You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Charities and organizations always give special names to particular days such as ‘National Children’s Day’ and ‘National Non-smoking Day’. What are the reasons for these particular days? How effective are they?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
Sample Answer
It is true that many charities and NGOs organise special days. They are convinced of the need for such days, and I would support their argument that special days are effective and worthwhile.
There are two major reasons why charities and other organisations have special days. Firstly, they may use them as an opportunity to raise funds to support their work. In the UK, for example, the charity ‘Children in Need’ have a special day, with celebrities presenting a show on prime time television, which raises millions of pounds each year. Secondly, they use these special days to enhance their public image, making the most of increased news coverage to inform the public about their aims and achievements. Volunteers talk to people in the streets on such days and offer badges, sometimes even recruiting people to become voluntary workers for the charity.
In terms of effectiveness, these special days are worth all the extra work and preparation which charities devote to organising them. One good example are the days organised by various health awareness campaigns. The charity ‘Samaritans’ in Europe and the USA offers emotional support by telephone to people with mental health problems. It uses a special day to inform people about what they do and to appeal for more volunteers to join their work. Thus, the special day highlights the extent of the problem and appeals to the social conscience of the public.
In conclusion, there are good reasons for organising specific days to publicise the work of particular charities. The special days are both effective and essential to enable them to continue with their valuable work throughout the year.
273 words
Vocab Highlights
non-governmental organizations: NGOs: a charity or association that is independent of government or business
worthwhile: important, enjoyable, interesting – worth spending time, money or effort on
prime time television: the hours during which most people are watching TV
to enhance their public image : to make their company appear more attractive to people
to make the most of something: to make something appear as good as possible; to exploit something; to get as much out of something as is possible.
news coverage: the reporting of news and sport in newspapers, tv, or radio.
to recruit: to find new people to join a company, an organisation, the army etc
health awareness campaigns: publicity to encourage people to be concerned about looking after their health.
to offer emotional support: to give counselling to a person who is suffering from a mental health problem
mental health problems: related to illnesses of one’s mind
social conscience: the state of being aware of the problems that affect a lot of people in society, such as being poor or having no home, and wanting to do something to help these people