Shopping in London for a good cause...

[FauxFox]

Have you seen the Ten Stores event? It's a sponsored walk visiting 10 London shops like Selfridges and Liberty with special offers and limited edition things at the featured shops on offer to participants.

Thought I would mention it in case anyone wanted to do a charity event that was not about running, bungee jumping etc

And Hope and Homes is an amazing charity…and there is champagne…and Claudia Winkleman…and shopping!

Maybe…

You could grill her for hair and make-up advice

I was mildly interested until I saw it costs £85 to enter !!

And you have to raise £500 in sponsorship!

'Just ask 10 of your friends to sponsor you £5 per km' - that's £50 each! I wouldn't expect that we're I doing a marathon, let alone going for a stroll with a few treats thrown in.

Genuinely the most self indulgent idea dressed up as charity I have ever heard of - who comes up with this?

Well I think you get your £85 worth in treats along the way so it sort of depends if you're into champagne breakfasts at Selfridges and limited edition fashion stuff and would spend that on a spa/ fun day out for yourself with friends anyway.

…as to sponsorship surely people sponsor mostly to give to a good cause? Does it matter if you are shopping during your 10km walk? Does that make it less 'worthy' than walking 10k with your friends in another setting?

Would you sponsor me for a 12 hour 'endurance' pampering event at Champneys?

10k isn't that far to walk, it's not much more than you'd do in a normal day's shopping. I think if you're asking for sponsorship you need to be achieving something!

Yep I agree with Amber and Dexter. No way would I have the nerve to ask people for sponsorship for this and I'd laugh at anyone who asked me to sponsor them to go shopping and think they were taking the piss!

But surely the sponsor money going to a good cause is all that matters? Walking 5k in a pink tutu is not very challenging for most of the people who do it but people are happy to sponsor and support Race for Life to raise money for Cancer Research anyway...

This is ridiculous but deep down you know that FauxFox

I think the problem is that even if it seems to "make sense" to do this, it just won't appeal to people as something they want to sponsor it. So, regardless of the logic and arguments used, it just won't get a response. Frankly, I wouldn't do it and I wouldn't sponsor it. I hope I'm wrong and it makes the charity lots of money.

all that chaining to railings a century ago really was a waste of time, wasn't it? Sponsored buying pointless wasteful crap shopping???

BTW that photo should have a 'very very scary' warning. I now have to mop up my tea...

this charity spent £1.1m on income generation and governance, and charitable spending was £5.98m. If my maths is right, that is 18% overhead. That seems about the going rate, but as always donations would be better done directly with gift aid.

It sounds like fun!

I'm tempted, purely to counteract the 10 million worthy sponsorship things I have on my facebook feed at the moment. I turn 40 this year and it seems everyone apart from me is on a health kick/ has decided to run a marathon/ is doing an army boot camp... and I am told about every single training session...

Gosh this seems to be quite 'marmite' doesn't it… I actually don't think there is anything wrong with it as a concept - I mean as long as the charity benefits from it all surely having fun is allowed?

All the charity events celebs go to are gala parties and balls etc which further their careers as they get papped an have a night out, marathons the participants get to get fit and lose weight, foreign treks/skydiving etc the person gets to have amazing new experiences…not much charity stuff is completely without pleasure or benefit for the person participating (and that's without counting the warm glow of having helped others).