A mum from Manchester has set up a JustGiving for her son's birthday party, so that parents of children attending his party can donate money for a 'useful' present instead of buying him gifts.
Paramita Sarkar started the fundraising page ahead of her son Adi's tenth birthday to make it easy for other parents to contribute with cash for a gift that could he could 'appreciate' and 'treasure', rather than receiving toys that he probably won't play with again.
'There is no party without presents but afterwards we are left with boxes of Lego every year which stop getting played with,' the mum told Manchester Evening News.
'They get piled up in boxes and we run out of space to store all the board games - sometimes duplicate ones. So I have set up this JustGiving page where I would request mums to contribute - not donate - instead of buying presents.
'I can then buy something that my boy would actually appreciate and treasure over a long period of time. This is simply to reduce the clutter and buy something really useful.'
Speaking to the local newspaper, the mum confessed that even though she received positive feedback from friends, she was nervous about sharing the request with parents at her son's school for fear of being judged.
'Friends have said it's a good idea so I set up the link, but I'm apprehensive about circulating it at school as I don't want to feel judged,' she said.
The mum would prefer parents to contribute with cash rather than buying her son presents
'I'm hoping they'll be positive when they see it and take it up. If everybody contributed say £15 a time, there'll be 20 people and Adi can actually buy something really nice.'
The parents have raised £90 so far, but the idea hasn't gone down well with everyone. Some people took to the comments section to criticise Paramita, saying the mum shouldn't be advertising her 'cause' on a site where people are fundraising for 'plausible reasons', and accusing the family of being 'greedy'.
One said: 'The cheek of expecting £15 from each child will result in parents not letting their kids go! I think if the presents get wasted as he has so much already it would be nicer to tell the guests that presents are not expected, maybe suggest a small donation to a charity that your son chooses? Not everyone has as much money as you do. Some kids have never had a party and would love to have one, they wouldn't care if they get presents or not! You are quite disgusting and teaching your child to be greedy!'
A second wrote: 'This is disgusting! you should be ashamed of yourselves. It's not as if you can't afford to buy your son this 'treasured gift' yourself! why couldn't you ask family and friends privately for money instead of gifts rather than publicly promoting it? GREED and CHEEK!!!! this website is for people setting up CROWD FUNDING for PLAUSIBLE REASONS!!!'
Another commented: 'Wow what an absolute cheek, have you no shame!!!!!!!'
What do you think of the mum's idea? Would you try the same for your children? Let us know in the comments!
