GOSH!

I saw an advert on TV this morning for Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.

Seriously I think this is totally offensive. They shouldn't have to beg for funds. The bloody government should pay all it needs to keep it going!

They're too busy throwing all of our money into the never-ending black hole (no pun intended) that is south Africa. Well, the so-called 'Third World' anyway.

I thought it was a private charity hospital and not part of the NHS but I may be wrong.

Quote: ajp29 @ July 12, 2007, 11:05 PM

I thought it was a private charity hospital and not part of the NHS but I may be wrong.

View original

But it shouldn't be should it.

Peter Pan is to blame!

He's supposed to live for ever and never grow old but now it's out of royalty (or something)

Adam, it is part of the NHS (actually a UCL teaching hospital, to be accurate). I'm not sure exactly how the funding works though. I suspect that the money-raising charity side is supplementary to the funding from government.

And regarding Peter Pan, Wikipedia (not always accurate, mind) says:
"The hospital was the recipient of playwright J.M. Barrie's copyright to Peter Pan, giving the institution control of the rights to the work, and entitling it to royalties from any performance or publication of the play and derivative works. The hospital's trustees recently authorised a sequel, Peter Pan in Scarlet, which has been a critical success.

When the copyright originally expired in 1988, 51 years after Barrie's death, the UK government granted the hospital a perpetual right to collect royalties on the work. Peter Pan remains under copyright in the European Union until 31 December 2007. The status of the copyright in the United States is disputed."

Thanks for that Aaron. I thought it had expired and that's why they have to advertise. But how much do the adverts cost?

I knew there'd been a sequel but has it been received that well?

Well the above quote says that is "has been a critical success". So I guess so.

Critical successes are not the same as financial ones though - unfortunately - or maybe at times - fortunately.