Gave a man £10 through Private Eye (total: £87.21)

First of all, this is not Private Eye. It is, however, a nice book cover- so I used it.
The real Private Eye, which is a piece of iconic genius, runs a lovely little thing in the back pages called 'Eye Need'. Here, people write in (for £2.60 a word) asking for -mostly monetary - help. This week's, for example, has a teacher asking for help who is £30k in debt, a violinst mum asking for help in raising £60k before burnout and an Aspirant Zola/Orwell seeking a Carnegie to fund first work... Horribly, Time Out covered off the Eye Need section in there 'ways to make money' issue, which bothered me a little, but to me it's still one of the little known, under-ground smashing facts about being British, Beligerent and a magazine called Private Eye. Each issue, interestingly, is set up as a company so that when they're sued (which is often and mostly Murdoch) they just close that issue down and declare themselves bankrupt or without the necessary earnings - genius...
Anyway, to my point. There was a chap in there, whose wife was Bi-Polar, who had three sons and who just wanted a little help. I sent him £10 across the internet and well wishes from my desk. If you ever happen to pick up Private Eye and are taken by any of the sad stories, perhaps you could something about it? There's something trustworthy about it, whilst an amazing element of faceless compassion; you have no idea who's helping you or who, indeed, you're helping. And that sort of selfish giving is often beautifully the best.

Found an amber ring I brought at the time for £32.00 and started wearing it again (total: £77.21)

Ha. I did buy something worthwhile and I even remember how much I paid for it. I had slumped along to a crafts fair in our local town hall, inheritance burning a hole in my teenage pocket, smile full of sadness - when I saw a stall with lots of amber rings on... Strange really, since my birthstone if Ruby too - but I have the ring, am looking at it as I type and feel like I can add to it my new-spending, even though it's 'old spent'. It's also nothing like the ring in this picture, but it's pretty - with twiddly bits around it and a big amber stone.

Brought the man with a puppy soup and stuff for £4.39 (total: £44.21)

After seeing the nice smile and the puppy and the teddy I went to God Awful Pret (sorry) and brought two bits of bread (one for the dog) some soup, an apple and an orange juice. Then - having checked the chap was still there, I marched back out to the street to drop the bag with the boy only to find that he was standing up, dealing drugs, in new trainers, clean jeans and a bored dog. The teddy bear had been thrown aside.

Horrible.

I watched for a while, felt a little stupid and then walked on. Thinking - 'I really don't want this soup' when I saw a little black, rolled up sad ball of a person a few yards down the road and put the bag gently down beside her instead. 'Excuse me' I said, 'Excuse me'... She looked up, looked very sad and then looked very hungry.

I guess everything happens for a reason... She deserved it far more.

Gave a homeless man with a cute teddy a £1 (total: £39.82)

On Kensington High Street there was a man under a blanket with his dog and a teddy bear. Since I'd been talking about my teddy bear (cleverly called Mark Ted since my Godfather Mark gave it to me*) - I stopped and gave the man a pound and said 'I like your teddy. Have a nice day'. He was clean, a lot cleaner than his teddy and said 'Thank you' with a nice smile thrown in tidily. Which... of course, makes me want to go and buy him soup and bread and something for the dog... which I did.... But then... But then...
*By the way, everything my Godfather Mark gave me was prefixed with his name, so I had Mark Ted, Mark Doll, Mark Necklace... oh I was an imaginative child...

Gave a £1 to that nice chap at Baron's Court (total: £38.82)

The Baron's Court Big Issue Man (who mysteriously also lives in a house on my street) and I are getting on terribly well. We have got in to the habit of asking each other 'where's my diamond ring?' and him saying 'where's my Jaguar?' - one day, hell - I might just surprise him.

I saw him this morning and he was limping along the road - poor lamb - when he saw me ahead, stretched his arms out either side and called out a cute, no-tooth 'hullo', rather like a 'hurrooo!'. Anway, he has added a new sentence in to our repetoire and it goes like this: 'How about a love affair?' to which I answer 'How about a pound?'

He took the pound...

