Thursday 24 April 2014

Charity

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You're probably going to think I'm a massive bitch but I can't be the only person who, from time to time, gets sick of charity people. First and foremost I totally support what the majority of charities do. The generosity of the people who donate warms my heart and leaves my jaw on the floor at times. The story of Stephen Sutton is one that has touched tens of thousands of people and encouraged them to donate to the Teenage Cancer charity, fantastic. The fact that over £1 million was raised in a day is amazing and he is such an inspirational guy, combined with the fact that you are hard pushed to find someone who hasn't been effected by Cancer in some way or another, it is not surprising that so many people have donated. 

A couple of weeks ago there was the 'make up free selfie', again it was amazing how much money it raised from the power of social media, before that it was Sport Relief and no doubt there was something else again before that. We turn on our tv's/computers/tablets/mobile phones and charity is everywhere. You want to walk down the high street of your local town/city and charity is once again everywhere. Every twenty feet there is someone in a bright coloured top, armed with a clip board, trying to get your attention, tugging at your emotions to get your money. As I said before, I understand why they do this but does it ever stop? Will I ever be able to just walk down the street without being pestered by someone or another who wants me to sign up to 'just £5 a month'. Every week there is a different charity, every day there is a different cause in the media, everyday I made to feel guilty because I simply cannot donate to all of them. And then there are the charity workers who tell you that their charity is more important than the ones you already donate to. How bloody dare they tell me who is more important to me? I have the choice to donate or not, and who I might choose to donate to, I will not be made to feel like I need to justify that to anybody. 

I have three charities that I give a monthly donation to and I regularly donate items to number of charity shops, and buy things from them. I do my bit and give as much as I can afford. I'm getting to the point where I am avoiding the likes of Facebook because my feed is clogged with people asking for money, photos that are designed to make you sad, and they really do. It impacts on my day and to be honest makes me feel depressed. Then I feel bad for those who don't have social media to spread awareness and raise £1m in a day. The children in Africa who die every day because there is no clean water, they just come and go and no one even knows they existed. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is have we got charity wrong? Has it become too much of a competition? Whoever shouts the loudest gets the most money and sod the rest of them? And will I ever be able to walk down the street in peace again?

Thank you for bearing with my rant.

Sarah
xx

2 comments:

  1. I know what you mean, it makes me feel guilty when I see all those post on FB. I give to Comic Relief & animal charities & that's it! I can't afford to give to everyone. As I now work for a charity my wage is really poor but I feel I'm doing my bit! On the other side it's hard not to feel passionate about your charity & want to help raise money..... I'm planning on doing a few sponsored events later this year, you've been warned!!! Sorry :( xx

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    1. Nooo don't apologise. I'm all for charity shops and events etc, it's just when you can't even walk down the street on your lunch break without feeling like you need to cross the road every 30 seconds to avoid someone who wants your bank details, and if you walk past them you immediately feel guilty for not stopping. I'd also like to be able to log on to Facebook for one day and just see happy posts, I can dream anyway. xx

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