This Saturday see’s ‘Stop Climate Chaos’ group members Oxfam UK, WDM, RSPB UK, People & Planet, NUS, Christian Aid UK & the WI get together to put on the first ‘Mili-band’ event of the summer at the Kingsnorth summer fête in Kent. The event is being held at the proposed site of a new coal power station at Kingsnorth, with the aim to show government minister in charge of UK climate change policy, Ed Miliband, that the UK must show true global leadership on tackling climate change.

The plan for the day is to form a giant human band around Kingsnorth and send an unmissable message that a clean, low-carbon future can be the only way forward at UN climate meeting in Copenhagen this December. It promises to be a family friendly fête atmosphere, with music from Get Cape Wear Cape Fly alongside internationally renowned Ugandan musician Geoffrey Oryema, plus loads of fun activities such as dancing, face-painting and lots of interesting and informative eco stalls.

Ed Miliband has already pushed through a Climate Change Act which commits the UK to an impressive 80% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but still needs to invest in low carbon solutions not a coal power station. This day of solidarity will hopefully convince the UK government to ditch its plans to build the power station in Kingsnorth and think more towards a cleaner future.

> > Click here to find out more about the ‘Stop Climate Chaos’ Summer Fete

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With nearly 10 million children dying before their fifth birthday through preventable illnesses like measles and diarrhoea, World Vision UK is calling on the G8 to address the economic and financial crisis which are causing these deaths across the globe. A decade ago, world leaders laid out plans to cut the death rate among children under 5 by two thirds by 2015. Yet even now, with only six years left to reach that target, there are still parts of Africa that are not even a tenth of the way to reaching that goal.

With the leaders of the G8 meeting in Naples, Italy this month, World Vision is inviting you to join them in calling for the promises of 10 years ago to be kept and the necessary steps to tackle this health crisis upheld. However, with the current global economic crisis there is the distinct possibility that the G8 could limit the support for aid, which would hit the world’s poorest countries the hardest. Figures have already suggested that nearly 3 million additional children could die by 2015 as a result of the financial crisis and the rising cost of food.

The G8 members now have a vital role to play in protecting those most likely to be effected by the global financial crisis. To financially fulfill the promises made a decade ago, the G8 would need to prioritise just 2% of the current domestic economic stimulus packages on aid to support child health. This small percentage would have a real impact in preventing illness and death of millions of the world’s poorest children.

With the majority of deaths caused by diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria which can be prevented through access to basic antibiotics and immunisation, World Vision are asking you to reach out and send a message to Gordon Brown to invest in the global health of the world. In the last 7 years alone, the number of children dying under 5 years old has been reduced by 2 million thanks to the increase in aid for basic health services by 70%. It is time for the world leaders to act now and make a stand to make the promises of 10 years ago come true.

> > Click here to ‘Send a Message’ to Gordon Brown with World Vision UK

Help World Vision by sponsoring a child

The World Vision Sponsor a Child programme is a great way to give a needy child a real chance of escaping poverty. As part of a long-term program, your continued support enables World Vision to use your donations to build sustainable communities in partnership with the people who live there.

You can provide a child with a better future for just 60p a day - giving them a real chance of escaping poverty.

You get to see and feel the difference your support makes directly, through the eyes of your sponsored child and their regular letters and photographs.

> > Click here to sponsor a child with World Vision UK

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UNICEF UK has launched a new campaign to help raise money for the estimated 246,000 street children in the Philippines, who face numerous problems such as malnutrition, lack of education, whilst also being at risk to drug abuse, violence and exploitation. Whilst working alongside other local charities and the Philippino Government, UNICEF are concentrating thier efforts on taking children off the streets and putting them into shelters.

UNICEF UK Trustee and international consultant on children’s rights, Gerison Lansdown, said -

Whether it’s a right to health, education or a childhood, there’s a clear legal obligation on governments and societies to ensure that the necessary provisions are in place to ensure that it is realised for every child. Childhood is a unique window, when children develop much more rapidly. They need protection, food and shelter, family care and an environment in which they can thrive. It can only really be defined as a childhood if those things are in place.

Unfortunately, many children all over the world are forced into early labour and sexual exploitation. They’re living in situations of extreme poverty, violence and conflict. And what that does is deny them the right to a childhood. So it’s important to recognise what needs to be in place to give children the opportunity to fulfil their potential and develop without harm.

UNICEF is now helping ro provide local social workers and street educators to befriend the children and provide some life skills and basic healthcare, whicjh in turn can lead on foster care. UNICEF are also working to contact families to reunite existing street children with their parents, whilst also working within at-risk communities to help tackle the root causes of the problem.

The UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child, set up in 1989, promised the world to fulfil every child’s right to be educated, to be healthy, to be treated fairly and to be heard. Though there has been significant progress, there still remains a lot to be done, as millions of children across the globe continue to suffer and die.

Help Support UNICEF UK with a Charity Gift

You can help raise funds with UNICEF Inspired Gifts. Presents start at just £8, and for a little as £16 you could buy a virtual present like five footballs for children in refugee camps. There are so many to choose from, and charity gift would make an ideal present for a loved one…

It’s the present that keeps on giving.

> > Click here to purchase a UNICEF UK Inspired Gift

View Top Charity Gifts

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The WWF charity feels lack of conservation measures are the main cause of small whales disappearing from the world’s oceans and waterways through fishing, pollution and habitat loss. These inadequate methods are now pushing dolphins, porpoises and smaller whales towards extinction as they receive much less political attention than the larger members of the species.

Larger whales have been under increased protection since 1986 due to the International Whaling Commission, but smaller cetacean hunts still continue around the globe. 40 of the 69 small cetacean species are now classified as ‘data deficient’, which means there is not enough information available to determine their population or record losses.

Species Policy Officer at WWF-UK, Heather Sohl, said -

Although great whale species of the world are by no means secure and still require conservation attention, the situation is just as critical for these smaller, seemingly forgotten species. It is time for the IWC and its members to take full responsibility for the conservation future of all whales great and small.  The IWC – and the world - must not ignore the small whales of our planet until it is too late. If small cetaceans are not central to negotiations on current whaling, it is possible that conservation successes achieved for great whales could simply result in a shift of problems from great whales to small cetaceans.

Small cetaceans fulfill a critical role in our environment, stabilising a healthy and productive ecosystem, whilst also being part of the highly profitable whale and dolphin watching industry which generates over US $1.5 billion worldwide each year.

Help WWF UK with a Charity Gift

The WWF is a non profit organisiation who can only sustain their tireless work in saving the planetand its inhabitants through donations. You can help raise funds through the WWF Adopt an Animal scheme.

From as little as £3 a month you receive a certificate, a print of your animal, a greetings card, and a soft toy that would make a fantastic charity gift for a loved one.

> > Click here to Adopt an Animal with WWF UK

View other top charity gifts

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Sport 4 Life UK - a charity dedicated to changing lives through the power of sport - has FREE charity places on the following high profile runs:

BUPA Great North Run

Join the Sport 4 Life UK team and over 55,000 runners at the world’s most iconic half marathon on Sunday 20th September 2009. Experience unrivalled atmosphere, have fun, show your determination, and do something worthwhile…and you might even make it onto BBC television.

Minimum sponsorship of £150 applies.

BUPA London 10,000

Join the Sport 4 Life UK team in the Bupa London 10,000 on the 31st May 2010. Organised by the team responsible for the world famous Flora London Marathon the route will be based upon the Olympic Marathon circuit that will be used in the 2012 Olympic games. Starting at the mall and finishing in front of Buckingham Palace this is one event not to be missed!

Minimum sponsorship of £200.

To sign up contact James on 0121 429 4700 or james@sport4life.org.uk

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Christian Aid UK recently held their Alternative Tax Awards OUTSIDE the Hilton Park Lane in London as the accountancy industry celebrated its achievements in tax bill minimisation inside. As part of the Big Tax Return campaign, Christian Aid questioned those attending the awards inside about the fact that poor countries are losing $160 billion a year through tax dodging, with a large majority extremely positive about the campaign.

The Alternative Tax Awards mission was to highlight that poor countries are losing out on vast amounts of money which could help them pay for desperately needed schools and hospitals. The Big Tax Return is all about getting poor countries their money back, and now UK companies will have to declare their profits and tax bills in all countries in which they operate, not just at home.

Thanks to the many emails sent by Christian Aid supporters urging the government to enforce country by country tax reporting country by country, poor countries will now be able to hopefully save billions of dollars every year.

Help Christian Aid with a Charity Gift

Present Aid is Christian Aid’s online shop and offers ‘virtual charity gifts’ which will help to change the lives of poor people worldwide. These fantastic gifts have the power to transform lives and with more than 40 gifts to choose from you can buy a gift for that special someone who has everything and they will receive -

• A beautiful card illustrating how the gift will work in the real world. With gifts for all budgets you can be sure that whatever you buy from Present Aid is a  charity gift with real meaning and lasting benefits.
• Order today! - For every order placed Present Aid will give you a beautiful calendar (while stocks last) containing the most powerful and inspiring images of their work around the world.

