WHAT’S WRONG WITH A WHIP ROUND?

Olivia Knight - 11 Feb 15

We all know Myleene Klass is a bit funny about money.

Back in November she appeared on ITV’s The Agenda and got very confused, angry and totally irrational about the suggestion that, as a millionaire, she might have to contribute £3,000 more a year if the government brought in a mansion tax.

Then last week someone dared to ask her for a tenner for her daughter’s class mate’s birthday present.

Myleene publicly shamed the said mum at her kids’ school for suggesting that friends chip in towards a Kindle for her daughter’s birthday rather than turn up to the party with a ton of surprise presents. And ever since the cash versus gifts debate has been raging.

Perhaps asking fellow parents for ‘a suggested £10’ in an email is a bit awkward. And maybe if Myleene’s friend had known her private email was going to be read by millions she might have pitched it differently. But far from being a ‘bonkers’ request I think it’s an entirely sane approach to gift giving.

Surely it makes sense to ask friends and family to contribute towards something your child really wants, rather than letting people waste time, money and the world’s resources buying stuff they don’t need?

Over the weekend media commentators joined Myleene’s attack on modern day, middle class ‘madness’ and the uncontrollable greed of spoilt, private school kids demanding excessive and expensive presents from their party guests.

But the private emails that Myleene shared suggested the opposite – an entirely common sense scenario that most parents responding on Twitter, calling into local radio shows and posting threads on Mumsnet could relate to – a child who wanted just one thing, a mother who suggested a whip round and some friends who were happy to help.

I find it strange that millionaire Myleene should be so deeply offended by such a simple request and I’m totally baffled that she should begrudge giving a child a tenner. But what I find most offensive is her “get what you’re given” response which, not only shows her distain for people who dare to ask, but also shows how out of touch she is with most families living in austerity Britain.

Most children don’t go to private schools, most kids don’t have playrooms full of too many toys already. Most kids aren’t racking their brains for the one expensive and impossible thing they don’t yet own – like the ‘real life unicorn’ that Myleene suggests for her daughter in her own mock gift request. Most kids just want a bike or a playhouse, or some Lego for their birthdays. And many parents today are wondering how they can afford them.

Myleene might think she’s mocking a crazy new middle class fad. But she’s actually misrepresenting a common sense, working class tradition.

The whip round is making a come back in schools up and down the country not because of middle class greed but because times are tough and people are skint and parents are having to become more collective and resourceful when it comes to gift giving.

Myleene clearly doesn’t get it. But if a few well-to-do mums at her private school have picked up on the idea then surely that’s a good thing. One Kindle that a kid really wants has got to make more sense than a ton of unwanted gifts stuck in a cupboard destined for landfill.

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Olivia Knight

Socialist, feminist, environmentalist trying to see if I can combine my isms with enterprise. Founder of group gift startup, Patchwork. Mum of two, London.

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