[Ballbag]

They're used to be a really nice one who all the girls on our school bus flirted with and then he randomly disappeared.

Think maybe because he broke the bus window after driving through a really small village and a branch hit the bus and cracked it.

Perhaps he took the flirting to the next level and got busted by the police for underage rudies.

[Yudster]

If we all made the effort we could just go round the houses and say, yep you look poor, no you're smug you cant have any. How do I know you're not just drunk for the night and not homeless?? Oi, ryanair, how much to africa? 3p? Right, yer on, I wanna see these people, right you're at deaths door there yer go, you just smiled and waved at me, and I saw you running around just before, get to the back of the queue.

Obviously this is not possible I do believe that comic relief does brilliant stuff in Africa but I also believe in the concept of knowing your community, giving money to somebody who needs it but you dont know them (they live round the corner from you ffs) seems a bit hollow, its your doorstep. Theres this place over the road from me, I'd bore myself to tears if I was a regular but maybe I should attend this churchy type place and get to know what sort of people (mainly families and stuff) go there, just a thought, at this point, but I'll put it on my to do list, its up there with eco friendly ideas and phoning my auntie up *ponders*

I have NO idea what you just said...! I can't work out if you are saying giving to charity is right or wrong, or charity begins at home, or giving to local charities is bad, or Comic Relief is great, or Comic Relief is bad, or flying to Africa for next to nothing is imoral (it is, you know), or charity is the same as christianity (it isn't, you know), or that you really don't want to talk to your auntie (in which case, don't). But I enjoyed reading it.

[Yudster]

I have been thinking about a very specific type of charity - sponsoring a child. I can't decide whether its a good use of money or not - it makes a very visible difference, but only for one person, whereas giving to a cause which is involved in a project, your money is a drop in a very big bucket. But maybe that bucket is more important overall. Its a bit of a dilemma.

[pjordan2000]

I have regualar donation direct debit stylee thing for NSPCC. That and Cancer Research UK are the only charities i believe in. I'll be honest, i don't hugely support Cancer Research, i do the odd 10k run here and there but NSPCC i do try my best with.

[Yudster]

NSPCC are my largest donation too. There are a couple of specific projects abroad I contribute to, one in Iraq, one in Gambia. But the NSPCC is the main one.

[pjordan2000]

Yeah i just see it as the children can't protect themselves and they can't help what happens to them. Its just the one i've always believed in

[pjordan2000]

Yeah i think thats with all the main charities though, alot of them spend a lot on advertising but i thought tv adverts were free for charities?

[pjordan2000]

I mite be wrong, but i always thought that they were because they go on for so long some of them and i thought that they would be very expensive otherwise

[SAV1OUR]

Once read a Richard Littlejohn article on that my good Charlal, and it was going on about how he refuses to support them and their paperclips dept. Satellite channel advertising is the number one priority, they're on a par with injury claims now fund raising, think Lord Levy and Bliar, its a similar thing isnt it? Except they're charity and whatever money they get should not all be spent on putting a name out there thats already there, they're well known. Also 'celebrity charity events are very common, soap stars turn up to 'some event' where some charity is competing (like we did for the rallyoke tickets) in a sea of organisations wanting a tiny slice of the cake and exposure.

So good on you for having a direct debit. Just had a letter from RNID, they're getting desperate apparently, the helpline needs funding. But to be honest what I'm generally saying is that these high profile charities are housed in very nice buildings and employ paper clip departments, I just think they should be more hands on with their work.

[pjordan2000]

i'm afraid i turn over too. Wait a few minutes and then turn back again.

[SAV1OUR]

NSPCC, the sad music the crying kid, how do you get a kid to cry? Thats slow motion for you. I'm surprised there isnt a charity for slow motion that seems to be what tugs peoples strings. Fetch out the violins, darken the picture, maybe a bit of sepia and thats your office leccy bill paid for fer another year. Advertising on telly doesnt help kids, it just helps charity. Now charity has to tell me what its doing, and where, Comic Relief does this well, the info provided on the DVD this year along with nice snow patrol music was very effective in my eye, because they're showing you rather than filming kids pretending to be upset, its just not real ultimately.

[pjordan2000]

Its just not summin alot of us wana see. If we want to donate, we will. Apologies if i insult anybody

[SAV1OUR]

Its just not summin alot of us wana see. If we want to donate, we will. Apologies if i insult anybody

Yeah, why spend lots on fancy 're-enacted' abuse scenes, I'm all for a big campaign on terrestrial, but these NSPCC ones on The Hits and TMF never seem to leave. I say scrap the fancy filming studios, enough of the play-acting and start telling us what it is you actually do, before our eyes I mean.

[pjordan2000]

Yeah more of a long term help than a "Look what we've done for them" short fix

[Ballbag]

*Prepares for "quote-a-thon III - Quote with a vengeance"*

But to be honest what I'm generally saying is that these high profile charities are housed in very nice buildings and employ paper clip departments, I just think they should be more hands on with their work.

