Charity begins at home

OK - I accept that this not going to be a popular post and I am going to get slagged off for it.

Nevertheless, I pledged to cut the bullshit and tell it like it is, so here goes...

I am sick and tired of charities knocking on my door carrying - no, not the rattly tin - clipboards and direct debit mandates.

This is the new unacceptable face of charities. Some bloudy bright spark somewhere - probably a highly paid consultant - has worked out that collecting a few coins in a tin is not an effective way of collecting money. Far better if we can get people to sign direct debits and get them to make a 'small' regular monthly contribution.

In the last month, I have have had no fewer than 7 (yes, s-e-v-e-n) spotty faced irks in charity T-shirts knock on my door and ask me to sign a direct debit. I have refused them all. One young man even told me that if I did not sign, then I might be perceived as a "tight fisted old Scrouge". Well, perceive away...

These people might not have noticed, but we are having a recession. The country is in deep do-do. I am retired and living on my savings at a time of record low interest rates. They should be giving me money, for Christ's sake!

And now, just when I thought it couldn't possibly get any worse, I have tonight received an unsolicited telephone call from yet another charity asking me to donate "just a small regular amount" by direct debit.

This was a completely blind call. I have an ex-directory number and the caller confirmed that he did not know who I was and that the number was computer selected at random.

I swore at him until he hung up...