Charity.

How charitable are you? Do you give to beggars, dump your change in collection plates, empty your wallet at a museum or go to events in aid of charity?

I'm not an overtly charitable person - I was brought up to look after my own cash and not give it away, but these days I'll have brief episodes of altruism. In my town, there's a shelter for the homeless; they're paid to distribute copies of the "Big Issue" magazine for £1.20, and if I see someone selling it I'll usually buy one out of principle.

Also, my school throws plenty of charity events. There was a sixth form ball last term, a miniature fair in the summer, an endless string of concerts and now a send-anyone-you-like-a-carnation thing for Valentine's Day. They're things I can't really help but participate in.

One thing I won't do is simply give change to bums. I don't care if that sounds caustic, unreasonable or dismissive, but as I've already said; in this town they're given an opportunity for work with no cost of living, and having talked to a few of the guys out on the streets, they're adamantly against going into that for any multitude of reasons.

Anyone else have thoughts/interesting stories on the matter?

Jam it back in, in the dark.