Brought 100 school dinners for children for £5 (total: £37.82)

Sounds amazing when you think about it doesn't it - 100 school dinners, for £5. Damn. Imagine if every time you brought sandwiches in you did that - imagine if everytime anyone brought sandwiches in they did that... The world may be a better fed place... I did it through Oxfam Unwrapped, which I love... Here is what they say on the site about the school dinners: 'In pastoralist areas in West Africa, the presence of a functioning canteen is probably the single most important factor in a parent's decision to keep his or her child in school during acute food shortages. Having school meals available often determines whether a child learns to read or write'... which leads me on to my next point...

Gave £1 to a homeless man begging in a pub (total £32.85)

It smacks of really needing money when you get to the point of being homeless and stepping in to a pub to ask for change... This chap ticked all my usual boxes; namely - he was clean. He was also dressed in yellow, which seems to say he's trying to cheer himself up and he didn't then rock straight up to the bar with the pound in his pocket and a plea for a pint...

Brought a sick boy some soup £4.99 (total: £31.85)

There's a guy that sells the big issue down Carnaby Street, we chatted every day I walked past him for the two years I worked there. He remembers my name, but I can't remember his - he told me at midnight once when I was hammered handing him over a £10 because I felt bad. Anyway... he was sick the other day, all pallid and pinched round the edges with a grim gone glow around him - poor lamb. I brought him soup, bread, an apple and some orange juice. He still didn't seem that happy about it - a stiff glass of whisky would probably have been better, but Pret doesn't sell that - yet... Two hours later, and he'd perked up. He was shouting at some lady who'd trod on his toe.

Gave £5 to Water Aid (total: £26.86p)

I never drink enough water. Never. In fact, in Amsterdam once, a Reiki Master took one look at me turning up for an appointment, asked me what was wrong (headaches, aches and pains) and said 'You don't drink enough water. Come back in 3 months when you've started to get in to a routine and your bodies better' (sock it to me gently dear).

And it made me think, as I was getting all pious about having a glass of water with my breakfast this morning, that - for so many people - it's a luxury, not a chore... Water Aid is an international charity dedicated to helping people escape the stranglehold of poverty and disease caused by living without safe water and sanitation. Aren't they good? I copied that from the website. If you want to donate - do so here.

Gave $2 and 50 cents to British Airways 'Change for Good' Appeal (total: um, £21.86p?!)

I'd been in Seattle, staring at the inside of conference rooms and out at the world from taxi windows and was flying back with The Lovely BA (sorry, but they were terribly nice, must have been that ridiculous amount of money the tickets cost). I put the remaining cash from the US in to their envelopes for the Change for Good campaign. I think everyone should get in the habit of passing on their little bits of foreign currency, it just sits in drawers and pots and in corners when you're back home anyway and you never remember to take those random euros etc with you when you travel next - so get in to the habit. Drop your change somewhere. Most airports (like Schipol in Amsterdam for example) have collection points, if you travel with BA they'll give you an envelope, and most banks have something on the counter for this kind of collection too. Perhaps you could go and rustle through some drawers and stuff now and make a point of dropping off all that old, foreign currency.
I dare you.
Do it this weekend.
Do it tonight.

Now doesn't that feel nice?

Gave £1.20 to a man in a Santa Hat (total: £20.41)

This is a dolpin in a Santa hat weirdly and apparently...

There was a long, tall chap in Piccadilly (I'm always there aren't I?) before Christmas who was wearing a Santa's hat and the biggest smile ever. I was in a rush, laden with bags and bits but as I walked past him (hurry, hurry, quick, quick) he stuck his tongue out at me and grinned. I laughed and kept walking and then thought - 'he's the first person that's made me smile in the last three hours' - so I went back to give him change and he gave me an even bigger smile.

He was a nice man. I liked him.

Gave £0.40p to man dancing to house music with a banjo (total: £19.21)

It was a strange sight - some old smiling man, complete with banjo, sort of dancing around in a circle to house music. I thought they had to pass some sort of talent test to be a busker?... He was making everyone smile though and - in London - that's a talent in itself. It was rush hour too...

Gave £0.40p to the chap sitting outside the theatre (total: £18.81)

Actually, I'm not sure it was 40p (see previous post) but hey.
And I don't remember anything much about giving money to the man, except he was clean... Which seems to be a running theme when it comes to trying to give people change that might help.
So yea, perhaps I gave change to a man that was definitely clean.

