AS a collaborator for a charity event in support of the Macmillan Cancer Trust, I have been trying to get small donations for a raffle.

In return for their support (with the kind of donations that, with the big stores, get broken or shoplifted a dozen times a day) I offered to put company names on the posters and thank them by name on the night – a bit of positive PR considering the small amount of product requested.

Although I can accept “no” as an answer – especially from small independents who have smaller profit margins – I have been shocked by the standard answer I get from head offices of Brighton-based stores with a national or international profile.

The standard answer (when people deigned to reply) was: “We donate x-amount to a designated charity once a year and do not consider any other charity request, no matter how small.”

I find this attitude cold and inflexible and is, in fact, bad PR for their satellite stores.

Do others feel the same? “Charity” seems to have become, in the minds of these companies, an irritating but necessary (in terms of image) obligation to take care of in one stroke once a year. I must, however, thank those Brighton companies which did respond generously.

Jay Clifton
Meadway Crescent, Hove