The Guardian There was a time, not so long ago, when to have suggested that the Guardian should encourage its readers to give to charity would have provoked a healthy debate. To have proposed that the newspaper run its own appeal would have risked revolt. Today, as the Guardian launches its third Christmas appeal, there is no issue.
Charities are big business.
They employ 500,000 paid staff. Yet this is not growth for growth's sake. Charities have assumed a rapidly expanding role as providers of services on behalf of government. As the state has withdrawn from direct provision of care, support and advice for those in need, so it is charities that have stepped in to fill the void. All is not rosy in the charity garden, however.