What pushes us to give? Does it have to be money? Katie Frost told us how her first impulse toward giving was when the Aberfan coal slip disaster struck on 12 October 1966, killing 166 children and 28 adults. She was moved to go to her bedroom and empty her piggy bank giving the twelve shillings to her father to be given to the disaster fund.

She continued: ‘In my late twenties and early thirties, I was running businesses. I have always loved making money. It is great fun.’ She and her business partner decided to put some of their profit into buying canoes for a local club who were surprised that Katie and her partner did not want to advertise on the boats. They were just happy to be able to do it. On one of her workshops when she asked how do we decide how much we can give, a young person told her ‘Make a budget. But put in a lot of thought and ask for support in deciding what you need to spend on for yourself’.

How do we decide how generous we can be? Well, it is in proportion to what we have, not to the size of the gift. Jesus tells us of the widow’s mite. She gave more than she could afford. The lesser value wasn’t important, it was the giving.

Joan Harvey said: ‘Our gifts to the Society of Friends can take different forms.’ She has spent her life involved in both Quakerism and education. She became a Quaker when she had an opportunity to teach at Ackworth School. She praised the Quakerism taught in the Quaker schools as spreading our ideals to a wider world. She also worked at Brummana School, Lebanon, having accompanied her husband when he was principal. Now some of her service is as a doorkeeper at Yearly Meeting.

Jethro Jeorrett told us of his involvement with young people’s activities through the Society and that he realised how much better he felt when he had been able to give back to the group by helping with the planning and running of events such as Junior Yearly Meeting, where this year he was one of the clerks.

The message seems clear that the gifts do not always need to be monetary. Time and effort are valued as well. However, as Ron Barden told us, we can live on reserves for a year or so but then things have to change. If the interest rates and dividends from our capital investments don’t improve, there are dire straits ahead. We all need to ‘make a budget and be generous’.