Cancer Research

Take_it_like_a_man,_sonny

ThumbRemote wrote: »

Why do you keep referencing John Lydon? If he's said something worthwhile, post it here. But I fail to see why he is any more of an expert on charities than anyone else.

Ok then, what he says and mentions and does, is that Celebs do not do it for their own good, but for their own gaze and publicity. Buy Sky Arts and watch for yourself, you will be enlightened at his thoughts on the subject. We alkl remember a certain TV Celeb on CIN who took a £10,000 salary for hosting the event?

BBC

ThumbRemote wrote: »

Charities advertise to raise more money. Are you saying that you'd prefer them not to advertise, therefore raise less money, and be less effective? Again, your logic makes no sense.

Companies also advertise to make profit, there is no disctinction between them at all, both are the same. A company plays on peoples greed when they advertise, a charity needs suffering to survive.

ThumbRemote wrote: »

Is all this a long way of you justifying your own selfishness? Because that's what it sounds like.

I am not selfish, I know a lot of people myself who have suffered from cancer, from my Mother, father, friends and even my own wife, they feel the same about cancer charities as I do. That is not being selfish, that is a choice, the same choice that you have to call me selfish. You note I thank you for your comments as a courtosy, and respond respectfully to your comments.

dickydonkin

Take_it_like_a_man,_sonny wrote: »

A company plays on peoples greed when they advertise, a charity needs suffering to survive.

Wouldn't it be fantastic if the jobs of those who work for the likes of Cancer Research, Marie Curie, BHF etc. were redundant due to not requiring their services anymore because cancer and heart disease had been completely eradicated?

In the real world of course, we will need the research, development and care of such charities well into the foreseeable future.

Rather than state that a charity needs suffering to survive, I would suggest that pain and suffering brings out the best in human nature to allow people less fortunate than us to survive.

Take_it_like_a_man,_sonny

dickydonkin wrote: »

Wouldn't it be fantastic if the jobs of those who work for the likes of Cancer Research, Marie Curie, BHF etc. were redundant due to not requiring their services anymore because cancer and heart disease had been completely eradicated?

Yes it would, and my father thought that when his wife died of cancer when I was young. He thought that if he gave money to them, there would be this miracle cure.

When he died thrty years later, there was not this miracle cure.

Ten years on, there is still no miracle sure, only the fact I have seen most of the women in my life get cance, some were caught early, some suffered chemo, some died.

And heart disease, a cure for that would also be wonderful, but alas to say I am glad I keeled over at work in February, pacemaker fitted, becasue I could have been driving home. So personal it is, it does not change my thought one bit.

milliemonster

You cannot honestly think that cancer survival rates and treatments have not improved at all over the last 30 years? thirty years ago we had no herceptin, without cancer research this drug would not have given me an extra 5 years with my mum before I lost her 4 years ago.

dickydonkin

Take_it_like_a_man,_sonny wrote: »

Yes it would, and my father thought that when his wife died of cancer when I was young. He thought that if he gave money to them, there would be this miracle cure.

When he died thrty years later, there was not this miracle cure.

Ten years on, there is still no miracle sure, only the fact I have seen most of the women in my life get cance, some were caught early, some suffered chemo, some died.

And heart disease, a cure for that would also be wonderful, but alas to say I am glad I keeled over at work in February, pacemaker fitted, becasue I could have been driving home. So personal it is, it does not change my thought one bit.

I can understand your feelings, but if you look back at your post, you made references to chemo and pacemekers - both of which were unheard of years ago but due to advances in technology and research, these were developed and are improving all the time. Research and development assisted by donations.

You suggested that due to your condition, your life has not changed one bit - but I would suggest that if you 'keeled over' with the same problem years ago - you would very likely be dead - but thanks to the pacemeker, you are still here.

There may never be a miracle cure for two of the biggest killers you referred to, but the same was very likely said about Polio and other diseases that have to all intents and purposes been eradicated with many other nasty ailments controlled.

Your Dads donations would have helped - but research into fighting and treating cancer will be a long drawn out war for many years to come and a lot of ground has been won - and with the help of our donations, many more battles will be won in the future.

ThumbRemote

It's fairly obvious from their posts that 'Take it like a man, sonny' is the sort of person that doesn't intend to give to charity under any circumstances, and is just looking for reasons to justify themselves.

Take_it_like_a_man,_sonny

I do give to charity, but they are personal, and I always use gift aid to make the money go further. Just that I do not give to some charities that I feel are not worthy, through experience and choice.

As for dad's donations, he felt let down that he had lost his wife, but also feared that all his trouble in raising awareness was wasted and did not want to see us waste our time and effort.

eilidh_s

When I was a student about ten years ago, the best paid "student" jobs were being one of these charity Nazi's that try and stop you in the middle of the street and guilt you into giving money. When I found out that these people were being paid it put me off a lot of charities. I always volunteer to do charity work, the very fact that it is for a charity should mean that payment is not expected.

I understand that the bigger charities need organisation and the only way to make that happen is to offer a paid job but quite frankly I feel the people out on the street should be volunteers.

inaneswine

I’m fairly new to this forum. In fact, this is only my third post, though I’ve been a moneysavingexpert for a few years now. I haven't read every inch of this thread all the way through, but I felt I should say something here.

I work as a door-to-door charity fundraiser myself. I’ve worked on behalf of several different charities, such as Macmillan, Cancer Research, Save the Children, NSPCC, Marie Curie and AICR. I am not commission only, unlike some companies. I am paid an hourly rate, plus bonuses for performing well.

One person commented that if you sign up to a Direct Debit (DD), the charity doesn’t see any money for two years. This is so hideously untrue. On average, for every £1 raised, 80p goes to doing the work, 10p goes on admin which makes everything run properly, and the other 10p goes on future fundraising, e.g. flyers, TV adverts, websites and people like me. And that 10p makes another £1.


Many charities have found this to be the most effective methods of fundraising. Flyers and leaflets get thrown away. TV adverts get skipped (thanks to Sky+), billboards get walked past. With door-to-door, people actually get the benefit of speaking to a live representative of the charity.


I am also surprised at how many people simply don’t understand how a DD works. It is literally the safest way of giving. We don’t go around asking for pin numbers and security codes etc. If someone does ask you for these on the door in relation to a DD, phone the police immediately, as they are fraudulent. The only numbers they should be asking for is a sort-code and account number, which are unsecure, and are found on the bottom of a cheque that you might give to anyone.


When it comes to door-to-door activity, I agree that salespeople should not visit, nor should religious bodies. However, with charity, we aren’t just a nuisance, we are actually saving people’s lives here. If you aren’t interested, feel free to say so, but please don’t be rude to us.

Gra76

I'm afraid you'll find that many people, including myself, don't feel comfortable being given a sales pitch on the doorstep. It doesn't matter what you're 'selling', whether it be dishclothes, uPVC windows, religion or charity.

Dress it up whichever way you like, the fact that you go to someone's doorstep and ask for money makes you a salesman. I'm never rude to salesmen, I know they've got a job to do just like everyone else trying to make a living, but when I have a sign up next to my door asking you not to knock on the door and it's gone 8pm, please don't ignore it and expect me to be all ears when I open the door.