The Sun, Mirror and the Mail, not to mention Radio 5 (who interviewed me today) have all got very hot under the collar about Barnardo's paying a minor Celebrity Binky Felstead (sic) to back a retail campaign. So why all the fuss? Staff get paid, actors and after dinner speakers get paid - you need them under contract to ensure they turn up and do what the say they will. I have intimate knowledge (and the scars) of relying on celebs goodwill when they say they will turn up on a wet Friday night in Shepperton and then get a better offer. By having a contract everyone knows where they are. If the celebrity then choses to donate back their fee that is a win-win but if they don't?

Good practice dictates that we fundraisers ask people to do stuff for free all the time. It's called volunteering. However if that person is the right "face" or has the right skill set and is only mildly committed how much better to be safe than sorry. Or perhaps I really am getting too grumpy even for these pages. Have you ever paid a celebrity? If not why not?