Every business should try to give something back, either to the community it’s part of or to the greater good as a whole - at least, that’s a belief I hold. I’m not saying this because I’m some sort of saint. In fact, “saint” is not a word people often use when they’re talking about me. “Grumpy” is.

In fact, at a very basic level, giving something back is a purely selfish act. It makes me feel good.

I enjoy supporting charities and I like offering work experience to students.

In the past, though, I’ve supported charities that have come to me. About 14 months ago, I decided I’d be more proactive and seek out those charities that I wanted to help. My daughter was one at the time and I was deeply affected by a presentation that I saw at a fundraising dinner hosted by the Hope Foundation, which looks after abandoned street children in Calcutta, India. As a (relatively new) parent, it was heartbreaking to see children of a similar age abandoned.

After the dinner, I met with Maureen Forrest, the founder of the charity, and offered to make a donation to the charity for every wedding booking that I received for 2008. We also included a Hope leaflet with the marketing materials we sent to brides and handed out at shows.

Rather than make a fuss, couples were never told that we were donating part of their photography fee to Hope. I was keen not to turn it into a marketing angle.

With only a couple of months of my arrangement with Hope left and with this blog drawing a good few visitors every week, time has come to give the charity a plug here on the blog as the fundraising draws to a close.

The foundation does great work for children in desperate circumstances. Click any of the links in this post to visit Hope’s site.

A word of warning: A visit to the site won’t leave you unaffected.