So as well as playing a role in relief situations, charity is also important to longer-term development. In the past, development charities were criticised for using stark images to raise funds that failed to explain why people are poor or portrayed them as passive victims unable to do anything to help themselves. However, there is now much greater emphasis on acknowledging the dignity of the poor and their ability and energy to fight their poverty and develop their communities and lives. The emphasis in long-term development work is on building people's capacity to help themselves rather than on providing hand outs. After all, few of us want to depend on others - we prefer to make our own choices.

But why are so many people poor? Surely we need to address the causes? A range of complex factors causes poverty. We need to recognise the roles of countries' debts, trade rules, gender relations, conflict, climate, democracy and rights – and acknowledge that the poverty these engender means the poor are the worst affected by 'natural' disasters.

It is very difficult to capture these in a short TV advertisement or on a flyer through the letterbox. On the other hand, symptoms such as malnutrition or poor housing and sanitation offer a clear demonstration of need and make it easier to understand why a donation might help. It is also easier to show how such symptoms are alleviated, providing rapid evidence that a donation was worthwhile. However, a focus on approaches which provide immediate results could be at the expense of long-term but less visible changes. If poverty is to be permanently eliminated then there is a need to pursue the difficult and long-term as well; a sticking plaster is only part of the solution.

"Forget geography - these ARE your neighbours"

So whilst donating money is one way of having an impact, it is not the only one. We have an impact on the lives of poor communities through the goods that we buy, the prices that we pay for them and the proportion of that money which reaches poor producers. We can have an impact through generating pressure on our elected representatives to cancel debt or reform trade rules. We can have an impact through where we go on holiday and how much of the money we spend which goes to the local community. Development charities not only focus on raising and giving money, but also seek to educate and to talk to people about the other ways in which they can get involved in challenging poverty.

Charity, giving and helping aren't simple, but they are important. Do larger sums mean more effective or appropriate help? Do higher donations tell us who cares the most? What does how much we give say about our relationship to people in distant places? After all, how does our commitment to helping the poor overseas relate to our treatment of those who reach our shores as asylum seekers? Is giving to a highly publicised cause more about showing our generosity than a concern for justice?

To make a difference, we need to think clearly about what our responsibilities are, decide on the best ways of helping, and think about why people are poor. In a programme about poverty in Africa during Comic Relief 2003, Lenny Henry comments:

"If it was happening to a neighbour of yours, you'd bust a gut to help, if you knew somebody on your doorstep who walked eleven days because they were starving and they needed a quid for food, you'd say have a bloody quid. Actually have five. The point is forget geography, these are your neighbours, this is your doorstep."

Lenny Henry highlights the importance of charity and generosity, that distance should not make a difference and that we should think of the African poor as neighbours. But we would not only help our next-door neighbours by offering money. We might also listen and try to understand, we might attempt to make sure they get a fair deal, look out for them and show friendship. We might even have to compromise what we want in the process. A parallel can be drawn to the ways we try to help the world's poor. Giving money is only one part of it. We also need to get involved and stay committed.

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