Poppy seller commits suicide

I'm afraid in this day and age it puts you off giving to charity...like so many who have written here..we have donated to a few of the "bigger" charities...and they do nothing but hound for more money...with phone calls, and letters...what a complete waste of resource money.

Some of the charities send out unnecessary and meaningless "gifts"..the Red Cross being one. I get so cross that any money I may have donated is going towards this rubbish....I bet most people bin it and that makes me sad. I donated once to RNIB and recieved a glossy magazine..must have cost thousands to produce and send out...same with Barnardos.
It does sound so bad of me to have a moan as all charities need such help, but I do wish they would stop mis-spending our donations....and stop begging.

As for the poor lady who has just died..I do believe that they found various letters from her about how she has been feeling ... she just couldn't say "no" to any begging charities and apparently had 27 direct debits on the go.....she felt completely hounded and so therefore they believe that she had suicide in mind. R.I.P lovely lady

I did not hear this, but apparently there was a young lady on the Jeremy Vine programme yesterday who worked for one of these call centres employed by charities to target people by phone. When she said to one caller who told her she already donated to a different charity:
"Oh that’s fine, I’m really sorry for bothering you, I hope everything goes well”, my supervisor came over to me and said “Why did you just let that call go? You should have kept going, you should have kept pressing her, kept pressing her”.
"I quit after two or three weeks because of the practices of where I was working and the fact they actively encouraged us to harangue people and hound them and not take no for an answer and you had certain targets to meet and if you didn’t meet those targets you’d lose your job."

Charities have contracted out marketing to these aggressive call centres and marketing companies. Data is passed from one to another and they are targeting the vulnerable.

One friend of mine, who is 80, donated by direct debit to the Red Cross, a quite reasonable monthly amount. However, she was targeted by one of these cold callers who tried to get her to more than double the amount she was paying, and was extremely persistent. In the end she cancelled her direct debit altogether.

When we give money to charity, we know it's a drop in the ocean but like to feel it will be used properly, it takes all pleasure away from giving , to someone elderly to then be bombarded with calls and letters, and makes them feel they are not doing enough.This old lady's family say that she was worried about health problems, perhaps fearing a long hospital stay so this is more like the reason, if she did commit suicide, for her to do it.She seemed a very practical person, and for her, it may have been the easy 'clean' answer.if, as Soutra says, it was really what happened.

after reading all these posts and of the death of that lovely lady....is it now not time that our so called "Powerful Government" addressed this issue! of Charities bombarding everyone and using forceful tactics.

I buy Xmas cards and gifts a goodish amount every year from the Leukaemia Research charity and give donations twice a year on my sons birthday and the date of his death, he died of Leukaemia and it pleases me that treatment has improved mortality so much over the years and like to think my money has contributed to that. I am also sponsoring a child through school in Uganda who wouldn't have an education without sponsorship. I pay a one off payment once a year and also sent smaller amounts at Easter and Christmas for her to have a gift from me, it is a Christian run charity.

I've decided over the years to only give to charities that mean somethIng to me as there are so many to choose from. I do give to collectors in the street but this only amounts to coinage which I don't miss. I don't like aggressive marketing and have been annoyed when charities have sent small gifts through the post in the hope I will donate especially when the amounts suggested on the form are quite large and I wouldn't be able to afford that every month. They should all have a rethink and be more charitable in their own thinking.

This strikes a chord; my almost 100 year old Aunt receives dozens of 'begging' letters from charities, in fact her main complaint is that the only mail she receives is from these people. Luckily she is able to discriminate and chooses the recipients wisely and is not unduly bothered by the others - they go in the bin. I can understand how an elderly person would be very upset to be bombarded by these demands. How sad for this lovely lady and how sad that her family did not step in and help before she took that ultimate step. The sadness of her husband's death combined with the added worry of the charity demands was all too much for her to bear.

bags your post is spot on. I have to take a break from depressing stuff sometimes, when it seems to be everywhere.

Bez you have reminded me - I give £2 a month to a children's hospice or respite place in our area, and I hear from them once a year with a thank you letter. A much better strategy as I mostly forget about it. (I also won a tenner from them a while ago.)

So e years ago - probably 15 or so -OH started paying Barnardosa monthly contribution by DD. After after he had retired they kept phoning with great regularity asking him to increase the amount. Eventually he told them that he was now retired and if he had one more call he would cancel the existing DD. That did stop the calls.
By contrast there is a children's hospice within a few miles of where we lived and I taught. They were at the time fundraising to build the hospice and we had organised fund raising at school etc. When we had a local lady call at the door and ask if we could possibly agree to join their monthly draw -£1 a month they asked for - we agreed and the money is collected by DD every 13 weeks. This was almost 20 years ago and they have NEVER asked for any increase in this amount. They send news letters by email now which are always extremely positive and never begging. They do tell how much they have raised with the various fund raising people do for them but always as simply a really positive piece. In all the years I have only ever won £10 and had a lovely cheery letter from them telling me they were delighted I had won and how they appreciated our continued support. Their attitude is lovely and would encourage me to donate more any time they were in need.

