THE head of an Oxfordshire charity has condemned the nation’s compulsion to spend on Black Friday saying money could be better used to help vulnerable people.

Jayne Woodley, chief executive of Oxfordshire Community Foundation, a charity which connects donors with local causes, said she found the "frenzied behaviour of Black Friday shoppers appalling".

She said: “I wonder how many of us have felt appalled at the compulsion of our fellow humans to buy, buy and buy more stuff when what that world really needs right now is a lot less stuff.

"Yesterday was #GivingTuesday yet a lot of people I spoke to weren’t even aware it was happening. Why weren’t we talking about that more? It’s a missed opportunity to help charities. Why are we so embarrassed about doing good?”

The charity said the whopping £1.1 billion spent nationally on Black Friday could make a "significant" impact to those in need.

Ms Woodley's comments followed an Oxford Union debate, organised last month by the Oxfordshire Community Foundation.

The discussion was based on the question: ‘Is looking good better than doing good?’

Geography professor Danny Dorling, a speaker against the motion at the debate, said: “A bit of modest spending on ourselves is fine, but it you find that you are spending more on you than anything else, you are veering towards being narcissistic and narcissism is a disorder.”