I've just adopted a humpback whale

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Well, my Dad has. Fuck knows where he's going to put it.

[EIM]

I used to have one. And a seba's short-tailed bat. And three badgers. And a bear in Greece called Kyriakos.

[Patrick Thistle]

My adopted rhino has got four females pregnant in the last 2 years. I feel quite proud of him.

[EIM]

My adopted rhino has got four females pregnant in the last 2 years. I feel quite proud of him.

He sounds horny.

[Patrick Thistle]

He needs to be. His species is getting poached out of existence.

[Benjm]

I've got a plastic blue whale somewhere from a visit to the Natural History Museum about 40 years ago.

It's an emblematic souvenir in that it is immediately recognisable and lots of people my age seem to have or once have had one.

There hasn't been much success in getting them to breed as far as I know.

[Stumpy Pepys]

Well, my Dad has. Fuck knows where he's going to put it.

As long as it gives him a sense of porpoise …

[WOM]

He needs to be. His species is getting poached out of existence.

Eugh...they're just awful poached. Pan-fried is the way...

[WOM]

You've just reminded me of something my lovely wife wanted, so I've adopted a Wolverine in her name from WWF.

[EIM]

He needs to be. His species is getting poached out of existence.

Straight bat is it? Fine.

[Third rate Leszno]

You've just reminded me of something my lovely wife wanted, so I've adopted a Wolverine in her name from WWF.

I saw one of them in Munich zoo last week. Fierce looking bastard but I struggle to see it being able to bring down a caribou, which is what the information panel said it could do (in the wild presumably, not trotting through Marienplatz on a Thursday night).

[Balderdasha]

I'm pondering the possibly of setting up some sort of "sponsor a young carer" scheme for my charity. We almost certainly can't send out details about actual young carers due to GDPR, etc, but we could maybe develop generic information and send out factoids about what sort of tasks the young carers help with at home and what we spend the sponsorship money on. It needs a bit more thought, but do you think it would work?

[Jah Womble]

How do you get two humpback whales in a car?

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

You've just reminded me of something my lovely wife wanted, so I've adopted a Wolverine in her name from WWF.

Hugh Jackman?

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

My adopted north atlantic humpback whale is female and has had 11 calves with an unknown number of different male whales over the years the team have known her. They sound like they put it about a bit, humpback whales. My dad will like that, he put it about a bit when he was in the merchant navy back in the day.

[WOM]

How do you get two humpback whales in a car?

Well obviously you'd unlock all the doors and....hey wait a minute... this is a just a gag, isn't it?

[Nocturnal Submission]

My adopted north atlantic humpback whale is female and has had 11 calves with an unknown number of different male whales over the years the team have known her. They sound like they put it about a bit, humpback whales. My dad will like that, he put it about a bit when he was in the merchant navy back in the day.

In all seriousness, have you have a conversation with your old man about his sexual history before he met your mum?

[Benjm]

That's not a conversation I'd envisage having while jumping out of the window was still a live option.

[WOM]

If he was in the merchant navy and 'put it about a bit', it might be the sort of thing a fella would be prone to talking about in later life.

[ursus arctos]

Balders, as is the case with most fundraising ideas, I think it is rather dependent on your expected base of contributors.

Ideally, you would want something that will bring new punters in without cannibalising existing support. That is particularly important if the new programme is more restrictive with regard to the entity's use of the funds or otherwise limited (it occurs to me that sponsoring an individual carer could cause the funder to step away when the carer "graduates" or otherwise leaves the programme).

You are almost certainly an infinitely better judge of that anyone of us can be, because you know the population much better. Do you know if any of the local sports clubs have a "sponsor a player" scheme? Those are much more of a thing in England than they are here, and could perhaps give some indication of the community's openness to the concept.

Another approach could be to come up with a prescribed amount (per month or per year) that would be sufficient to fund a single carer but not actually restricted in any way. I believe that this is in fact how most of the "adopt an animal" schemes function in practice.

[WOM]

I'm pondering the possibly of setting up some sort of "sponsor a young carer" scheme for my charity. We almost certainly can't send out details about actual young carers due to GDPR, etc, but we could maybe develop generic information and send out factoids about what sort of tasks the young carers help with at home and what we spend the sponsorship money on. It needs a bit more thought, but do you think it would work?

I think this sounds great. It would be interesting to create 'generic' profiles of carers to give potential donors an idea of what these carers are dealing with. ie " 'Richard' is 15 years old. Before school and after, he helps his mum who has MS to clean the house, cook family meals and raise his 8 year old sister. Your donation of £5 a month will ensure he has coverage one evening each week so that he can go to a movie / football game / supporters' meeting to help him cope / relax."

I think there's a lot of equity in the idea of Support Those Who Support Others / Care for A Carer / 'you're helping to shoulder the load'.

Let me know if you need someone to write stuff. S'wot I do.

[Balderdasha]

I might well take you up on that offer WOM, thanks. Let me run the idea past the board first.