I would like to do something to mark my half century on the planet!

A few days after each birthday, the inevitable happens.  The cards which were given (and enjoyed, if for such a short time) end up going in the recycling bin.  When you look at how much each costs (even if they were cheap and cheerful!) and add them all up it makes for quite a lot of pennies…

I’m not much of a grumpy old man (ask my students, no, wait, don’t) but one thing that does irk me is the vast profits card companies must make whether it’s for weddings, births, anniversaries or in my case here, a birthday. OK, there’s a lot more than that to peeves me in this world but that’s the focus of this little bit of fund-raising.  I know some people love receiving cards but, frankly, I’m not part of that number…

What I am asking is this: if you were thinking of sending me a card for my fiftieth birthday, please don’t.  I will get a lot more pleasure if you donate just the price of a card and a stamp to this little collection!  The money will all go to Cancer Research UK in memory of my father, Roland Evans: lung cancer did for him and as he also loathed the fact that so many large companies blithely make huge profits from us, this little ‘take back’ as it were would also have put a smile on his face.

He would, though, probably ask why I’m not raising money by swimming, running or climbing and my answer would be that I was never much good at any of them.

Even my mum, who loves buying, sending and receiving cards is all for this small endeavour so it’s win-win on every level! 

So, thank you for making a small donation to this Just Giving page if you are a friend, colleague, student or relative of mine (or a combination thereof).  If you are a complete stranger who came across this page and decided to contribute, thank you too.

Right, I think that’s it. Please press the ‘donate’ button (or whatever it’s called) now!