Philanthropy beats super-yachts

Your article last week in which Tom Rawstorne reminisced about his weekend on a

£50 million oligarch’s boat that was recently seized in Gibraltar gave me food for thought.

We have heard that billionaire oligarchs’ assets have been frozen. It occurred to me that had they spent their money more wisely, there would have been little to seize in the way of property. There are things in life that might not be as tangible as a super-yacht and yet are much more valuable and worthwhile. One of them is philanthropy.

Who can measure the incredible positive effect of enhancing the lives of hospice inpatients, for example, given that hospices receive very little government funding? The same goes for charities that do their utmost to disseminate information and provide practical and emotional support to various people, be it dementia sufferers and their families or bereaved parents.

Then there are schools, theatre, music and arts groups to support. What a joy it would be, for me anyway, to be wealthy and a philanthropist. It would be an adventure, much more exciting than being served hand and foot in the lap of luxury.

Efrosyni Hobbs,

Eltham, London