Olive Cooke, 92, threw herself from the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol last week after 'losing her faith in people' and giving away most of her pension. Mrs Cooke (pictured right as a young woman) dedicated herself to charity and vowed to sell poppies (inset) each year when her beloved first husband Leslie was killed in action during the Second World War.
The widow - who admitted she 'couldn't say no' to charities - had in return been 'overwhelmed' by letters and phone calls asking her for yet more donations. Before her death she had complained about receiving more than 260 charity letters a month (left is Mrs Cooke pictured last year with some of the letters) and until last year she had 27 direct debits. Family said the former postal worker gave away most of her state pension but had begun to struggle with her finances. Close friend Michael Earley said: 'She felt she had given so much and she couldn't give any more.' MPs have today called for reforms to stop charities preying on the vulnerable.
Culled from daily Mail
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