...and would you like to donate £1 to charity?

[rich99]

I'm a bit dubious about charities at the best of times, mainly since I was staying next to the *charity name removed* offices at Milton Keynes and saw the type of cars that "charity workers" drive.

If I didn't think that a not inconsiderable amount of all those "only a pound"'s were going to buy and fuel some monster of a sports saloon, not forgetting all the extra layers of management that charities can afford to have as they don't pay for any of it, I may be more interested.

As it is I would rather do my research and give to causes I not only have a belief in but some knowledge of how they are run.


*Thought I better remove the name in case their highly paid team of lawyers is on the ball

[Feek]

Nope, you did the right thing. It's trying to shame you into making a donation.

I don't think it happens so much these days but a few years ago it was common practise in some cinemas to have collections passed around before the film along with some heart wrenching clip being played on the huge screen. I always thought that was an awful practise because people would feel pressurised into making a donation, especially if you're a bloke taking a girl out, you'd feel that you _had_ to put something in there else be seen as a tight-wad. I never ever did.

[Stan_Lite]

Originally Posted by Feek

especially if you're a bloke taking a girl out, you'd feel that you _had_ to put something in there else be seen as a tight-wad. I never ever did.

This is something that beggars rely on. I saw a programme on telly where the reporter was living on the streets for a week or something and one of the pieces of advice he got from other people was to target young couples as guys trying to impress girls on a date would likely be generous.

[Desmo]

I'm more than happy to give to charity...but only when it suits me. If I feel pressured in any way I'm much more likely to back away.

[Dee]

Sod that, I donate to who I want, when I want.

I have a DD set up for my chosen charity, to which I donate £10 a month. I sometimes give my change to charities outside supermarkets, its only ever a few pence.

I know the girls here will agree with me when I mention the "Race for Life" cold callers...?

[iCraig]

'In your face' charity requests do get on my nerves, especially when they get snotty at you. I donate to charity as and when I can afford it, simple as that. A year ago me and two friends queued up for what was advertised as a free 4x4 ride. When it was our turn we walked over to the jeep and climbed inside Then a snotty cow with a bucket strode up to us and said: "We ask for a small donation. It's optional but as I'm sure you'll agree, we can all afford to give to charity. I dropped a pound and 20p in (the only change I actually had on me) and she looked inside at it and said, "It's normally about £5 we receive" Cheeky bitch. My mate then shoved his change back in his pocket and said, "Forget it then, I only had two quid." She scoffed and left us alone, but it took a lot of will power not to climb back out and have it out with her. I hate people like that.

[Jonny69]

The sad thing, and I know this from personal experience when I worked in retail and we had a similar scheme, is that the shop staff will probably get a bollocking or be shamed by the upper management for not meeting their targets on this. It stinks and it used to really annoy me. The management that come up with hair-brained schemes like this must be living on another planet sometimes.