Charity gifts

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Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
will said:
OXFAM doesn't just let you give a goat. You can give a bicycle also .... just saying

I gave a bike a couple of years ago, it's not on the list at the moment, but they tend to rotate the gifts. You can give bike for a school kid, via Save the Children, but I'm a bit strapped at the moment, and fear I have to save the pennies until I get a job...

I may have been a bit vehement in my defence of these gifts, but I think to be offended by a gift of any sort is a bit churlish, unless perhaps it's given in a deliberate spirit of offensiveness, like a book of nasty jokes, or is something like a diet book, if you happen to be rotund.
 

PrettyboyTim

New Member
Location
Brighton
I admit, I do find them a bit odd as well. It's a bit: "I didn't get you a gift, I got one for some random dude in Africa instead."
 
OP
OP
G

gambatte

Middle of the pack...
Location
S Yorks
If theres some thought to it, fine. Its just the majority of these I've heard of being given have 0% relevance to those whose name they were given in.
 
so, let's get this straight... you didn't get something, some useless present that would have been given with no feeling or thought, but instead someone has got a useful gift that was given with thought and feeling... and you're miffed?

riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
 

Peyote

New Member
I think they have their place. I've got them for people who I know don't really need or want anything for themselves (how much cr*p do you accumulate at Christmas?!). For them it indicates that you've thought about them, realised the don't need or want anything material themselves so that side of the gift has gone somewhere more useful. It doesn't take away from the fact that you've thought about giving something.

At least that's my reasoning anyway!
 

barq

Senior Member
Location
Birmingham, UK
Arch said:
I may have been a bit vehement in my defence of these gifts, but I think to be offended by a gift of any sort is a bit churlish, unless perhaps it's given in a deliberate spirit of offensiveness, like a book of nasty jokes, or is something like a diet book, if you happen to be rotund.

You make a fair point Arch - and I've never been offended by a gift. I guess I just wish that if someone has a pet charity, they'd support it directly rather than using the pretext of giving me a gift to do so. I would've preferred people to donate to a charity they know I am involved with (e.g. Oxfam) rather than other charities of their choice if it is going to be a present to me.

Oh dear, I'm not doing a good job of making this point without sounding like a horrible and mean person!
 

Speicher

Vice Admiral
Moderator
Peyote said:
I think they have their place. I've got them for people who I know don't really need or want anything for themselves (how much cr*p do you accumulate at Christmas?!). For them it indicates that you've thought about them, realised the don't need or want anything material themselves so that side of the gift has gone somewhere more useful. It doesn't take away from the fact that you've thought about giving something.

At least that's my reasoning anyway!

Excellent reasoning. Couldn't have put it better. :biggrin:
 

Fnaar

Smutmaster General
Location
Thumberland
I think Oxfam offers a train a teacher one now, which I'd support personally (Africa's prob'ly overrun by goats by now :becool:).
As they say, give a man a book, and he can read for a week.
However, give a man a teacher, and he can moan about how long the teacher's holidays are! :biggrin:;):biggrin:;)
 

Joe24

More serious cyclist than Bonj
Location
Nottingham
ChrisKH said:
That's great. But I liked the 'Home by Christmas; Police to withdraw from Nottingham. Local militia has access to superior firearms.' :biggrin:

:biggrin:
Watch out, 'Da Trent Street Posse ' and 'Mansfield Road Crew' will come and take over the world.:becool:

If you donate to a charity then i think you should do it, but not go round telling everyone you do it. Buying something from the charity as a gift aswell as donating abit is better.
 
OP
OP
G

gambatte

Middle of the pack...
Location
S Yorks
laurence said:
so, let's get this straight... you didn't get something, some useless present that would have been given with no feeling or thought, but instead someone has got a useful gift that was given with thought and feeling... and you're miffed?

riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

No, I'm happy that 'someone got their goat', just don't pretend that a charitable cause that has no relevance to me is a gift to me?? That is a gift with no feeling or thought!

I have charities I agree with and charities I don't. I'd like a say in which charities are given donations in my name.

Tell you what laurence, how would you feel if someone made a donation to their pet political party in your name?

"As a Christmas gift I've donated £100 on your behalf to the conservative party/liberals/the BNP"?

(Left labour out as we all know people make donations in other peoples names to them!)
 
gambatte said:
No, I'm happy that 'someone got their goat', just don't pretend that a charitable cause that has no relevance to me is a gift to me?? That is a gift with no feeling or thought!

I have charities I agree with and charities I don't. I'd like a say in which charities are given donations in my name.

Tell you what laurence, how would you feel if someone made a donation to their pet political party in your name?

"As a Christmas gift I've donated £100 on your behalf to the conservative party/liberals/the BNP"?

(Left labour out as we all know people make donations in other peoples names to them!)

last time i looked, a political party wasn't a charity.

how about they just said, actually, you're a twonk, you're not getting a present. there, everyone is happy.

just because you didn't get a pressie you've thrown your toys out of the pram. if a company makes a gift to a charity at xmas (or any other time) chances are all the employees won't be happy. tough, it's still a gift from that company.

grow up
 

Fab Foodie

hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
Location
Kirton, Devon.
Arch said:
I'm not saying anything about you, I'm not buying YOU anything...

Everyone I've ever given something like this too has been delighted, and I've known they would appreciate it. I always try to give somethig appropriate - when my Mum started Uni, I chose text books etc.

If you dislike it so much, go and take the damn goat back off the African chap. Otherwise, perhaps be grateful someone bothered to think about you at all instead of griping. Plenty of people are alone and have no-one thinking of them.

With you all the way girl...

Mrs FF is working part-time for a company and she was asked to procure and distribute Mouse-Mats with company logo's as gifts to their distributors and customers...whoopeee...she suggested the Oxfam/Gift aid approach and although it got discussed...mouse-mats prevailed. Now from my POV the Gift Aid approach would be far better recieved and is far more interesting than some poxy mouse-mat...

I'm gonna try at our place next year....stuff sending diaries...
 
and if you still want to moan about someone thinking of less fortunate people at this time os (supposed) goodwill... make a donation to a charity of your choice on their behalf as a gift. problem solved.

if someone gives you a gift you don't like, you don't tell them it's rubbish, you tuck it away somewhere. it's because it's a GIFT. they didn't have to give it.

(if i'm ranting it's because i work (well, when i work) in charity and i've had people moan about the particular charity as it doesn't effect them... they could have kept on walking by, but no, they have to stop and have a go at you because you're not working for the charity they like! sheesh)
 
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