Tintin Forums

Not that there is any reason not to promote this laudable annual telethon, which raises significant amounts of money for disadvantaged children throughout the U.K. (more than half a billion pounds in the last twenty nine years, every penny of which goes to the charities involved), but I’d like to bring to the attention of U.K. members (the video feeds won’t play outside of Great Britain I believe) a couple of things.

The first is the wonderful video and single put together by Peter Kay, in which one hundred famous children’s TV characters of the last fifty years (including Paddington Bear, Thomas the Tank Engine, the Tellytubbies, Muffin the Mule, the Woodentops, Scooby-Doo and Shaggy, Angelina Ballerina, Parker and Lady Penelope, Postman Pat, Bob the Builder and Fireman Sam, to name but a few…) are brought together to sing a Band Aid style medley of pop hits. If you didn’t catch it, you can watch it here, or better yet, buy it from a download store such as iiTunes or Amazon (all proceeds to CiN).

Secondly, while Tintin sadly doesn’t appear in the music video, if you watch the “Making of” video, also on the BBC website, you will see that there are Tintin book-cover posters adorning the walls of the studio the music is recorded in, so someone involved is a fan!

Anyway, I realize that things are tight all round this year, but if you haven’t already given, and you can, please think about contributing something to help those less fortunate than ourselves!

Ahh Children in Need the one night of the year were all these gelatinous tapeworms and hypocrites pledge money for one night only my question is why aint people pledging money all year round not just one day and do it to look cool.Yea its a shame Tin tin didn't make it there neither did Asterix.

People are.

There’s absolutely no need to make such unfounded statements - you’ve got nothing to base that assertion on, and it is a pretty negative attitude to take about many many people doing a lot of good.
However, I take heart from the fact that the only thing that it actually does signify is that in order that you yourself are not being hypocritical, you must be pledging money to such good causes on a daily basis, for which fact, well done.

Yes i work with and often pledge money to this cause every few months.

So would you like it if people called you a gelatinous tapeworm for only giving every few months, rather than every day? Of course you wouldn't. Like everyone else, you do what you can, when you can, and it's nobody elses's business anyway.

And would you like it if people accused you of being a hypocrite for only giving to charity in order to look cool on this forum? Of course you wouldn't. You only told us about it because you were answering Jock's post.

But isn't it the same for all the people who give money to Children In Need each year whom you despise so much?

If they also give money to charity quietly and anonymously throughout the year, as many people do (celebs and non-celebs alike), you don't know they're doing it, so you assume they aren't and criticise them for only giving once a year.

And if, on one day a year, they're asked by the BBC to do some charitable giving and fundraising very publicly as part of Children in Need (presumably in order to encourage others and to ultimately raise more money), so that you do know they're doing it, you accuse them of only trying to look cool.

In your eyes, it seems people can't win, whether they give to charity anonymously, publicly, or both.

Don't get me wrong; ostentatious charitable giving can look self-serving and offensive. (For example, Robert Maxwell demanding the red carpet treatment in Ethiopia springs to mind.) But I don't think it's fair to level that charge at people who donate to or raise money for the Children in Need telethon.

I think the best way to think about it is that a pound given in bad faith and a pound given with the best of intentions, both do a pound’s worth of good: it doesn’t matter at the end of the day what the donor’s motive were, the charity still has the money.

So whether you just want to build yourself up, or selflessly help others, please consider helping Children in Need, or any local charity in your area, in whatever way you can!