I really enjoy doing charity work.

Four hours in a back room sorting donated coats into three piles, radio on, tea at eleven. That's the texture of most of it — nothing like the photograph on the website.

The enjoyment is real and worth being honest about: a clear task, decent company, an afternoon where nobody wants anything complicated from you. People sometimes feel they ought to be moved instead, and get suspicious of themselves for merely having a nice time. The coats get sorted either way, and the volunteers who come back for nine years are the ones who liked the room.