Charities

[Grauntie Mag]

I have just received yet another begging letter in the post, this time from Battersea Dogs home. In the envelope were Christmas cards, paper, tags, book mark, drinks mat. Now why would anyone give money to a charity who spend the donations on junk like this to send to other people? I have never given to Battersea and so I surmise they have sent millions of the same packets out. Quite frankly it just puts me off giving rather than encouraging me to give.

[Oma]

I agree Grauntie how much money has been wasted there and as you say how many have they sent out , wasted money

[Gemini]

I agree too. We recently got cards, drinks coasters etc from the Red Cross, unsolicited. A waste of money.

[Daisy]

I suppose they are playing on our sense of guilt - they've sent us things we should donate to the cause.

I hate it too.

[Skye]

We have decided to stop contributing to the various charities we were supporting as our incomes have reduced dramatically. Also I had been bothered by the apparent waste of money by the famous ones, so this year we'll just send a cheque to our favourite charity at the local children's hospital, which provides facilities and equipment not provided by the NHS.

[ZIZI]

Ladies it is not whether you have contributed to a charity in the past, it is if you have bought something or signed up for something online. I constantly get requests from charities and little gifts, especially around Christmas when I could practically do the whole of south east England with gifttags from one charity or another. Your name goes on a list which is bought and sold. I used to feel guilty and return the goods but it is a loss leader for them. It is built into their campaigns. Somehow I have as small charity in Devon which works with learning disabled people which sends me stuff all the time. You know I do a lot of work with learning disabled people but I do not know how this particular charity got my details

I do not respond to any of the charity requests which can number up to a dozen a week at this time of year as I feel that if I wish to give I will do so without being contacted. It is a form of bullying, in my opinion, for some people who are less aware than you and me.

Apologies if I have offended anyone.

[Elisi]

I only respond the the Salvation Army as I know from experience how much good they do. When the national wide charity excess broke into the media I received a letter from them apologising if they had ever overstepped the mark and asking me to continue to support them if and when I could by donations either into their shops or to them personally as and when I could but that they would never send any begging letters. This was because I send money every Christmas. They never have begged, and I will never stop supporting them.

I worked for a major charity in 1995 - 1998. I, and my two assistant managers left in disgust when a new area manager, who was on a LOT of money per annum told us (we were in Cambridge) that we could do more than the £2000 a week we were achieving and told us our salaries would be cut unless we complied. The Regional manager (why so many managers) ??? swanned in and out on a monthly basis telling us we were not good enough. We ran almost top of the list in the country and we were not good enough! Her salary was even larger than the other woman's.

We worked 6 days per week with 35 volunteers some of whom were over 90 years of age! I managed to get one girl who was considered a hopeless case into employment at W.H. Smiths in the Grafton Centre, on the tills as I had trained her up in two years. The volunteers ranged between 16 and 92. One very upmarket lady regularly stole from us but I managed to contain this. Many became dear friends. I am in touch with about 20 of them still and one is a lady in New Zealand, Mary, a light amongst the world's gloom, a very special person, but, then they ALL were SPECIAL.

Leaving there was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. But the work was relentless and I was ill with a very large fibroid which needed surgery and could simply not continue to run up and down the stairs. Nor continue to get in at 8 am and leave around 6pm when everyone at home was waiting for dinner and I had a teenager to raise


Until you have worked on the ground level for a charity , no one knows the length and breath of the work involved. But, you work like stink to pay those above you, in management, NOT for the Charity. I have been there.

The Sally Army is different which is why I support them.

I also signed up for PLAN which gave money to those in need in the developing world. I had a little girl called Erangika in Sri Lanka and a boy later on. For 10 years I supported them and then eventually left. I had so many bullying phone calls telling me to sign up again and what was I doing by letting small children starve etc.

Sally Army for me.

[Oma]

I used to give to several charities one being Guide dogs for the blind till I had several phone calls asking for more money , one lady was very demanding asked if I gave X around of money why couldn't I give more and did I have a good reason , so I said we'll I won't give any then and she wanted me to sell raffle tickets around the doors when I said no I had only just moved into my house she said we'll it's a good way to meet your neighbours , I wasn't begging from people I didn't know so I told her where to put the raffle tickets , To be honest I think people are charity weary there are so many , I take stuff to the charity shop of my choice I won't put in bags to be collected at the door , The only Cancer research shop is some distance away but I make that journey also we have a very good Heart foundation shop and a scope I give too , Apart from the Poppy appeal , Air Ambulance and the Blood bank bike transport , I never put in tin rattlers either

[Nanto2girls]

I have just received yet another begging letter in the post, this time from Battersea Dogs home. In the envelope were Christmas cards, paper, tags, book mark, drinks mat. Now why would anyone give money to a charity who spend the donations on junk like this to send to other people? I have never given to Battersea and so I surmise they have sent millions of the same packets out. Quite frankly it just puts me off giving rather than encouraging me to give.