Gave £3 to the lady in Piccadilly Toilets (total: £18.41)

I have been slack recently when it comes to posting although seemingly pretty generous with giving money away - thing is, can't entirely remember all the little bits and pieces I've done... Dammit, that defeats the object of this doesn't it? Have also been away - so it's not that I didn't wish to post. Perhaps the ones I forget can count towards the interest I thought I might try and pay back... Anyway...

The toilets in Piccadilly tube station are amazing. I know it sounds silly, but they're on my line and I never cease to be amazed that they're kept so clean when so many people pass through (have that statistic somewhere too, but hey)... So when I finally saw the little cleaning elf that keeps them so clean I gave her all the change in my bag, which turned out to be exactly £3. She looked a little surprised but in one of those pleasant - 'ah, most people normally ignore me' kind of ways - so I was happy.

Post Script however - check the sound of the hand dryers - it's hilarious. They're like a jet taking off - I've seen so many tourists nearly jump out of their skins - poor lambs.

Right - what else have I been handing out?...

Went and brought him some fags & food £4.50 (total: £15.41)

As I was walking away from the homeless man who was reading I thought, no - blow it - gonna buy him some fags and food. So I went to the nearest newsagent and brought him a Kit Kat, a Copella Apple Juice and a ten pack of cigarettes. Which actually only came to £4.47 but there was some quibble about the 3p change (namely the man thought he'd given it to me already when he hadn't) so that got put in a charity box too but I was too flustered to know which one... And so...And then... I walked back and said 'Hullo. I brought you these... because I was so impressed you were reading, and um - you look clean, and like you're trying to look after yourself and I like that' and he said 'I am, thank you' and then I told him what was in the bag and he said thank you in a really humble, wide eyed wonder way and then he told me what book he was reading (a book on Afghanistan) and we left it at that.
Actually, as I walked off he said 'Happy New Year by the way' and I looked over my shoulder, and smiled at him and said: 'You too Sir'...

I like that man. The next homeless man I saw was swearing madly, meanly at himself and I thought - 'well, I'm glad I didn't buy you an apple juice', and I think - perhaps - that I'll buy the Piccadilly Homeless Man Who Likes To Read a piece of fruit today and make him sandwiches the next.

Gave 40p to a homeless man reading on Piccadilly (total: £10.91)

I walked past a homeless man on Piccadilly and he was sitting there calmly reading a book - I thought it was so peaceful of him that I gave him 40p and said 'I think it's cool you're reading a book'... Then I walked on, randomly listening to Billy Joel sing a sad song and thought... It really is cool he's reading a book and so I went to the newsagents and picked him some stuff up...

Gave £1 to the homeless man at Leceister Square (total: £10.51)

I went to the cinema last night in the rain... coming out of Leceister Square tube station there was a nice homeless man, with a neatly written sign and a smile upon his scrubbed face. I turned back around and gave him a pound and he gave me a really lovely smile back. I liked him. He was clean and idle as a great lady once said... And hoepfully still smiling.

Gave £1 to the lady sleeping rough in High St Ken (total: £9.51p)

There was a homeless lady in High Street Kensington on the 29th of December by the cash machine. She was crying and whilst I said 'Please don't cry' I thought the only thing that would help her would be a pound. She was clean, and kind, and stopped crying enough to thank me - I hope she's not crying now.
If only I had lots of money, I'd buy ladies and gentlemen like her hot potatoes and fill them with cheese and baked beans.

Gave 40p to the Big Issue Man with Blue Eyes (total: £8.51p)

There's a lovely black man with blue eyes that sells The Big Issue at Baron's Court Station, although -weirdly - he seems to live in a house on my road. Anyway, he's lovely - sometimes he asks me for a kiss, sometimes he asks for money, and sometimes he asks for nothing at all. Before Christmas I gave him what was in my pocket, it was only 40p, but hey... Maybe next time he'll get a kiss.
Hmmmm.

Gave money to some landmines - £0.11p (total £8.11p)

I had a £1 in my hung-over hand the other day ready to spend it all (and more if necessary, it was that bad) on a Lucozade to make me feel better. Turned out to be a bargain and I had 11p to spare. Popped it in the over-flowing charity box and wondered if some little scally was gonna take it off the top next time they were in. Whatever, both a cause right?