I think you'll probably find that there is alot of hands on work going on in the background, it's just you don't see it because you're not out there. You can't just give the money and expect it to go straight to the source of the need, you need what you call "paperclip departments" in these large charities.

NSPCC, the sad music the crying kid, how do you get a kid to cry?

I don't think it's forced most of the time.

Advertising on telly doesnt help kids, it just helps charity.

....... and the charity in turn helps the kids.

Now charity has to tell me what its doing, and where,

You only need to check their web-sites to see what they're doing, or perhaps give them a ring yourself?

Yeah, why spend lots on fancy 're-enacted' abuse scenes, I'm all for a big campaign on terrestrial, but these NSPCC ones on The Hits and TMF never seem to leave. I say scrap the fancy filming studios, enough of the play-acting and start telling us what it is you actually do, before our eyes I mean.

It's these shock tactics that inevitably get people to part with their cash. It's more effective than saying what they do. (which I imagine would cost as much as the "studio work" as you put it, although I still think this cost is relatively minimal.) If, as you say, they tell you what they do, it might give out an air of "we're doing ok for cash, look at what we do", whereas what they need to get across is "give us some more money for kids like this".

I believe in Comic Relief for the reasons Mr Saviour has listed but also because rather than use the money to buy food or water for the people in Africa, they use the money to actually build wells or a tap or to build a school to help educate the children so that have a future. That is what charity should be really. To help people to help themselves rather than just help them for now.

I can't help but wonder how some of your minds work, you think that comic relief is the only charity that is building wells, or installing taps, and that all of the other charities just "buy water", I think you're very misinformed charlalottie. The phrase "give a man a meal and he'll feed his family, teach him how to hunt and he'll feed his family for a lifetime" is not exclusive to Comic Relief, all charities operate in this way.

Finally, although Comic relief is a charity as such, what it actually does is collect all of the monies raised by us public, and distribute it to other charities world wide so that they may carry out their charitable works.

So you can't really compare the "hand's on" work that it does with other charities, because in away Comic Relief does not really do any hand's on work.

*Bfb rests.......leans back in his chair.......... and promptly topples over*

[Aled]

Once read a Richard Littlejohn article on that my good Charlal, and it was going on about how he refuses to support them and their paperclips dept. Satellite channel advertising is the number one priority, they're on a par with injury claims now fund raising, think Lord Levy and Bliar, its a similar thing isnt it? Except they're charity and whatever money they get should not all be spent on putting a name out there thats already there, they're well known. Also 'celebrity charity events are very common, soap stars turn up to 'some event' where some charity is competing (like we did for the rallyoke tickets) in a sea of organisations wanting a tiny slice of the cake and exposure.

So good on you for having a direct debit. Just had a letter from RNID, they're getting desperate apparently, the helpline needs funding. But to be honest what I'm generally saying is that these high profile charities are housed in very nice buildings and employ paper clip departments, I just think they should be more hands on with their work.

As for as Comic Relief goes: "In order to run itself in a professional and effective way Comic Relief incurs necessary significant costs. Raising funds, making grants and organisational overheads cost real money. Despite these costs, Comic Relief is still able to promise that for every pound the charity gets directly from the public a pound goes to helping transform the lives of people living with poverty and social injustice. If Red Nose Day raises £50 million, Comic Relief will spend at least £50 million doing just that. It can make this promise because its operating budget is covered in cash or in kind from all types of supporters like corporate sponsors and donors, suppliers, generous individuals and government (including Gift Aid) as well as from investment income and interest."

[SAV1OUR]

Well what do I know then! Sat on my sofa, lazy get that I am, swearing at the telly.

*Saviour collapses in a heap on the floor, stamps both his fists, starts gibbering, uttering obscenities incoherrently, then crawls up into a ball, shudders, as though to die*

*Saviour then reaches for the phone and dials Samaritans, who promptly tell him to F*** Off!*

[Ballbag]

Bore da Aled.

[Yudster]

Why do people think Comic Relief is a chrity? Like Mr Bag said, it is an organisation which collects money which it then distributes to charities - which you can contribute to directly if you prefer. I do.

[SAV1OUR]

Can I just go out and admire the fresh air please, your theory about Spring is better, the washing up is overrated, plus its done now, and I've had to hide the Fairy from my view for my benefit, its for the best, all things considered. Right, wheres my coat..

[Ballbag]

Thank you Yudyud, a voice or reason as always...... and a peachy bum to boot.

*Bfb winks............ (that's winks everybody... winks) *

[Yudster]

How come when you agree with me I have a peachy bum, but when you don't agree with me I have a whiskery chin?! Oh I don't care, I love you anyway.

[Ballbag]

Loves you too Yudyud, now swing that peach around here..................... *SLAP*. Off you go toots.

[Yudster]

I'm definitely coming back here.

[Zoot]

...