I FIND yesterday’s revelations about charity fundraising (including that of Oxfam) quite disgusting, and not just because people who have opted out of receiving cold calls have been targeted.
To use profit-making companies is despicable, especially if donors are led to believe that the whole of their donation goes to the good cause, which is clearly not the case.
Charity giving should be at the impulse of the donor. To employ hard-sell techniques and emotional manipulation is totally contrary to the spirit of what these organisations claim to be doing.
As a result of this, I have personally made the decision to cease supporting all large charities and only to donate to small ones where I know and trust the organisers.
Sorry if a few more African children starve, but the world is a hard place and it is extremely regrettable that organisations like Oxfam should choose to make it even harder.
MICHAEL BLOOM
Withington Court, Abingdon
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