I suppose I always knew this day would come but it was still a bit of a shock when our bank, who have been very supportive of us since we opened the business, have decided to start charging us for our charity account. This is a separate account used only for handling charity donations for clients. As most people give donations in the form of cheque payable to the charity concerned, the majority of money that passes through this account is cash from the collection plate at the crematorium. Cash is paid in, about a month later a cheque is issued, for the amount paid in, to the nominated charity. Only the charities nominated by bereaved families receive any money from this account, we don’t charge for the time we spend administering donations but now we are going to have to pay for the privilege of handling charity money. It’s a sign of the times I guess.