AS we get into the spirit of Christmas, I know that many of your readers are considering making donations to charity. I therefore hope they won’t be dissuaded by the BBC Panorama programme Addicted to Aid earlier which claimed that aid from western governments to Africa is often misspent.

As a volunteer ambassador for the agricultural development charity Send a Cow, I know that donations are extremely effective, when they are channelled through grassroots organisations.

I recently visited Send a Cow’s practical agricultural projects in the Rift Valley in Ethiopia. There I saw how the charity works closely with community groups to make sure it is giving the type of assistance that is most needed. I learned how staff monitor the projects to make sure that all funds are used wisely. I can also reassure readers that Send a Cow does not channel money through governments, but instead administers its funds itself.

Small-scale charities such as Send a Cow really do use donations from the UK public to enable poor families in Africa to change their lives. I hope your readers will continue to give generously this Christmas.

GRAEME QUAR, West Meon.