On Friday the 27th of March a gaggle of 1500 students from Heathside School descended on the Thames river path for our bi-annual sponsored walk, with the goal of raising as much money as possible for Red Nose Day- at least this was the advertised aim of the day.  In reality, how many of said students truly thought about why they were participating in this mandatory event?  For most, the excursion was an excuse to spend time with friends and miss school, two activities that are probably alien to a lot of the children we were fundraising for.  Whilst the efforts of myself and my peers raised over £10,000 and contributed to the £73 million raised in this year’s Comic Relief appeal, did we really learn anything from it?

After the sponsored walk some of my friends went out to nearby restaurants for lunch, spending close to the equivalent of some family’s weekly food allowance on one meal.  The connection between this action and the reason for the 16k they had just walked probably had little impact on them.  In fact, the ‘Love Actually’ revival was one of the main reasons ( as far as I could see on Twitter) most young people tuned into watch the television special aired that evening, not to learn about how their money will be used to make a difference.

Regardless of why we tuned in, over the course of the evening £73 million was raised, yet as individuals the evening made no difference to our outlook on life.  For example, this years appeal focused on the work Comic Relief does in the UK, but have people made any effort in the last three weeks to help each other?  Have they donated to their local food bank?  Have they said Hello to their elderly neighbour?  The likelihood is no.

Whilst we donate to charities we deem ‘worthy’ and ‘like’ photos on Facebook of atrocities in developing countries, blaming corrupt governments for their ‘lack of humanity’, few of us actually do what we preach.  In our fast paced lives few of us rarely make the time to help others, although we feel better about ourselves by pretending that we do. We donate £5 to Comic Relief or buy a copy of the ‘Big Issue’ for our own sanity and not that of the person in need. A friend of mine who participated in my school’s sponsored walk summed up this attitude, “I don’t have the time to volunteer or to do hands on charity work, so the only way I can help is to donate money.”

In our materialistic society we have become accustomed to throwing money at an issue instead of questioning why it has occurred and how we can prevent it.  We turn off the news when the images become too violent and unpleasant.  We criticise those who protest for being disruptive and naïve. We defend our lack of action due to work and being ‘busy’.  In fact, we would rather complain about our own lives than help somebody in a worse situation.  Simply put, even with the best intentions, we are all selfish.

Some of those 1500 students may genuinely care about helping people and as a school the money we have raised will make a huge difference to the lives of strangers, yet all of us remain as selfish as before.  So why do we ‘do charity’?  To help others or to help ourselves? Currently, your answer to that question probably isn’t the one you want to give.

Georgia Balmer, Heathside School