Geldof hectors the rich to give to the poor

Charities seeking to raise money should think twice about enlisting the services of Bob "give us your fucking money" Geldof. That appears to be the view of the StratREAL Foundation, which booked the Irishman for an event it staged recently at the Dorchester Hotel. Geldof was there to butter up the crowd prior to a charity auction, but instead unleashed a torrent of abuse at the guests, mostly well-heeled city types.

"He came out with a string of four letter words and kept telling us we were rich enough to write out blank cheques to the charity," said a disgruntled guest.

"That sort of hectoring isn't the way to put a grown-up audience into a munificent frame of mind, particularly not at the moment when people are being made redundant in the city every day."

The guest claimed the subsequent auction, conducted by Lord Dalmeny from Sotheby's, was like "pulling teeth". For example, a week in Dubai - complete with return first class air fares - went for a bargain basement £3,000.

Geldof was unrepentant about the bad language. "Yeah, that's standard," he said glibly. "I think they would have been cruelly disappointed if there had been no four-letter words from me."

Lord Dalmeny, however, was less scathing. He admitted he'd conducted more successful auctions, but he felt that the £100,000 raised was "respectable" and paid particular tribute to business tycoon and philanthropist Gerald Ronson for his generosity.