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Show You Really Care: Don’t Wear A Poppy This Year

Remembrance Day is approaching and Britain will be once again remembering its fallen war heroes. And the obligatory paper red poppies will soon appear in the lapels of politicians, TV presenters, business leaders and generally all sorts of people who want to be seen as caring for the brave men and women who had lost their lives on the battlefields, fighting for Britain’s freedom.

Some people consider that it makes sense to wear a poppy, if only to remind others about the sacrifices that have been made by the British service men and women, who fought bravely in conflicts around the world. Obviously, there are also quite a few people, who wear the poppy just because it is deemed politically correct to do so. Most politicians do it because they want to be seen as caring and patriotic, and most TV presenters do it because they are told by the producers to do it.

And to be honest, probably the majority of people do it just to feel good about themselves. You know, you have put a quid into the collection box, stuck a poppy in your lapel or on to your dress, and immediately became part of that joint effort to fund war memorials and cemeteries and help living war veterans.

Well no actually. It does not work like that at all. Because you cannot really expect to get away with it by paying a quid and not even bothering to check how your money was used and who received it. This whole idea of giving charities a quid or two and feeling proud about it by wearing some sticker on yourself or a rubber bracelet on your hand is not just bad, it’s totally wrong.

Charity should start at home, they say. And by that people do not mean that you support your immediate family. You are supposed to do it anyway, so it is no big deal. Only the lowest of lowlifes actually think that they can choose whether to give money to their families or blow it on themselves. But we are talking here of helping total strangers, who are weak and vulnerable, who need support and are not getting it. And, most importantly, we are talking about an effort to check whether your money has actually reached the intended recipients.

Because charities are notorious for misusing and wasting money that they raise and spending a lot of it on themselves. And, in some cases, simply stealing it. How do I know? I have investigated charities, you see, as a reporter, and you know what I have uncovered then? That a lot of donated money simply disappears without trace. In one year alone in Britain about £9 billion out of the £25 billion collected by charities vanished into thin air. Not to mention another £5 or £6 billion that were spent by charities on themselves and on advertising. So we are talking about a lot of money going in the wrong direction completely. And the most notorious of the money wasters were charities that were collecting for good cause abroad. You know, like saving children in Africa, for example, or some animals in Asia.

Charity has long ago become big business and many of the people involved in it are actually pushing through different agendas of their own, using the money they receive as donations. Because they know that people, who have given them money in good faith, would never actually check how it was spent. Because all those small donors have done it to feel good about themselves and they don’t really care about the end result.

But it should not be like that. As I have said already, charity begins at home. So there is no point in giving some spare change to the collectors on the street or even sending a cheque for a small amount to some registered charity. Do something really worthwhile like helping your old neighbour, may be even a war veteran, who has no means to pay for heating or food. Or a single mother, struggling to survive with her kid on a tiny benefit that Gordon Brown seems to think is plenty. Or support a large family where the father has decided to simply walk off in search of a better life. Or help a recovering alcoholic or drug addict. Or a victim of abuse or racism.

Or take a stray dog or cat from the street and give them a home. Or feed the birds during winter when they struggle to find food.

There are so many good things you can do without parading your charitable nature. Don’t copy all those celebs, who do it mostly for self promotion. Don’t imitate politicians, who pretend to be caring in order to get votes.

Show that you really care this year. Do not wear a poppy, but do help the war veterans directly. Stop playing this charade with feeling good about yourself.

– End –

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