Greetings, charity sector. The title of this column may sound like the components for a rather odd evening – but Diary promises they all had something to do with charity this week.
Before we get into that, though, it’s worth mentioning two ghosts of politicians past that have reared their heads this week – David Cameron and Nigel Farage.
The country suffered deja vu after seeing Cameron walk into Downing Street on Monday, only for him to be made foreign secretary after a speedy peerage allowed him to.
Baron Cameron now looms over us and forced headlines like “Cameron’s ripely pursed lips betrayed velvety pleasure” to reach our eyeballs, which Diary can never un-read nor forgive.
Also this week, a former politician hopped on a bandwagon that is becoming all too familiar for ex-politicians – I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.
Farage has reportedly been paid £1.5m to be on the show, the highest fee ever. Former health secretary Matt Hancock received £320,000 for his appearance, and donated 3% to charity.
Ed Sheeran’s boxers
Ed Sheeran has donated a total of 445 items to East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) shop in Suffolk, where he grew up, including pairs of socks and boxers.
What Diary thinks is even more unusual than donating boxer shorts is that the singer donated 149 of them.
Who owns that many pairs of boxers? Does this man not own a washing machine? How many boxers does he have left? So many questions.
He also donated 73 pairs of socks – an impressive feat presuming they all matched. Diary only has around four pairs of matching socks, so perhaps needs to invest in some of Ed’s.
The majority of the 445 items will be sold on the charity’s eBay site with starting prices of £9.99.
Man walks with fridge for charity
Former soldier Michael Copeland from Stafford may be more familiar to you as the fundraiser who climbs big mountains with a fridge strapped to his back.
After taking his fridge along to climb Snowden and complete the Three Peaks Challenge, he told BBC News that he’ll be taking his favourite domestic appliance up Mount Kilimanjaro in March for the mental health charity MIND.
He told the media outlet that the fridge represents the burden of mental health difficulties that many people face.
"With something as big and difficult as mental health is, I've got to do something that replicates that”, he told the BBC.
Diary is very impressed by his climbing endeavours, but will probably only ever walk toward a fridge, rather than carrying one.
T-rex prepares for Christmas
The Natural History Museum has released a video of its animatronic t-rex having a roaring good time getting ready for Christmas, by donning a Santa hat and jumper.
The custom-made jumper measures to around 10ft across the body. The same as Diary after Christmas.
The dinosaur has also been kitted out with a festive backdrop, in keeping with the season.
What size Christmas jumper does a T. rex wear? 🤔 🎄
— Natural History Museum (@NHM_London) November 10, 2023
Knitting a dinosaur-sized jumper is no easy feat and neither is kitting it out.
See how we got our animatronic T. rex winter-ready in this behind-the-scenes video. 👀 pic.twitter.com/cmR2SoRDxT
Imaginary man shaves moustache for charity
In other very important news, SEGA has shown support for charity Movember UK by shaving the moustache of Sonic the Hedgehog's nemesis Dr Eggman.
The move was made for the month of November in support of men's health.
Many commenters thought he looked much more egg-like without the facial hair.
Dr. Eggman is... shaving?! 🤔
— SEGA (@SEGA) October 27, 2023
What a look! Dr. Eggman joins the Movember movement in support of men's health, saying goodbye to his iconic mustache for the first time in 30+ years 😱 @MovemberUK pic.twitter.com/v77ex8Mvdo
