Our regular round-up of the top stories about charities in the mainstream media.

Charity advertising and the inferiority complex

The likelihood of a donor giving to charity depends on whether they feel superior or inferior to others, which has big implications for charitable advertising strategy, according to a report published this week.

The study suggests that people who feel good about themselves are more likely to give to help others. People who feel relatively unhappy about themselves are more likely to give to universal causes. It says charities should target advertising differently at poor and wealthy individuals.

No more Fifty Shades, begs charity shop

An Oxfam charity shop in Swansea is begging people not to donate any more copies of the E.L. James novel Fifty Shades of Grey as it already has “literally hundreds” of copies in stock.

Indeed the charity shop has so many copies that it has donated thousands of copies in turn to a local bookshop.

Oxfam worker Phil Broadhurst said his Swansea store has become “a retirement home” for the novel and asked the public to “donate more sixties and seventies vinyl and less Fifty Shades”.

Over £4m to turn derelict college into arts venue

More than £4m has been granted to St Peter’s Seminary in Cardoss, Scotland to help resurrect the derelict former priest’s college and the surrounding area.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded more than £3.8m to the resurrection project, with a further $400,000 coming from Creative Scotland.

The area has been used recently to host sell-out art events to celebrate the launch of the Festival of Architecture. The money will be used to turn the seminary into a “unique arts venue and heritage destination” in the Scottish Highlands.