Donations to charity-----------on the decrease dramitically

Sadly, much of it never gets to the needy, imo.

quite true, Live Aid did a great job of funding armaments for ten years, sadly

I only give to causes that have touched me personally.

I'm sick to death of the new breed of harassing charity collectors that just about set up road blocks on the main streets in towns.

give a tenner you would be lucky if 50p went to the charity thats why i give nothing

Whenever i see Bob Geldof i have to supress the expletives.

I think people are much wiser now about what happens to their donations. If the Chandlers had been kidnapped 10 years ago the money would have been paid/raised without much thought. The focus wouldn't have been about who the money was actully going to, and to what it would be used for - the main focus would have been on releasing the Chandlers.

Now, the focus is on the pirates getting the money, the release of the Chandlers has slipped to second place.

When Live Aid ran I can remember trying to get everyone to donate and my father told me that the vast majority of the money would be used to buy guns and funds wars. Refused to believe him.. but he was pretty much right.

fawwon 06 Apr 18:09


I only give to causes that have touched me personally.

I'm sick to death of the new breed of harassing charity collectors that just about set up road blocks on the main streets in towns.



So annoying, trying to rush out to get a sandwich at lunch, and its like run the gauntlet to get past them all, avoid eye contact at all costs!!!

I hear you Vieri

I foolishly spoke to one of them and she wanted me to set up a direct debit to sponsor something like a tree in south america.

a polite **c off seems to do the trick.

Every charity should be forced by law to publish figures of how many pence in the pound gets to the cause the donor intended. Instead they use overly complicated accounting mechanisms to make finding such basic information virtually impossible.


Even a simple donation via justgiving sends 6% into the coffers of the website owners, that's before the charitee get their dirty mits involved.

i totally agree with the sentiments of this thread. However, on a general note, I do think charities often bark up the wrong tree when targetting punters (e.g. ATR had a high % of charity ads for years). I think the assumption is that punters have money to lose - otherwise they wouldn't spend it so wrecklessly.The opposite tends to be true. I do agree with giving though!

something like a tree? couldn't she be more specific?

I give to Wildlife Trust and Retired Greyhound Trust, and that's about it. Personal choice and I can see where the money goes

However, on a general note, I do think charities often bark up the wrong tree

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wtf? what is it with the trees again?

they reckon only 5% goes to the people who need it the rest goes to the fatcats who run it

very sad alright , always try to give to 3 charitys at xmas .but find myself only giving to local charites now as at least i can sometimes see the results of my donations.

charity my ass

Anyway, why the hell should our few quid be needed when the government throws tens of millions per day at faraway wars and billions on Trident?

when they increase the levy from 10% of punters losses to 15% ,i'd like 0.5% to be ring fenced to retired race horses welfare organisations.

i throw enough money at horses to be donating money to them when they cant run .

And tbf on the few occassions ive seen that tv prog "secret millionaire" there does seem to be some pretty decent people out there working in their local communitys.

that secret millionaire is**though imo. they get given the muny for doing the program the millionaire doesnt pay a penny

Giving to the so called 'bigger' charities can be pretty pointless.

Support local charities would be my suggestion, schools, homes, centres etc....I know of a special needs school who did a flag day on a the same saturday in 2009 and 2010. Got 11k in 2009 and only €3.5k this year.

A lot of people peddling out the old "I don't give to charity because......." excuses.

You've got to justify it somehow, eh?

What is the natural state of things? Is a charitable act a truly natural thing for a member of the animal kingdom to do? Or are we not members of the animal kingdom any more? Is every man for himself a good cliche or a bad cliche? How does the notion of the family or the clan fit into all of this?

no such thing as altruism in its purest form Swift Tuttle. But if giving or helping makes you feel better about yourself it's as good as....

Hold on - I DO give to charity... but experience has taught me that some just don't know when to stop. A couple of years ago I gave a decent amount to the NSPCC - over the next 12 months or so I was deluged with request (commands) for more money. Thick colour booklets that cost god knows how much to produce and send.... I'd be surprised if there was any of my original donation left!

Now I give to MSF (Medicine Sans Frontier), the Stroke Assocation (used to find Stroke clubs and transport), Barnados and Operation Smile.

and should you want proof of the good your donation does - check out Operation Smile videos on youTube - heartbreaking stories where a few minutes can truly change someone's life.

fawwon, philli race 3 was a charity event, trust you got some?

yeahyeahwhatever, same here with Oxfam and NSPCC, standing order not big enough etc. My next donation will be to someone on hear who does good things.

Cliftonhill Albion 06 Apr 18:35
A lot of people peddling out the old "I don't give to charity because......." excuses.

You've got to justify it somehow, eh?

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an inaccurate summary of this thread to say the least

i know alot of ppl believe that alot of the cash doesnt go to the needy and I for one cant disagree but even if 3 pound out of 10 goes do u think thats not worth it? espically considering whow far 3 miles can go in these places

Seems pretty accurate to me.

Dont give money...give your time. more rewarding.

To charity work from 9.30am to 1pm on Saturday mornings for St Lukes Hospice in their Furniture and Electronics Charity shop. Lots of lifting and moving sh0t around but rewarding.

also my solicitor says its good pre emptive community service incase i lamp someone in the street.

Someone has to fund these expensive London headquarters & six figure executive salaries.

historically when there is a recession , charities are the first to suffer . as they say , charity begins at home .

What a depressing thread...full of selfish saddos who have managed to rationalise their way out of donating to anything...oh, except for our brave boys fighting in Iraq, they can have a few bob...good work as ever, lads.

No need for that, duncan.

^Agreed. Nothing worse than the "I don't give to charities abroad" brigade. Let's be honest about it, the poorest person in the UK is still better off than millions abroad.

i give £50 a month via charity giving thru my payroll .
I see it as a bit of a freeby as my company also give 25% (12.50) and i dont pay tax on it (this tax on the £50 would cost me about £20) therefore charity gets 62.50 and it only costs me around 30 quid :)
Children 1st i give to BTW.

I'm thinking of giving to the blue waffle cause

A noble gesture, fawwon

18-17 fawwon.---- i foolishly spoke to one of them and she wanted me to set up a direct debit to sponsor a tree.-- lucky escape that was mrs money tree, imagine how much that could have cost you.could have been you that ended up needing charity.

i give cash ti charity..the whole reason behind this thread was to hopefully encouage others to do so if they can

www.royalheartgreyhoundresue.co.uk is a worthy cause :)

duncan idaho 06 Apr 20:01


What a depressing thread...full of selfish saddos who have managed to rationalise their way out of donating to anything...oh, except for our brave boys fighting in Iraq, they can have a few bob...good work as ever, lads.


Couldn't be further from the truth in my case, duncan. I think the war(s) being fought by the supposed democaratic (wafl) west are a total disgrace. I donate regularly to various charities, usually cancer ones. If I see a link on here I always give a fiver or tenner. I always donate to DEC appeals.

I know how hard it is to find what % of donations reach the cause as I looked long and hard to find the most efficient charities to give regular amounts to. Knowing how difficult charities make it to find out the truth does not (imho) do them any favours whatsoever.