High flying sportsmen in their 20’s are too concerned with blowing money, or snorting it, to be much use as givers to charities.

This is the view of Philip Beresford, author of the Sunday Times Rich List who told Third Sector magazine that such “collisions of having a lot of money with testosterone” are nevertheless invaluable as the “PR fronts” for charities. According to a recent article in the Daily Telegraph the number of 16-24 year olds prepared to admit taking cocaine doubled in the eight years between 1998 and 2006 with an estimated 375,000 admitting to taking the drug in the 12 months to March this year. This was a period in which more that one in five young people (1.35 million) admitted they smoked cannabis. (British Crime Survey – the Home Office).

Martin Barnes CEO of the drug information charity DrugScope told the newspaper: “The continued use of cocaine powder, particularly among young people is of concern. We have highlighted the increase availability and affordability of powder cocaine, a drug which has both severe health risks and potential for dependency”.