Posts By: Gemma Quainton

It’s been well documented in this blog that I can be a sucker for a good cause, especially ones of the four-legged variety. But this week I was tempted to sign up to another direct debit for a cause I’m not particularly moved by, because of an enticing new proposition I hadn’t come across before. 

I have signed up to support another charity – and am suffering already from donor remorse. I was wandering around a consumer show yesterday afternoon when I was surprised to see a charity stand. It seemed incongruous among the other stalls, which were selling high price goods, although on reflection it made perfect sense –… Read more »

So, I’m now three shopping trips in and my volunteering experience is well and truly up and running. Overall it’s been pretty much successful, but not without its small hiccups.

Today I’m feeling strangely nervous. A handful of avid readers may remember that almost exactly a year to the day I pledged in a blog to fulfill a long-held desire to start volunteering. Twelve months later, that dream is finally becoming a reality.

This week, my ‘thank you’ package arrived from the charity I signed up to with a door-to-door fundraiser last month, and I’m sorry to say it went straight in the bin. I have to admit, I was relieved to see it at first as it meant I hadn’t handed over my bank details to a… Read more »

Working on Third Sector means that I talk about charities outside work much more than I ever did previously. As a consequence, I’ve been on the receiving end of a little hostility, the level of which has surprised me. You see, I have the gall to donate to animal charities.

I’ve had two experiences in the last week that have made me think hard about the way I donate to charities. The first followed a donation I made a few weeks back while watching an advert on the TV. The voiceover urged me to make a one-off, £3 donation to the charity by text that… Read more »

After my recent blogs on my problems getting started with my new year’s resolution to volunteer, I was asked by the Media Trust to one of its ‘Speedmatching’ events –  you know, speed dating, but for would-be volunteers. The aim of the event is to put charities that need advice in touch with eager volunteers… Read more »

Last month, I wrote about my intention to start volunteering and my disappointment at the lack of variety in the roles available. After a prolonged search, I finally found two positions that I thought I could do, and so I contacted the charities. Four weeks passed, with no response.

It was with some trepidation my new husband David approached me recently to tell me he’d decided to cycle to Barcelona…in nine days. But it was OK – he was doing it for charity. I know him well enough to know that the last bit was not his main motivation. It was the actual crazy,… Read more »