Inspirational figure reminds us to keep giving and helping others

​Fundraiser and army veteran Tom Gilzean received the Edinburgh Award in 2015 and an MBE in 2019

I, like many who live in this city, have been regularly implored to “dig deep” and drop some coins in one of the many collecting cans held by one of an army of dedicated volunteers, determined to collect donations to aid the work of their charity.

One colourful character springs to mind as I write this. Who can forget the proud war veteran, wearing his tartan trews, shaking a collecting can, bellowing “open your hearts and open your wallets”?

I am, of course, referring to Tom Gilzean, who was regularly seen up at the Castle or on Princes Street, who died almost five years ago at the ripe old age of ninety-nine and collected more than £1 million for good causes in his lifetime.

When I worked in the High Street I regularly saw Tom, who was always more than happy to relieve me of any change I happened to have jinglin’ in my pocket, and did so with a laugh and a jocular quip.

As my contributions were collected at random (depending on whether I bumped into him or not) I decided to put them on a more formal footing and set up monthly payments to two charities that interested me, namely WaterAid and Sightsavers.

Millions of children throughout the world do not have access to clean water to drink, acceptable toilets or healthy hygiene but when WaterAid digs a well or installs a tap in a community the lives of children are changed for the better, boosting their health and helping them to stay at school, rather than trekking long distances, day after day, to collect water, much of it contaminated.

The eye condition, trachoma, affects about 80m people globally and in some areas between 60 and 90 per cent of children may be infected. It is the cause of decreased vision in 2.2m people and renders 1.2m of them completely blind. It can cause scarring under the eyelid that can lead to distortion of the lid which can mean that the lashes rub against the eye – so even the simple process of blinking can cause agonising pain.

Of course, many people choose to support charities closer to home and figures from a YouGov poll this year listed the charities that adults in the UK think most positively of. They include Macmillan Cancer Support (89 per cent), St John Ambulance (87 per cent), British Heart Foundation (85 per cent), Samaritans (85 per cent), Cancer Research UK (81 per cent), Alzheimer’s Research UK (79 per cent), RNLI Lifeboats (78 per cent), British Red Cross (77 per cent), Prostate Cancer UK (77 per cent) and Marie Curie (75 per cent).

The Charities Aid Foundation states: “Donating to charity is a major mood-booster. The knowledge that you’re helping others is hugely empowering and, in turn, can make you feel happier and more fulfilled. Research has identified a link between making a donation to charity and increased activity in the area of the brain that registers pleasure – proving that as the old adage goes, it really is far better to give than to receive.”

The foundation’s UK Giving report shows that 20 per cent of the people surveyed said that they gave to charity because it made them feel good – so it benefits you as well as others!