Seems most of my charity ‘friends’ have deserted me now it’s a new year. Barely a quarter of the mailshots have been delivered this month as i had in December.

A thought – reading about aid agencies having to pay more for food, i realised it would affect some charities too, where feeding those in hardship may be all or part of what they do. Adding to that, all will be paying more on their utility bills accruing to their offices. Wondering how they will deal with the need to raise more cash to fulfill their brief, and also to cover increased admin expenses? What effect will it have on campaigning & fundraising efforts?

The Smile Train
This charity works to repair the birth defect of hare lip & claft palate, which is very prevalent in developing countries. Not just an issue of aesthetics for the child, in some cases the problem is so severe it interferes with the ability to eat & speak. Also means a lifetime of shame & isolation – and many parents abandon the child to die, or dump them at an orphanage. Smile Train waves a magic wand over these children, fixing them up with what may be only a 45 minute op. The mailshot contained a small leaflet about the condition and a few pix to illustrate the transformative power of the surgeon. Guess which charity is gonna get a special Valentine card from me this Feb. SWALK!

Water Aid
A modest pack dropped out of the New Statesman. No cellophane so that was a good start. I am not going to take the direct debit route, but it’s amazing that just £2 p/m can make a big contribution towards enabling a family to access clean water. That’s one less small coffee at Starbucks or wherever you get your fix. It’s not like you need the calories , is it?

International Fun for Animal Welfare
This charity helps caged bears & seal pups & hunted whales. Also cats & dogs which are abused in so many places. I wonder if people are less inclined to mistreat what are essentially domestic pets if they themselves are more secure in the circumstances of their lives? Good reason to give more to haumn charities if so. Though I wonder what excuses Norway & Japan & Canada can offer? So unlikely to respond to this IFAW appeal, in part as they sent me 4 execrably twee cards of the fluffy-wuffy persuasion. Including one of Bambi, just when i was getting over seeing what happened to his mum in the film…

The Red Cross
By contrast, the two cards sent by this charity are pretty cool, retro 1950’s B/W shots.Why a charity this size, with such a high international profile feels the need to give gifts like this i don’t know. I am unlikely to give as i want to get back to focussing on smaller charities who cannot afford the big ad campaigns. I want to give to those who spend less on such things not only relative to their size, but in actual amounts too. Sorry. No you can’t have your cards back.

Other than that i see cellophane is still big in the RNID, Barnardos, FoE, and Breadline Africa.

A bientot.

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