Government and because terror laws will not allow rough sleeping in the City of London, these homeless are as much on the doorstep of the business sector as they are on the doorstep of the public sector.

Yet, I wonder, which is helping the most?

So Who's Helping the Homeless?

It’s despicable that most London based public companies, including the majority of FTSE 100 companies and an uncountable number of private ones, are doing absolutely nothing about this problem.

Last year over 200 people died on the streets of Central London – this year it will be much much higher.

Shouldn't homelessness on your doorstep be a priority for CSR, or is it just too embarressing an issue for corporates to grasp?

^{Picture Credit: Cristina Maria y Ana by Jose Kevo from flickr under Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License.}