Greetings, reader, and welcome to another mouthwatering selection of charity news picky bits, served by your unhumble host, Society Diary.
Although Halloween is fast approaching this weekend, there was something far spookier haunting the charity sector this week: the autumn budget, announced on Wednesday by chancellor John Healey.
The bloodcurdlingly underwhelming budget aside, this time of year can provide a nice boost to some charities’ funds, thanks to a raft of homeowners who take it upon themselves each year to deck their homes out in all manner of ghoulish and garish Halloween decorations, all for a good cause.
Spooktacular fundraising efforts
On the Wirral, a man and his partner have reportedly already raised hundreds for Cash for Kids Liverpool & North Wales by decorating their house and front garden with skeletons and zombies bearing an uncanny resemblance to my great aunt and uncle.
Over in Cardiff, a couple who run a special effects company that has worked on Doctor Who and Peaky Blinders are using their skills to turn their house into a real-life horror TV series set to raise money for Dreams and Wishes.
Meanwhile, for those not fancying an enormously inflated electric bill from operating 34,521 LED lights, this sponsored dog walk for greyhounds dressed in Halloween costumes (and their owners, for whom the costumes were seemingly optional) took place in Wrexham last weekend in aid of Hector’s Greyhound Rescue.
The case of the prickleless hedgehog
In other news, and in what may be a world first, a hedgehog without prickles has been appointed as the newest ambassador of wildlife rescue charity, Prickles in a Pickle, down in Devon.
Olly, who lost all of his prickles due to a nasty ringworm infection that he contracted in the wild, reportedly became the “poster hog” for the charity's latest fundraising campaign while he has been recovering.
No word yet on what duties he will be expected to take up as part of his ambassadorial role, as the poor chap is busy regrowing each of his 7,000 prickles, but rumour has it that once he hopefully regains full health, he’s due to have tea with King Charles at Buckingham Palace.
Bombastic donation
You may have read in the news in recent weeks that many charity shops are struggling to receive high-quality donations from the general public, who are now using them instead of dumping grounds for the tat that they can’t flog on Vinted or Depop.
No surprise then, that when one member of the public discovered earlier this month that their WW2-era unexploded mortar bomb didn’t quite meet Vinted’s safety standards, they decided to do the right thing and donate it to their local British Heart Foundation charity shop in Paignton.
The unexploded bomb had to be detonated safely on a nearby beach by a team of Royal Navy bomb disposal experts.
One source informed Diary that the charity shop’s volunteers still haven’t quite recovered from seeing a bombshell hidden in among the chipped teacups, used underwear and scratched DVDs and CDs donated by the ever-generous British public.
The return of SpeedoMick
Despite winter almost being upon us, unstoppable fundraiser SpeedoMick is returning for his “biggest challenge yet” as he aims to raise £1m through his eponymous foundation to support grassroots charities working to improve lives, support vulnerable young people and tackle issues including poor mental health, poverty and homelessness.
SpeedoMick – who completes his challenges in a pair of blue swimming pants, as the name may suggest – is this time taking on a trek to Everest Base Camp in Nepal followed by a 1,000-mile winter walk across the UK from John O’Groats to Land’s End, taking on the Three Peaks Challenge along the way.
Naturally, he will be doing all of the above wearing his blue Speedos. Godspeed to him!
