Hi, do you subscribe to any charities?

I have a standing order to oxfam since many years, started at £2, then upped to £3 then £4, I have resisted often requests to up to £10 etc as I feel it would be difficult to sustain whereas i always try to keep this amount in place. if it was much more I would have had to cancel now and then. I quite often give one off online or by phone to appeals for national disasters like £5 or £10, and at supermarket tills bag packers. I put lots of stuff to hospice and/or save the children charity shops when i am having frequent clear outs of clothes and other items. I find charity cards too uneconomical so tend to buy cheaper boxes of up tp 40 cards.Sometimes i donate to children in need.

Hi Lillie

I feel that if we gave money to all these charities when they sent letters through the door we would all be very poor indeed.

I regularly buy from charities shops (St Lukes is a regular for me and I have left details to volunteer at my local shop). I give the children pennies to in Ronald MacDonald House Charities (accommodation for families with children in hospital). This at the present is all I feel that I can do. I do not have a weekly/monthly subscription to a charity because I just cannot afford to do it, but every little helps, right?

I think that giving to charities is a very personal thing and people give to causes close to their hearts.

I used to give money every month to Cancer Research - it started off with £2 a month. Then they contacted me and asked me to do £5 i said no but upped it to £3. Then after a while they contacted me again and asked if i would up it to £10 - again i said no - i felt they were getting money from me they should count themselves lucky they were even getting it in the first place. I upped it to £5. After another couple of months they contacted me again and asked me to up it. At this point i had had enough of it all. I said no and cancelled the standing order. They contacted me after this saying they hadnt received the money - i told them they wouldn't either - i'm not made of money and gave because i wanted to. I now only give to charity when i choose to not because i am asked to. Plus money is alot tighter now, with two small children i feel charity begins at home and they come first.

I pay £5 a month for a weekly lottery for one charity - my only regular contribution.

I also work for a charity, which costs me £50 a month (I work as a volunteer but use my own money for my volunteering).

I don't give money to any charities unless I'm involved in them or very educated on what they do, as I don't trust most. For the same reason, I'll never give money to any charity which asks for it through junkmail, TV advertising or the employment of people to stand on the streets and corner shoppers. I like to know where my money will be going, I want it to be going to the right places, and I believe that people should be actively choosing charities to donate to, not being forced into it.

I give an annual sum to one charity. They ring each year and ask me to increase it but I just say no and they don't pester me. I also give to my local church weekly by direct debit. I buy charity gifts at Christmas and otherwise give what I can when I can to charities I like. There is a local hospice I give to fairly frequently as it does fabulous work. I wish all hospices were government funded.We have a Christmas raffle to win a car where half the money raised goes to the local community foundation and the other half of the ticket price goes to the charity selling at that time. A lady was really annoyed with me the other day because I wouldn't buy one of her tickets but it was for an animal charity that I just don't support. Plenty of others will so I won't feel guilty.

I subscribe monthly to one particular charity. I also work voluntarily for a different charity. Other than that, I give as and when I can to the charities I want to give to. I also regularly buy from charity shops. Like you, I also get besieged with requests from various charities at this time of year, but I feel that I'm already giving as much time and money as I can, so I don't give to those as well.

Good question, yes I contribute though subscriptions that I pay to professional organisations. I'm quite cautious about contibuting by any other means. Actually I was hoping money.co.uk would have a way of allowing their "prizes" to be donated to a charity. e.g. age concern folk in need. Perhaps there could be a special XMAS money.co.uk prize for charity ? Hannah are you there?

Yes, I support two charities with monthly direct debits and give some one-off donations to causes that interest me. I always buy charity Christmas cards and try to get some Christmas presents from the charity catalogues.

However, as others have said, I get fed up with continually being asked for more. If I could afford more I would give more but I can't, it's as simple as that!

I tend to buy a lot of greetinng cards like get well, or congratulations, anniversary cards, or general birthday cards for up to a year in advance at the one time at a charity shop. They are reasonably priced and at least they are getting my custom that way. More specialised cards i have to buy in usual shops even though pricey.

Yes, I am a soft touch for donation requests from animal welfare charities like the RSPCA or Dogs Trust, especially where the request comes showing big brown appealing doggy eyes! And yes, you donate to one and everyone else seems to write to you. Yes, I would love to give ten pounds here and ten pounds there but it's just not possible. More recently I have been donating to a local animal rescue centre that can be seen locally to do a sterling job but doesn't have national support like the RSPCA. I guess ten pounds to a local cause seems a lot closer to home and worthwhile!