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[Annie0710]

Have you heard about the 92 year old charity worker who has ended her life because of being hounded by charities, the poor lady's family found TWENTY SEVEN direct debits leaving her bank each month for various ones

It gives charity a very bad name, and that lady gave her time free of charge each year selling poppies

So sad :-(


Annie

[Greyhoundgal]

I just heard that today Annie, Jeremy Vine was doing a section on it on his lunchtime Radio 2 show.  So sad, she was getting into debt with it all so cancelled them all then got so many calls and letters they think she took her own life 

[Joyce]

Goodness what a shame. That's very sad indeed.

[Dorothy]

Have you heard about the 92 year old charity worker who has ended her life because of being hounded by charities, the poor lady's family found TWENTY SEVEN direct debits leaving her bank each month for various ones

That makes me so angry.  It's why I take such a strong line with 'pushy' charities.  I know several people who can't afford to give more who end up sending off money because they feel guilty.  I am especially upset by the 'free' (and unwanted) gifts of coasters, pens, address labels, notelets etc that some charities send.  Many people feel obliged to send money to 'pay' for these unwanted items.  It especially targets the elderly, who are least likely to have the spare cash and most likely to feel guilty about accepting something without paying for it.  It may be unusual for someone to take their own life over this, but what about those who don't turn on the heating when they should or who don't eat enough because they have been bullied into giving their money away and so can't afford to pay for basic necessities. 

Someone once asked me to sign up to pay £8 pm to a children's charity and when I said I couldn't afford it (I had £15 a week to live on!), I was told I didn't care about children!  No, I do care about children very much,  I just don't believe it's right to go into debt, even to donate to charity.

[Ju Ju]

I donate to chosen charities on a monthly basis, but find the regular requests/demands on increasing my contributions from one of the charities, annoying and insulting. I won't be bullied by doorstep charities or on the street, but happily fill charity envelopes. Collecting envelopes can be a thankless task. I donate my time in a voluntary capacity and will be going on a further course so I will have more expertise. Time is money and I can give that more easily than money.

[dazned]

I just say sorry I work for one ,which I do .

they soo shut up then ! try it .

[babyjane]

I support charities that are relevant to me. Water Aid because I am thankful for running water and a flush toilet, Sightsavers because I value my sight and access to optical treatment.  I  have to say that since signing up to these two charities I have not had one single communication from either of them asking me to increase my support which I appreciate. In fact I recently contacted them both to increase my monthly support and they were both surprised and pleased that I was offering more without being asked.  I will stick with them for this reason, they are not grasping. 

A charity that my husband chooses to support regularly used to send out letters and make telephone calls asking for further support until he contacted them and threatened to withdraw the support he does give if they didn't stop.  He has heard nothing since.

I once responded to an appeal asking for £2 a month for a charity. They called me back and I was told that 'the usual amount that people chose to give was £8.  I replied that the appeal had asked for £2 and was told that £2 was not enough to do much with.  I decided not to support them after all 

[GeordieGirl]

I choose a charity each year for a monthly subscription and try and ensure it's not one where 80% of donations are spent on administration, promotion and chuggers.  In between I regularly donate by text to major appeals but even this leaves a bad taste as after a UNICEF donation I received no less than 25 calls off them in the next 3-4 days asking for more. I eventually had to contact them on Twitter to appeal to them to stop.  Nowadays I tend to favour smaller charities who don't spend hundreds of thousands on call centres or hard sell salesmen.

It's so sad to hear of the pensioner who commit suicide - and I guess she's not the only one hounded in this way.  Unfortunately our generosity and our consciences are in danger of being exploited so much that it will end up having the opposite long term effect and more will say no.
GG x

[CLKD]

Sadly a 90+ old lady killed herself recently due to being hounded.  My point on UK Charities is this: I DO NOT want to fund the Chairman's Company Car    when I heard recently that the Church of England has over £B80 in shares etc.; and having read the 'company' accounts for various UK Charities and seen how much is NOT invested in dog kennels, extra staff, extra Vet services but goes towards 

I prefer to buy an apparently homeless person a cup of coffee and a bun if I see them on the street. DH is less charitable - he walks by. 

Also, if a Charity out sources it's work i.e. to fill envelopes requesing yet more monies from the public, this has to be funded, the people who walk round are 'volunteers', we get 3/4 charity bags per week …… all taken round by volunteers ……. I probably have over 100 of those bags sitting around, sometimes I put a whole load into 1 bag and hand into our nearest shop for re-use 

[CLKD]

Another 'on my soapbox' moment.

We went into the local RSPCA shop for a browse, on the counter was a request for funding to do surgery on a 'stray' cat that had been in an accident.  The request is for £2,000.  Well if the cat requires surgery then it won't be able to wait until the amount is raised.  Many animal rescue charities don't put a 'healthy animal down' but this particular cat ain't healthy!

Surely this is above and beyond what the Charity is about?  That money should be readily available if their Annual Accounts are anything to go by  . 

Had it been worded i.e. 'your support has enabled us to give emergency treatment to …… '   

[getting_old]

A few weeks ago a lady turned up on the doorstep on a Sunday afternoon and said she was collecting for a cancer charity. She had no identification and just pointed to her daffodil lapel pin. She just said she was collecting, but didn't say what so seemed surprised when I asked her what it was she was collecting. She said money, so I said No, mainly because I didn't want to give money to a strange woman who turned up with nothing to confirm she was actually representing a charity.
I have a couple of charities that I support, and I will sponsor people who do something (walk, run, etc.) but I will never sign up to the chuggers or random callers as I think it should be up to the individual to choose when and what they give.

[CLKD]

Agreed!

[breeze]

I never give to the RSPCA.  They have pots of money and waste loads prosecuting people they shouldn't.

I prefer small charities that are not run as businesses, such as the major NGOs.  Do give to MFS though.

[CLKD]

I'm mercenary but object to that particular play on peoples' feelings  .  I don't think that many realise that Annual Accoutns can be ordered or read on line.

[Dorothy]

I won't donate to any appeal that uses emotional blackmail.  My pet hate is the one that says 'cancer doesn't care if you put this in the bin'.  I'm afraid those ones always go STRAIGHT in recycling.  And I had another one last month from a homeless charity with a headline that implied if you didn't read & donate you didn't care about the homeless. 

Breeze, like you, I prefer the smaller charities - they seem to make the money go further and they don't push people to give what they can't afford.