[Margaret Pilkington]

We all have our own motives for giving.
Mine is having poverty in my past. I am not talking about the poverty of today.
I am talking about having nothing in the house to eat......being cold, because we had no coal.
I remember it. It is ingrained in my being.

Charity should be like prayer - private and meaningful. Charity is personal.

The large charities have become big business. How much would one of those TV ads cost. You know the ones I mean...those that ask us for £2 a month. How much of this goes to the needy and how much to pay for the CEO's lavish salary of 340K per year.

Charity shops perform a social function - they recycle stuff, they mean that people who have limited funds can buy something which is 'new' to them.
As for the volunteers - in my experience they are not just the blue stocking, middle class women with time on their hands. I have been served by young people, older people, people of ethnic origin....all of whom are getting something out of giving their time....whether it be something to include on their CV or just the joy of knowing that your time is making a difference. Some will volunteer because they feel a need to give something back(maybe they have been helped in the past and feel it is their duty).

To some people knowing that they made a difference is reward in itself.