Rejected petition Make celebrities donate before featuring in charity appeals.

It’s hypocritical for the richest citizens to request money from the poorest and feel they are doing their bit by simply asking. The publicity hungry celebrities are those who can most afford the donations they are appealing for. Children In Need would be more successful if celebrities appearing on them had to donate. In the recent Scotland versus England friendly football match, an Ebola charity plea was made by footballers Darren Fletcher and Wayne Rooney, for donations of £5 to the cause. Footballers earn astronomical wages - in his most recent contract Rooney receives ‘up to £300,000 a week…just under £30 every minute.’ (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport), meaning he earned over ten times the amount of money he requested from the public in donations, in the minute and a half appeal. Surely this isn’t right? We are not asking for celebrities to cease fundraising for charities, but to put their hands into their own overflowing pockets before requesting the money of the general public.