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Thursday 24 September 2015

What would you do?

I support a Welsh Charity, it provides help to children and young people, and am happy to do so.
Yesterday I received a pack of Christmas Raffle tickets in the post. All quite acceptable, nothing unusual about that, I expect that many charities do the same.
                                           
BUT
When it came to paying for them I was dismayed and then quite angry.


The only option is to pay by post, they require all your bank details including the security code. This then goes into an envelope, with the ticket stubs, that has Christmas Raffle emblazoned on both sides. This advertises to all and sundry that it is worth a quick look. 
Given that many pieces of mail go missing,
 Not everybody is able to resist temptation,
There is obviously the probability of cash/ bank details inside,
Would you have filled it in and popped it into the post box?

What I did was go to the website and using the "contact us" option sent an email expressing my concerns.
I had been listening to the news earlier about concerns regarding the ways that charities go about their fundraising. This was primarily about how aggressive they have become, and the fact that they seem to target the elderly.
I will continue to support them and when I am near their shop I will go in and see if I can pay for these tickets there. If that is not an option I will return them and ask to be removed from the mailing list.

On a lighter note, my hat is finished, I made it a little shorter than the pattern and it fits perfectly, is very warm and I wore it when walking Ben after dinner last night.



On the subject of Ben, he tidied his bed when we returned and shuffled his toys around. He likes to lay with his tail in the corner and his muzzle resting on a toy so that he can see the room. This toy used to be one of  a pair of fat bumble bees, that has been hidden under the bureau and the polar bear now has pride of place. All of these used to squeak, but he is quite enthusiastic in his play and they are all silent now. I do not mind in the slightest.


I was given 2 large bags of cooking apples earlier in the week and handed over a jar of the sandwich piccalilli and an apple cake as a thank you.
I have 4 slabs of frozen apple puree tucked away and another bag full to process today. There have been 4 cakes made, 2 of which were gifted and I will be trying a different variation of the recipe tomorrow. The original came from Mum and is very very good.


I turned a good haul of runner beans into pickle to enjoy in a few weeks time, some of these will be gifts and I spiced enough vinegar for 2 jars of cucumber.

2 loads of washing done and mostly line dried and got my 13 granny squares in yellow done.

Not a bad day really.

Ben is off to the groomers this morning whilst  take Maggie shopping. I only need 5 things, which is a relief, after last weeks stuffing the pantry full
I added it all up last night and was horrified to find that I spent £217!!!
 BUT, I went to the Fig Tree and stocked up on nuts, seeds, spices and dried fruit for muesli and baking, enough for well over a month.
I took advantage of a Lidl half price offer on beef and I have all the cider vinegar* that I need  from Morrisons. I also included my granny heated shoulder cape and Francesca's birthday present in the total. I spent just over £40 on shampoo and ear cleaner for Ben, enough for several months, and as I said the pantry is full.
I have fabric and thread, most of a full roll of batting for quilting and plenty of yarn for crochet and knitting.
The library has enough books to keep me going and I have most of the seeds for next years gardening.
The only household item I need is thin bleach and I will pick that up today and it will do the rest of the month.
* By the time I have used all that vinegar I hope that my homemade apple cider vinegar will be ready to use.

Now I am off to get the kettle on, I have been up for over an hour and only had one cuppa.

                            TTFN                                              Pam

17 comments:

  1. I would never dream of writing out bank details and putting it in the post.
    Bens little sleeping area looks nice I bet he loves it.

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  2. No way Pam would I give that information in something that is being sent through the post, it would be so easy for someone to use that information to get cash from your account. I applaud you for not send the form back.

    I often get stuff from the Red Cross with stuff inside. We support the St Johns Ambulance charity, so I am afraid the Red Cross will never get any money from me. It really makes me cross when we go into town, we get stopped and asked about various things which is them followed by a sales pitch. I give them all the same answer, we support the St John. The only other charity we support is the A & E charity, in otherwords us!!

