It’s Christmas (almost) and charities have hired the likes of Bill Nighy, Dougray Scott and Michael Sheen to bring to our attention the plight of refugee children and their need for clean water, warm clothes, blankets and food.
In advert breaks, we see Christmas goodies available from various supermarkets, special offers on beers and spirits, perfume and after shave ads, jewellery, a selection of lottery tickets for sale, loans (some at extortionate interest rates) and gambling under the guise of on-line Bingo.
The magic number for charity donations is £3.
Compared to the price of everything else as advertised in these breaks, this is not very much.
And it’s not, for a single donation.
But in some instances, if not all, it is a request for a committment to send £3 every month.
We tried to give some money to The Samaritans representative in the supermarket foyer yesterday, but he said he couldn’t take it as he was handing out mandates for setting up regular Direct Debit payments.
As a number cruncher and I like to think a good money manager, when I know exactly how much is coming in, budgets are easier to plan and execute. Charities are no different.
These are a few of the requests for ‘Just Three Pounds’ and what it can do that are being run through our TV channels at the moment:
Oxfam, Unicef, Save the Children: calls for donations in order to send hats, thermal gloves, clothes, food, medicines, means to purify water, with our Government matching donations made in December.
Sense: a sensory toy for a deaf and blind child.
For animal lovers
WWF are running separate appeals for the Snow Leopard, Tiger and Polar Bear (all with promises of a cuddly toy with your introductory pack, though I don’t understand why as it’s a waste of valuable resources).
Except it’s not ‘Just Three Pounds’. It’s the promise of regular support.
pensitivity101 
That’s happening here too but they are asking for more than that each month. I understand why they do that but I’d rather give on my schedule.
Me too. I used to give regularly to the WWF but never got any of the promised newsletters. When I lost my job and cancelled my subscription, I got a letter wanting to know why four days after the first missed ‘payment’. We give what we can when we can, and the amount of stuff we gave to charity shops is unbelievable. We gave one outlet CSI seasons 1 to 9, which they sold as a job lot for £75. It went ten minutes after they’d put it in the window!
There’s a lot of giving other than money.
Being an ex-Samaritans “customer” (it’s a long story), I can highly endorse any drive on their part for donations. They provide an invaluable service and, in my case, they totally changed my perspective on so many aspects of life. For the many people that I have impacted over the years, it was my experience with Samaritans that started it all.
They are indeed unsung heroes, they and the call takers at Childline. Hubby had dealings with the Salvation Army and we always put our shrapnel coins in their bucket on market days.
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