Richard Littledale
Richard Littledale
radio microphone
BBC Radio 2Sarah Kennedy Show
Pause for Thought
Richard Littledale: Series 3, Number 4
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Monday 12 May 2008

If you can find one, why not pick up a coin whilst you're listening to this? Any coin will do. Heft it in your hand. Run your thumb around its smooth edge - or its rough edge if it's a posh one! Trace its surface with your finger. Look more carefully and you might even be able to see the odd scratch or dent on its surface picked up over the years.

I wonder how many that pockets that coin has jangled in? How many times has it sat encased in the dark at the bottom of somebody's purse? Its probably been in and out of dozens of tills - big supermarkets, little shops, a bank or two - you name it, its been there. I suppose one day it will get so bashed and battered, with the queen's head all rubbed off and the date obscured that something will have to be done. It will end up chucked into a big hopper, melted down and recycled.

When you give to charity, as many will do this Christian Aid week, its all about recycling really. It's a way of recycling that money into something more useful before its time is up. A bit of money here could buy a school in Ghana, or vital medical help in Bangladesh or a goat for a family in the Sudan.

Its funny, isn't it, to think of turning money into something more useful? After all, we all work hard enough to get it in the first place.

Some years ago, I was privileged to count an Olympic athlete amongst my friends. He was at the top of his game, competing around the world and winning lots of medals and trophies along the way. One evening when he was round at my house for a meal, I can remember him drumming his feet against my kitchen cupboard and saying that he couldn't wait to do something 'really important with his life' 'Really important', I thought? 'You're an international athlete, respected throughout your profession and winning medals wherever you go'. But he was right. No-one can stay at that level forever. He wanted to use all that energy and drive for something which would benefit others - which he is now doing.

Now you've got that coin out, why put it back in the dark again? Perhaps it doesn't want to go back in the murky depths of your pocket, or rub shoulders with its companions in your purse. Maybe now its had a taste of freedom it wants to do something more useful with its life. Why not recycle it today?

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© BBC 2008
This talk by Richard Littledale was first broadcast as BBC Radio 2's
breakfast time "Pause for Thought" during the Sarah Kennedy show.
It is reproduced here by permission of the BBC.