The annual telethon season never seems to end; there is always some charity or other wanting you to part with your hard-earned cash.

It might well begin at home but that doesn’t matter to those who are regularly asking for it.

Unlike banks’ phone systems though, when you ring up to pledge a fiver (or more, if you can) you tend to be put through without any bother. Now call me a cynical old hack but it strikes me as a little odd.

When you are calling a premium rate number you can be on to their phone systems for what appears to be an age but and they are only doing the same as charitable associations. Thankfully, you chose to ring up and give the latter a buzz and at least you have a vague idea of where your pounds will land, hopefully someone who is far worse off than you.

They employ hundreds of extra staff to do the business of bringing on the wonga. While your company may struggle to get to all their phone systems’ messages it isn’t a problem for these organisations.

They create employment, albeit on a voluntary basis. I have not had experience of it myself but I know a fellow journalist who had to man the phone systems for a certain humanitarian donation sector and spent hours raiding the pockets of other people exclusive of earning a bean.

They are also told to pick up as soon as humanly possible I imagine, it’s like a race to the phone systems to whoever can rake in the most and then tell all their mates how great they are devoid of actually digging deep themselves.

All this is taking place while we are forced to watch harrowing programmes of BBC presenters making complete fools of themselves. And they say there is already enough suffering in the world.