to judge this cause by the photo?

[mumnosbest]

I know I abu and judgemental but it got me thinknig. There are often donation pots in local shops for local causes here, Not an official collection just a handwritten message and a photo stuck to them. Recently there have been a few cases of youngsters with cancer. I usually put my change in as they're local and that brings the issue home. Today I came across a collection for a young lad (20ish), white with a shaved head. He's stuck in a foreign hospital and needs help with medical care. I didn't put my change in. On my way home I was thinking about why? I had subconciously decided just from the photo that I didn't trust this cause and it could be a scam.

I know I abu but how ca you tell when a collection is for a genuine cause unless it's registered. Should I keep giving and hope most of it is genuine or only give to registered charities but neglect the local genuine cases? WWYD

Personally I don't give to the individual case unless I know the family. Unfortunately I have known a few recently.

Firstly, how do you know-although I suspect if they were scamming they'd choose the sweet angelic face-that it goes anywhere near who they say it does.
Secondly, I have seen some in which I have some knowledge about the medical issues which are stating things that are not true about the condition. (and then publicly admitting they took their extended family on holiday using the money in one case )
Thirdly, this sounds awful, but I do have reservations about people raising sometimes hundreds of thousands of pounds for a treatment, which may be unproven, or have a exceedingly small (

DeWe that sounds like a good idea if it was done on a local level. I really like the token thing Asda is doing at the moment too, where you put your tokens in to choose/vote for your favourite local cause/charity.

oldlady oh I know ha, I only read your post after I'd replied to Kitty x