To not want to donate to somebody's Peru Trek-Inca Trail Challenge to raise money for charity?

[WendyWeber]

The fund-raising target is £3000 & I'm wondering how much does the Trek cost on top of that? I'd rather just donate directly to the charity. Am I being mean?

oh ok.
yes it says the trip costs 1000 something. so i suppose if they say minimum sponsorship of 3250 then they bank on getting at least a 1500 grand profit.

But meanwhile the sponsors are actually paying as much for a "holiday of a lifetime" for the trekker as for contributions to the charity...

i'd rather give to the charities who use their money's differently.

wateraid, and wen, and greenbelt.org

the thing about charity, is that people will give money to those who they want to support and these 'blanket' requests for donations, really gets on my wick.

it's different, when it's school kids collecting for their local charity. but, adults doing a 'once in a life-time trip' leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. there are now companies who seek to make money out of organising events like this - pooh.

recently, at work, they had a wear pink day for cancer research - organised by HR. cancer research is not one of those charities i would not support, and yet i made to feel a bit of a leper, just because i didn't want to contribute.

luckily, i wasn't the only one who felt the same way!

YANBU. These trips are a flaming cheek.

In fact, I hate all sponsorship. I rip up any sponsorship forms that come home from school (NO - we do not have 60 relatives and dh is certainly not touting a sponsored leaf pick-up form round the office) and I mumble incoherently if I'm asked to sponsor someone. You go and enjoy your marathon in New York, but no, I'm not going to pay for it, thank you very much.

This sounds harsh, but I'd rather donate to a charity of my choice than be guilted into subsidising someone's jolly that has got bugger all to do with charitable spirit.

So far this year, one cousin has climbed Mount Kilamanjaro, one cousin has drove from London to Mongolia, another cousin has done the Inca Trail and finally the last cousin is doing a speed driving thingy. I donated to all, but only two donated to dd swimming three miles in the local pool.
Its all a load of bollocks if you ask me, I would rather donate to the charity.

three miles in the pool - wow!

: )

Oh dear... I feel like I'm going to be blasted for this, but....

I don't see the problem! I've never done anything like it before, and doubt I ever would, but if someone has the time and patience to collect £3000 for chariy then good luck to them! After all, no-one is forcing you to sponser them, and a simple 'sorry, I've already sponsored a lot of people recently' would suffice I'm sure.

I do entirely understand that people would give to their own chosen charities, but that's kind of the point also. Millions and millions are raised for breast cancer and other cancer charities every year (and rightly so) but what if you are raising for a more obscure or 'unpopular' cause? eg shelter... homeless charities recieve pitifull (sp?) donations because people would rather give money to causes that have affected them personally eg, cancer or premmie baby charities. So if someone is able to raise thousands for (plus the profile of) any charity, that can only be a good thing... even if they enjoy it too!!

But btw... I do think YANBU to not want to donate, that's your perogative and after all it's your hard earned money you're being asked to give up. But I certainly am not offended or annoyed by the sheer idea of someone doing one of these trips.

great !

but, guess you won't get any sponship from us...

lol!

the company didn't make any money.

the HR dept helped organisea 'wear it pink' event.

anyone who didn't actively participate was frowned upon.

glad i wasn't the only one, but a made me feel a bit crap!

only dress-up, contribute to someone's sponsorship, bake a cake, take part in a raffle.

i don't want to support the 'wear it pink campaign' for these reasons

www.wen.org.uk/health/tbyp.htm

www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org/

i'd rather support grass-roots organisations.

casbie, I can see how someone might object to donating to certain charities, but surely cruk is one that will, directly or indirectly, affect us all?

I'm a bit surprised by the attitudes of some people on this thread, to be honest. Charity is a personal thing, but asking for sponsorship for something shouldn't incite anger, should it?

Last year I was part of a team that raised £5,000 for the NDCS doing the 3 Peaks 24 hr challenge. We would have had to pay entry costs and cover all accommodation and travel ourselves, but the company I worked for paid it all. I'm not saying it wasn't fun, but in a 'ow this hurts, I need sleep' sort of way, not a 'trip of a lifetime' way. I'm just glad that the people who sponsored me were more charitable than some of you!

ahh, and here's the thing...

i am charitable, but i don't want to be force fed, which charities i should support.

Most people on here aren't saying they don't want to donate to charity, and that wasn't really what the thread started out as, it was being pissed off that someone is raising say £3,000 for a charity trek, when in actual fact £1000 of that is going towards the holiday costs.

It's like these celebrity charity balls, that cost hundreds of thousands of pounds. Isn't it better to take those thousands of pounds and just give them to charity rather than a top London caterer? Oh, but that doesn't get you a Hello spread.