Anyone else irritated by all the adverts asking for £3 a month to help………

I adopted a pony for DD some years ago so that's a yearly donation and I have monthly direct debits for Wood Green Animal Shelter (Because they do very little advertising) and one of the refugees in Calais charities. I also donate to our local hospice because the guy who stopped me in the street hugged and kissed me when I told him DH had just died and, unusually, understood exactly why he died.

Yes we are sick of them too and we turn the sound off. I know charities need support but too many vulnerable people get affected by these ads, makes me mad.

DH has a list of the adverts for give "Just ..." and it's up to 30. I'm all for helping where we can but I refuse to be emotionally blackmailed for the ills of the world.

We do give every month to a local food bank and animal rescue charity plus I nearly always put something into the food bank collection at the supermarket as well as putting cash into collecting tins.

But I've heard some real horror stories around charity strong arm tactics, one person I know was so distressed their son had to get involved. Made us very careful of not committing to DD or such.

Kali2

MayBeMaw

Christmas spirit alive and well I see.

This - truly ... no words.

How irritating those poor, starving children hey! Christmas, did you say?

I think it's obvious that most posters on here do donate to charity and quite generously in fact.

Some even volunteer for charities.

How about that!

MayBeMaw

Christmas spirit alive and well I see.

This - truly ... no words.

How irritating those poor, starving children hey! Christmas, did you say?

If you want to set up standing orders with charities of your choice tell them at the beginning that if they contact you uninvited for any reason you will cancel the standing order. No emails, no post, no calls. Nothing.
This has worked for the charities I have supported by standing order for years. Have had no contact from them whatsoever.

I always supported a local horse rescue charity, buying raffle tickets, adopting ones for GC etc.

This year the adoption fee has trebled, the raffle tickets are sent out in books of 20 or 25 instead of 10 in the past, plus have Easter and summer raffles as well.

I know they need the money, but so do all of them.

Just to add, it was some years ago now but when I once agreed with a street chugger to sign up for a charity for the blind (I was happy to do it) besides other details, they wanted to know my age, and my phone number.

I declined to give the first, since it was irrelevant and none of their business, and the second, because I didn’t want anyone phoning me.
Chugger said OK then.

Several days later, I had a letter from said charity, saying they were ‘unable’ to process my ‘application’ (!) without this information.
The letter went in the bin, and needless to say, the money started coming out of my account anyway.

The barefaced cheek of it, though! Anyone would think I was asking them for money!

Rosina

We donate via direct debit to some charities, but I've been harassed by very persistent people phoning to ask me to increase the amount. I don't like to be rude but one woman kept on until I said was there any other way that I could arrange the words to make her see that the answer was no? Had I been older, nervous etc. I honestly think she might have bullied me into increasing my donation, although we give as much as we can.

That’s one reason I never give anyone my phone number unless I absolutely have to.

You can always make a monthly donation (or a one off) via the website, instead of texting HUNGER or whatever it is, which is automatically going to give them your phone number for pester purposes.

I used to give every month to the Red Cross until I started getting regular phone calls trying to get me to give more each month. It got to the point that I was getting numerous calls every day. I cancelled my direct debit and will never give to charity in that way again. It's a form of harassment.

I do hope the celebrities do not get a large fee for doing these adverts.

Like most of us, I have my own favourite charities which I support. I view these tv adverts with a mixture of guilt and irritation. I just cannnot support them all. And anything which is too sentimental gets right up my nose.
But I do feel sorry for them in these hard times.

The only charities I support are RNLI I send a cheque twice a year and I've sponsored a girl at school for the past two years who sends me a letter every 6mths.

Welsh Air Ambulance and the Salvation Army are the only ones I donate to.

I think it Crisis that asks for some obscure amount like £29.06
Which does my head in first how dare you say how much we give and second what’s the 6 pence for ? Just seems so weird

Those don’t irritate me. The ones that do, are the endless funeral/cremation plan ads, and for equity release, mobility scooters, etc.

But I suppose that serves me right for watching daytime ITV 3, clearly intended for the old and decrepit, who’ve got nothing better to do than stay at home, watching endless repeats.

(That’s why I usually record it, so I can zoom through the ads.)

It’s hard isn’t it. We give so much in this country and yet apparently still nor enough………

I've adopted a donkey, sponsored a sloth, helped orang utans, got a couple more donkeys at Sidmouth. I send money to bears and any number of other animal charities. I'm a pushover.

But it's only animal charities I give to which possibly makes me an evil person.

We donate via direct debit to some charities, but I've been harassed by very persistent people phoning to ask me to increase the amount. I don't like to be rude but one woman kept on until I said was there any other way that I could arrange the words to make her see that the answer was no? Had I been older, nervous etc. I honestly think she might have bullied me into increasing my donation, although we give as much as we can.

Most appeals are for very good causes I am sure, but I have decided which ones I want to support and so I just ignore adverts and mailings. So many appeals fall out of each newspaper or magazine. They go straight into the recycling bin.

I give to the charities I want to and try not to get upset at pictures of Yemen etc.

The disaster appeal for Afghanistan is worthy of anything we can afford at the moment.

Biros

We seem to be sent books of raffle tickets, cards and calendars from the Mouth and Foot painters, requests for donations including birds etc.

I have no idea what I typed in my post above but it wasn't birds.

No. I don’t find I’m irritated in the least. Sound can always be muted - they are adverts after all.

But I’m lazy. And this is SO easy to sign up to.
I’ve subscribed to 3 extra charities this way these last few months.

I contribute to two local charities when I can and the RNLI who do not receive any government grants. Now and then I’ll donate elsewhere but never by direct debit.

I reckon they must sell lists of people who have direct debits as I’ve never made a regular donation.

The adverts drive me bonkers and I refused to be sucked in