I usually donate to the Wetherspoons refuge for the feckless, so that they can provide shelter, warmth, and sustenance for those lost souls in need
I see it this way as long as I’m giving the people that should be giving ie the government won’t …
Dipper_Dave:
I have 4 kids and Barnados came round asking for a donation- my only reply was ’ here take two of mine’ now bugger off…
send them to mine next time Dave and they can have a couple of mine as well
Personally I won’t give a penny to any charity that is focussed outside the UK.
I am an avid supporter of our local Air Ambulance. I’m in their lottery and if I ever win it’s donated back to them, I have a standing order for then out the bank and if I pay cash for anything and there’s a charity box for Air Ambulance they get my change. If there isn’t an air ambulance box I ask why not.
RNLi get a standing order and so do the BRITISH Red Cross as their work is UK Focussed.
I have no problem with the save the Ooga Booga charities but I’ve not giving them my money
The Biggest single problem with charities is admin costs
I think its Oxfam have admin cost of 70% so in reality very little actually goes to the cause.
The Rnli has the lowest admin cost iirc something like 5% so a good worthwhile cause.
their is a website that lists admin costs of all charities but im buggered if i can find it at the moment.
Muckaway:
‘…Anyone else been badgered…?’
I mostly smile, thank them, give when when instinct suggests that it’s possible & tasteful (read: un-hyped, sincere and doesn’t have the BBC behind it) then wish them well and invariably part company by mentioning that many of us are too often sufferers of compassion fatigue rather than blank the poor saps like many other ‘entrepreneurs-of-the-self’ seem to do.
Meanwhile, is it good taste that UK society evidently appears to arguably overvalue ‘children’ of too often ill-bred, valueless half-wits - as if the rest of UK humanity (including the many grey-faced, sad, disaffected & disenfranchised) is ‘naturally’ less worthy of care/love/consideration/help/respect, etc too 
Crudely, and to get their needs met, how are charities to effectively overcome Governmental/EU/lefty propaganda and its inherent and otherwise sponsored God-lessness
Gimmicks via annual and overwhelmingly cloying radio & TV Amusathons perhaps 
PS Only an initial £10 million to help the Phillipines, whist giving £53 million per day to Brussels is a disgrace 
So that’s 10 million plus countless billions that should be kept in the UK.
dar1976:
‘…So that’s 10 million plus countless billions that should be kept in the UK…’
I’m not wholly for ‘Fortress UK’ but believe that the UK’s island inheritance and wealth of capitol should be better utilised, appreciated, understood and built upon 
Tipper Tom:
I am an avid supporter of our local Air Ambulance. I’m in their lottery and if I ever win it’s donated back to them, I have a standing order for then out the bank and if I pay cash for anything and there’s a charity box for Air Ambulance they get my change. If there isn’t an air ambulance box I ask why not.
I’m very much in favour of the air ambulance but I was reading a leaflet from north west air ambulance saying it costs over £4 million each year to operate yet they receive ‘little to no’ government support which I think is a complete scandal. This is a service that can get people from a north west location to the nearest hospital in ten minutes, how does this kind of emergency assistance not have more government backing? £4 million?North west health authorities probably waste more than that in a year!!
That said…if the government was involved it would probably be 8 million because of the mountain of paperwork and red tape!!!
KarlM:
Tipper Tom:
I am an avid supporter of our local Air Ambulance. I’m in their lottery and if I ever win it’s donated back to them, I have a standing order for then out the bank and if I pay cash for anything and there’s a charity box for Air Ambulance they get my change. If there isn’t an air ambulance box I ask why not.I’m very much in favour of the air ambulance but I was reading a leaflet from north west air ambulance saying it costs over £4 million each year to operate yet they receive ‘little to no’ government support which I think is a complete scandal. This is a service that can get people from a north west location to the nearest hospital in ten minutes, how does this kind of emergency assistance not have more government backing? £4 million?North west health authorities probably waste more than that in a year!!
That said…if the government was involved it would probably be 8 million because of the mountain of paperwork and red tape!!!
The only government funded helicopter medical services is HEMS in London and they only need a helicopter because the road system is such an abortion.
There was a time when tasking the air ambulance was the preference because it cost the NHS less than a land ambulance as the NHS only pay the technician and the paramedic everyone else is paid by the charity
bazza123:
I hear stories about the RSPCA which have influenced my decision to never donate to them.
In case anyone doesn’t know, the RSPCA centres are run as seperate charities to the main RSPCA central fund. So if your gripe is with the legal aspect or how they turn up and collect animals, you can still give to the local shelters that need to provide food and a bed.
The thing I dislike about the big charity drives is they have an impact on the smaller charities that already struggle, if I’m giving, it’s to one that struggles more to raise its profile.
holliefabbabe:
Last year i had a numpty dressed as a bear stand infront of me in nottingham, hes pals were begging , i told him to ■■■■ off or i would run him over ,
A Bear you say … hmmmmm
I cant remember the figure , but terry wogans fee for doing children in need was in a newspaper a few years back, it was a LOT! . ive never given since . I`m quite happy to give a donation to the R.N.L.I. I live on the coast and my nephew is a crew member .
I think I remember the furore about Wogan. He was paid the BBC, not the actual charity…not that that’s ok mind!
Apparently, Pudsey Bear turned a blind eye when Saville was abusing kids.
Muckaway:
Apparently, Pudsey Bear turned a blind eye when Saville was abusing kids.
after all the years you would think its eye would heal
bazza123:
It would have been in about 2003.I think people forget about PQ17 and the others. We’re still moving a hell of a lot by sea now aren’t we, although our own flagged vessels have dropped considerably in number haven’t they?
my grandfather was RN and served on ■■■■■■ warships on the arctic convoys to murmansk and archangel -he was RN to the core(joined when he was fifteen) and he bloody hated the arctic convoys…