Comic Relief - do you give?

raq

Doomcow wrote: »

as a rule i dont give to charity. id rather do something (give my time) to a local charity or similar (help out the old guy down the street kinda thing).

also, i pay my taxes, this government gives aid, do i really need to give more? if we did pay higher taxes, sorted ourselves out and then focused on aiding people with the knowledge and tools to improve their standard of wellbeing in a gradual basis, then we'd root out poverty, illness, etc from the base up.

My mum has said this for years and do you know what , she is absolutely right. I purchased 2 red noses in sainsburys on thursday for the kids so the way i look at it I've done my bit.

Sounds awful and i couldn't watch comic relief last night but they put things on the t.v. to get us upset and this country is also in a bit of a mess. Not everybody can give even £1.00.

Charity begins at home, harsh I know but true.

medman

Horace wrote: »

I havent bothered watching comic relief and I refuse to give them a donation because only 40% of the money raised is used in the UK, the remaining 60% goes to Africa....Africa is a huge money pit, no matter what money is poured in there nothing changes.

I have to say this is one of the most ill-informed posts I have seen here. I assume you haven't been to Africa. I can assure you that very very small amounts of money make a huge difference. Donating to an air ambulance while children die of diarrhoea is an interesting contrast.

I do hope your post doesn't discourage others from giving to Africa, a continent that has been exploited for centuries for it's natural resources (and people) by the "developed" world and we have a duty of care which we simply do not discharge.

To withhold money because you don't think it makes any difference is very disappointing.

MM

Buffythedebtslayer

I do, not much but I sponsor people and what not,

I work on the theory that it makes a difference to that starfish? as in the story about when the tide goes out there were hundreds of star fish left stranded on the beach, and one bloke was picking them up and throwing them back in to the water, someone asked him why - he wasn't making any difference - there were too many and he said well it makes a difference to that one (the one he just put back)

so maybe it will make a difference to one kid somewhere and its better then nothing.

xx

[Deleted User]

I have been to Africa and found certain areas an eye-opening experience, going through a town on a small rickety bus looking at the kids, shack houses and rubbish everywhere. The kids would tell you they are wanting to be a doctor, just so you will give them money, others would eye up your jewellery (day 2 I removed everything!).
We visited a village where it was exactly like what you see on the tv - very poor people. We were told to give them material things, like pens/paper, clothing rather than money, as they will just get robbed or not know what to do with it.
When I see Comic Relief in Africa, it reminds me of my visit. I would rather see my money buy material things, like the Mosquito nets and actually see a program deliver these goods to the people who need them. To be fair we don't see where any of our money goes. Africa is a bottom-less pit when it comes to money. I will never donate a large amount until they can tell us where our £5/£10 actually goes.
This year I donated through my little girl at her school as they were doing various activities. She got to enjoy the day and we contributed to Comic Relief.
I still think there should be an end to world poverty though, it's crazy the way some people have to live compared to others.

kaz665

As I've got quite a bit of debt at the moment I restricted myself to a few pound to buy a nose and sponsor some guys getting their heads shaved at our local youth club. Mind you I did agree to have wet sponges chucked at me by the kids whilst I was in stocks and got a bit more than I bargained for when I ended up with 4 buckets of water thrown over me too!! :eek:

I think a little bit of effort for charity goes a long way if you can't manage to make a donation. We raised over £200 just in a couple of hours and the kids had loads of fun (and us adults too). :T

Deep_In_Debt

I only give a couple of quid through work for a dress down day and games etc. I give to a couple of local, small charities and donate and buy a lot from charity shops.

Like others, I'd like to see where my money goes. I don't think it will ever get any better in Africa. I have a relative who works as a doctor in Africa dealing with Aids patients; the problem seems to be getting worse and not better.

Triker

Controversial opinion I know but this year in particular I had great trouble watching multi millionaires asking Joe Public for money. As usual it will be those who do not have that much spare cash who will no doubt give, proportionately, the most.

Comic relief for me became too controversial re their films and I ended up switching off when the 'Africa' films came on, mainly because my 12 year old was getting so upset and wanted to give all her pocket money to help 'dying babies'.

Obviously I have no problem with showing humanity in action but this wasn't, it felt to me it was an all out 'shock fest' to get more donations.

What I would like to know, as a contributor and a viewer, is where the previous money has gone, do the governments of these particular countries participate and stop their corrupt officials taking the aid, medicine and food?

I'm not saying that I don't agree with the concept, I just feel that Comic Relief went too far in their 'laugh NOW cry', set up.

I gave, I always do and will no doubt continue to do so but I give because I want to and like to make informed choices with my money, I do not appreciate the whole 'guilt trip' effect, that's all.

After all, I'm not stupid, I know that charity is Big Business and all those 'celebs' careers won't suffer.

Spendaholic_Chick

I only give a little bit -DS took some money for non uniform day and I entered a competition on Radio 1.

To be honest, I don't like Comic Relief or Children in Need. I suport a local charity that buys equipment for and supports research into children's heart problems in our local hospital, where my son had open heart surgery aged 18 days old. It annoys me that so much money goes abroad when we have so much suffering here.

Toffee_Penny

Triker I think your post pretty much sums up how I felt too.

staffie1

No don't give anything. Well, actually I do and we all do, in the form of high taxes (soon to be higher to pay off all this debt the country is in). A significant amount is given to overseas countries in various forms of aid. That, for a country the size and wealth of ours should be sufficient, and I don't feel any guilt or obligation to 'do my bit' because I've been doing my bit for a long time. We've problems enough here - more than enough.

Out of interest, do other countries have a "red nose day" / equivalent? (Germany, France, Spain, Italy, China, Japan, USA, Australia)?