We got the same thing a few days ago, I always send them back without a stamp, addressed as return to sender. We also support the Poppy appeal and Air ambulance.
We donate items to the Cancer charity shop.

[Mimi]

This at this time of year I receive raffle tickets in the post from several charities.There are generally two books of tickets at £10 per book . I don't want to sell them to my family and friends as they most probably also have the same sort of thing so I tend to buy all the books from one charity and feel like a scrounge for not buying from the others.
This year I am ignoring all of them . I refuse to feel guilty.
I have a standing order to give to our local hospice evey month. I send money to the NSPCC every Christmas time. ( I started doing this when dad was alive, he got to the stage in life when he no longer wanted any gifts for Christmas so I suggested I send the money I would have spent on him to the NSPCC and he was delighted with that idea, so I have kept sending money in his memory) .
There is only so much money I can donate, if I had more, charities would get more.
Oh, I always donate to BBC Children In Need also .

[ZIZI]

At Clapham Junction you cannot get out of the concourse without being assailed by chuggers. I am afraid these days I am downright rude to them and barge past them. If you as much as look at them they take as permission to stand in front of you and demand your attention.

I give to Sally Bash, I was brought up in the Salvation Army. I donate things to local hospice shop and children's things to children's hospice shop which supports the hospice Ben used to go to. Other than that I do Poppy Day, rarely give to anything else. When I get tins rattled in my face, especially if I am in a rotten mood, I advise them that it is against the law to harass people with collecting boxes or I tell them I work for a charity which is true, well was until last Friday, and Time to Shine is a charity as well so I am not fibbing.

Nan2 my Battersea Power Station site is next to the cat and dogs home and in the early days I had quite a lot to do with them. I was surprised atsome of the events they put on. They are opposite a very, very poor estate and run events like dinner dances at £1000 a table and silent auctions where the minimum bid is £500, way out of reach of most people living locally. These people area already disgruntled at the multi million pound apartments going up around them when they are living in dreadful conditions and events such as those only make it worse. I know it costs a lot of money to run these charities and I have learned an awful lot in my secondment about the way they operate, there is so much waste.

[Enfys]

So glad it's not just me ....we've had so many Christmas cards, book marks, coasters etc over the years. I used to send them back but don't bother now. Surely it must cost a fortune to send these things out to every household? I refuse to be blackmailed, I give to local charity shops and donate to the Diabetic Association and that's it.

[Plantaholic]

My OH set up DD to Cancer Research, Heart Foundation and also his favourite charity The Lifeboats so I have kept them going and I always buy a poppy. Any other appeals through the letter box I don't even open. We don't get many chuggers as Zizi calls them but sometimes there is someone collecting outside my favourite shop and I have to put something in the tin. Oh and I also have a donation going to Dogs for the Blind.

[Gemini]

I think what is clear from this thread is that none of us like to be bullied or guilted into giving.
I'm sure we all give in our own ways be it one off or regular payments to a favourite charity, in collecting boxes or charity shops. I sponsor several people every year via Just Giving. No one bullies or or even asks me, I see the details on friends and familes FB pages. This is how it should be done.
When I was younger I delivered those collection envelopes for a couple of charities. I hate doing that. You have to keep going back, lots of people won't give, and some are rude and unpleasant about it! For years they kept phoning me and wanting me to do this. In the end I politely told them as I had 3 children and 2 jobs, I just didn't have the time. I suggested they target fitter retired people!

[Plantaholic]

My OH set up DD to Cancer Research, Heart Foundation and also his favourite charity The Lifeboats so I have kept them going and I always buy a poppy. Any other appeals through the letter box I don't even open. We don't get many chuggers as Zizi calls them but sometimes there is someone collecting outside my favourite shop and I have to put something in the tin. Oh and I also have a donation going to Dogs for the Blind.