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  3. I would drop into the shop next time passing, I chose to give to charity's anonymously then I don't get hit with spam, I am very choosy which ones I give to, usually ones that will benefit local community, on that note I have to dash its the Macmillan coffee morning in the village and I promised them some raffle prizes, I have put together a pile of craft kits from the shop stock for them :-)

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  4. I agree, Pam, it's very wrong to ask people to put their finances at risk like that. My FiL who is 93 gets regularly bombarded with requests for donations and the more he gives the more requests he gets. It's awful. I donate to charity too but in my own way. In the past I have sold raffle tickets and the people who bought them then got tickets to sell posted on to them, it's immoral.
    Ben is a very tidy dog. Oh that children and husbands were so tidy!...lol..
    Wow, re the shopping! You probably have enough food to last all winter already :)

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  5. Pam personally I would NOT fill in my bank details, people know there's no money in these return 'envelopes' so they know it will contain some personal info. Plus these things are so slim they can easily slip from the piles of enters. Our hospice is only a few mins away and I've benefited from their services but even before I supported them any money is taken and handed over personally. I do support other charities by donating items regularly, I only donate items in new or nearly new condition and I buy from them. My goodness I always feel tired reading your blog, it's always full of life, busy but great reading. We were really lucky this year at the van, one of the other owners strips the blackberry bushes before anyone else gets a chance. She's not been here so it's given everyone else a chance. Mr B like others has gone out each day and gathered enough for a pie, everyone is benefiting this year, with those and the boxes of apples we've bought very cheaply from a grower who is on our way home we have enough for Apple and blackberry pies to last us over the winter. We've also got a large box of apples stored in paper, the seller has a few acres behind her house just 4 miles from our van. We stock up on all our veg apart from carrots, they're nice and fresh and very tasty, the eggs are so much nicer too all the money from the eggs goes to charity though. It doesn't cost me a quarter of what it would from the shop, Mr B was in his element this year she has hot chillies at 50p for a large ice cream box full, he bought dome and has dehydrated them much to his delight :)
    Take care x

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  6. I can't believe they want you to share those details when every fraud programme tells you not too. I think their fundraising department (and they will have one) needs to be contacted and seriously review their future campaigns..I would e mail so they have to action it..good luck. Maria xx

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  7. Not a good idea to put all your bank details in the post. We seem to be bombarded with cold callers at the moment wanting money for some charity or another. Even in town we seem to be harassed by constant charity boxes, I am not adverse to giving to charity but I like to choose where I give and not be harassed.

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  8. It would have gone straight into the firelighting bin in this house!

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  9. Yes, I completely agree with you about the bank detail, you just can't be too careful and that really didn't sound safe. Love the way Ben tidies his space, so cute xx

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  10. It's ridiculous and outrageous that they ask for all those details by post. I hope you get a suitable reply from your email. Personally, I don't give any money to charities who waste money sending me tons of unwanted stuff through the post. We do donate to a charity of our choice which has relevance to us.

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  11. I just resumed my blog after a year and a month. In checking my followers, I was surprised to find yours. I don't blame you for being reluctant to send your bank information out in those circumstances! Is apple puree the same as applesauce?

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I do not always take it to a smooth puree, I like applesauce to have some texture.

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    2. Yes, I do not always take it to a smooth puree, I like applesauce to have some texture.

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  12. I'm with you, Pam; I would never send all those details through the post.

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  13. I am so happy that you all think that the form is wrong. I had a reply from the charity which was only waffle. They say that by the next raffle they hope to have an alternative payment method. I will not be holding my breath.

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  14. I am so happy that you all think that the form is wrong. I had a reply from the charity which was only waffle. They say that by the next raffle they hope to have an alternative payment method. I will not be holding my breath.

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  15. I used to take part in those charity raffles, but not any more. They all get binned, I only donate when I want to, to the charities of my choosing.

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