Page 22 - Phonebox Magazine May 2011

Give or Take
If I have not love I am as an empty gourd booming in the desert. St Paul
We are surrounded in life by people who suffer no end of disadvantages and there are innumerable people who think the state should pick up and solve every problem. Others among us couldn’t agree less.
In a reCent discussion with a friend putting her best foot forward on behalf of a charity the question arose who should help; is it right to expect charities to seek funds in aid or must the burden be passed on to the tax payer. Is the exercise of human kindliness to be the prerogative of the state or does it belong among ourselves. Surely we know there is no warmth or kindliness to be generated by paying tax to an all-grabbing state. the state doesn’t even say “thank-you” when we surrender our hard earned money. Sadly there are people happy to sit back and live on hand-outs from government departments. I feel rather sorry for them for their understanding of life in general and of their own potential is so inadequate.
Millions of people suffer from innumerable handicaps and millions enjoy the benefits which arise from voluntarily generating help where it is needed; yes there is benefit attached to giving, either by helping with funds or better by actively working alongside the disabilities of others. My brother has been mentally handicapped from birth so I have spent my life living alongside the problems which attach to his life and especially I
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22 Phonebox Magazine
remember the way our parents suffered for him. the early days were a traumatic time for mum and dad, but eventually my brother enjoyed a satisfactory life supported by the love of many. With the passage of time immense help was gathered from agencies supported by perhaps the most wonderful people I ever encountered, people who put their active lives and personal resources into creating a life worth living. Mum and Dad also joined the work involved and so came to meet with the actor Brian rix, with Group Captain Leonard Cheshire and with Sue ryder. For those people charity was life at its very best and they were oh so warm and welcoming to any who helped them in any little way.
there are plenty of people to-day who live that way and Deidre Bethune gets among them. For by no means the first time Deidre plans to run the London Marathon in order to raise money for MenCaP which charity are blind to no form of mental problems. I have said that people who head up such activities greet assistance with a special warmth; Deidre declares that the warmth she meets on crossing the finish line is of itself ample reward for the pain. Wouldn’t it be good to record that we who will sit at home watching the day unfold on television might gather up £100 for each mile. Deidre does not plan to be among the first hundred to finish but I’ll gain more excitement from her run than Paula ratcliffe could possibly generate. the one is an exercise in humility, the other a statement of pride. GB
THANK YOU
Isobel
Ager-
Righinioti
thanks all
who
sponsored
her for
SSAFA* in the Pancake Race this year. £475.00 was raised, which SSAFA have acknowledged.
*The Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association Forces Help
www.ssafa.org.uk