There was a time when charities employed highly-paid fundraisers and were pilloried for doing so. I don't know if they still do, but I wonder if the process has now been handed over to less experienced – and cheaper – staff. However, these professional fundraisers used their connections to businesses and corporations that made vast charitable donations. Great Ormond Street Wishing Well appeal, for example, had pretty much reached its target before it even opened the appeal to the public. Btw When it started to receive donations that took it over the legally specified amount they were seeking, there were legal obligations about other uses of the donated money.

I agree thatbags .

Once you "sign up" to help a charity by donating every month you are bombarded with information from every other charity on the planet. I help a couple of charities by donating a small amount each month by direct debit. Recently I have had several calls and letters asking if I would do the same for them, so I can quite understand how a very elderly lady could be tricked into something like this. The charities should be ashamed of themselves. Interesting to know which ones they were though.

I think some charities behaviour verges on coercion personally with high pressure tactics.
From my experience I was constantly phoned by one major international charity (and I didn't even know how they got my numb, they wouldn't tell me) asking for my initial one off donation to be increased from £10 to first £50 then £200!
It was only when I threatened to report them to the Charities Commission that the calls stopped - they were calling up to five times a week and even leaving messages on my answerphone.
I can understand someone less bolshi firm might well succumb.

All very sad.

I now only donate to charity either by putting money in a collection box or at a local level eg my nephew is autistic so my family give money to his local autistic group or I give a direct donation to the local hospice. Having been involved in PR and marketing I have seen how much money is wasted/used inappropriately by the bigger charities

There is another angle to look at. Someone bombarded with depressing news of the needs of others less fortunate than themselves might well become depressed Just because of what the charities are telling them, regardless of their sending any money. There's a limit to how much depressing news a person can cope with. I'm wondering if it was information about needy people rather than requests for money that tipped this poor lady over the edge.

Either way, the 'charities' that do this have shown themselves to be unfeeling (uncharitable) towards the people they're requesting money from. At least, their fund-raising sections, or their out-sourced mailing shooters have. The responsibility lies with the 'charities'. The fact that a fund-raising technique is successful in getting money out of people does not make it right.

The account I read said that, along with being pestered by hundreds of charities, she had posted £250 cash to someone but it hadn't arrived - presumably stolen. She had apparently told a friend that she had "lost faith in people". I also read that she had taken a small step ladder with her and that she had been seen climbing over the fence - I don't know how accurate that information is.

Although I think that there were a number of other reasons for this lady apparently committing suicide, I really wish these charities would stop bombarding people like this.

A very sad end for for a lady who, by all accounts, was a generous and kind person.

This is so sad, that someone who has dedicated her life to helping others should feel under so much pressure and disillusioned that she would take her own life.
She sounds like a wonderful, caring person and the report I read said that, after all her years of giving and helping raise so much money for charity, she apparently was devastated when money she had posted to her son was stolen in the mail and that consequently she had lost her faith in human nature. That, and the pressure from ruthless marketing companies employed by today's big charities, must have upset her so much.

Sadly her family say she took her own life (they were on the news) but there were other factors other than the incessant charity requests- she had 200 in one month.
Mishap I echo your post, she was much loved and will be sadly missed by so many.

Ninathenana until there is a verdict from the Coroner, this is still an "accidental" death, given that the police have said they are not treating it as suspicious. I am not blaming you grannyknot , but as I said, headlining it as "suicide" makes for a better front page story. I suppose it is possible that she blacked out, had a dizzy turn, fainted, had a heart attack or stroke or fell because she lost her balance. what a 92 year old was doing up there is something we may never know, but I just feel that we and the media should keep an open mind until there is a conclusive verdict.

I dont think that the system is right about the system of getting donations either, Grannyknot.

I have tagged this on to the thread about Charities Canvassing for money. Apologies - I didn't realise this thread was here.

It seems from what I heard that she had a soft heart and would set up standing orders for just about every charity that sent her material. She did not consider whether she could actually afford these, but the bank has written off her debts - not that they probably had much choice now that she has died. She seems to have been a much loved and respected lady and it would be sad if she had taken her life, whatever the reason.

I live just outside of Bristol and would make the journey to the Cathedral to buy my poppy from this lovely lady. She had a ready smile and would be there no matter how cold it was, usually with a rug over her knees and her thermos flask next to her.

There are railings around the top of the cliffs but there are some places where it is possible to get to the cliff edge.

Her friends have said on local radio that she did have some health problems but they did feel the constant requests from charities were too much for her to deal with, she had so many direct debits that her bank account would sometimes go into the red. One friend said he had persuaded her last year to cancel 27 direct debits to charities but thought she may have started them up again because she couldn't say no to what she considered was a deserving cause. Such a sad end for a lovely lady.

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I didn't jump to a conclusion, I copied a newspaper headline and posted it in the "In the news" thread. More than one newspaper has reported it as a suicide.

The spot where the tragedy happen was show on BBC. It is a viewing point with waist high railings around. It wasn't a narrow path along the gorge. I would think it quiet difficult to 'fall'. But who knows.

This lady had been selling poppies in Bristol Cathedral for decades and was well known and honoured for her volunteering. What is your objection to the title Soutra

Sorry, should have added that the thread title "Poppy seller commits suicide" is what I initially took exception to.