> > click here to purchase a charity gift with Present Aid

View other top charity gifts

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Over the past 12 months Shelter UK has been inundated with private tenants who face homelessness after their landlord’s property has been repossessed during the credit crunch. Tenants currently have no legal rights when a landlords residence is repossessed, leading to many tenants losing the roof over their head with no prior notice when the bailiffs knock on the door.

With many tenants in the private rented sector now at risk of losing their homes, over 100 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion calling for changes to the law to avoid a potential crisis across the UK. The law is now going to be changed to help protect private tenants, Shelter has warned the Government that this action must be put in place today with so many people currently experiencing the backlash from the credit crunch. In many cases across the UK, tenants have returned home from work to find their belongings on the street and the locks changed on their accommodation.

Chief Executive of Shelter, Sam Younger, said -

With many landlords facing repossession in the current climate, tenants have been coming to our advice services across the country desperately needing protection against sudden eviction. In many cases they knew nothing about it until the very last minute and have nowhere to turn. We hope the new legislation will be implemented soon so that it can start making a real difference on the ground. We very much welcome this announcement as Shelter has been calling on the Government to introduce more effective regulation of landlords.

Effective regulation would help cut down on landlord abuses in the private rented sector, provide greater protection for tenants and give tenants the right to complain about landlords. We know many landlords are individual buy-to-let investors or people who simply can’t sell their property and therefore rent it out. But its still important they realise that being a landlord is a huge responsibility and not something to be undertaken lightly. At present the rules are heavily weighted against the tenant, but new robust regulation would mean landlords who flout their responsibilities would be banned from operating in the future.

The Government’s latest action to try and help stop these evictions come in response to tireless campaigning from Shelter, Crisis, Citizens Advice and the Chartered Institute of Housing. Warnings need to be given to tenants when their landlord has defaulted on mortgage payments, as tenants should not face instant eviction through no fault of their own.

> > Click here to make a donation to Shelter UK

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Please watch Cancer Research UK’s latest television advertisment below featuring Claire, a teenager that has cancer, and Jean, a grandmother who has beaten cancer. This advert shows how cancer really can effect any age group, but also that through donations, the research to help fight cancer still continues.

Half of the people diagnosed with cancer now survive beyond 5 years, and from as little as £2 a month you can help raise funds to aid the treatment and research needed to try and stop this disease. Between 2007/08, £333 million was spent on scientific research, and without your help this would not be possible.

You can also help by purchasing a charity gift from the Cancer Research gift shop. There’s a great selection of gifts to choose from, plus they offer a great gift wrapping service and super fast delivery. Plus you have the piece of mind to know that all profits are going towards the fight to help beat cancer.

> > Click here to make a donation to Cancer Research UK

Top charity gifts

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Cancer Research UK’s have launched their Run 10k events for 2009 and this year promises to be the biggest and best series yet. By bringing together 60,000 men and women across the country this autumn they aim to raise £6 million pounds to help fund life-saving work and research into preventing, diagnosing and treating cancer.

These events are happening all around the country at a wide variety of locations in the autumn and are open to men and women of all running abilities. All that matters is you have fun, get fit and help raise money for this incredible cause.

Why not see if you can rope family and friends into entering too and make a pact to train together? It’s so much easier when you have others to spur you on.

Sign up, get sponsored, and you will help save lives.

> > Click here to find your nearest event and enter

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Those of you who use the micro blogging internet service, Twitter, may have noticed that ‘#charitytuesday’ has now appeared. Organised by the voluntary organisation Lovebox, ‘#charitytuesday’ has been set up to highlight a different charity every month. People are then asked to ‘wear’ a virtual badge and contribute to a conversation rather than cash, for the day.

‘#charitytuesday’ is currently promoting WWF UK as their promotion of the month, with many charities using the day to talk to their supporters, and to raise awareness of up and coming projects. This is a great way to target potential supporters instead of stopping them on the street, as charities can
simply post information for followers to access in their own time.

The tag sign (#) that is added at the start, is a way Twitter users can organise their content in a more manageable fashion. It is now 5 weeks since the launch of #charitytuesday, and has now become a stable trend on the site.

One of the founders of Lovebox, Darshan Sanghrajka, said -

We tried it, and it worked within two hours. Not only did supporters start backing Lovebox’s chosen charity, Cancer Research UK, by ‘wearing’ a virtual badge, but they also began talking far more widely about charity issues.

So it looks like you can do more on Twitter than find out about Lily Allen’s dinner and Jonathan Ross’ toilet habits!

> > Click here to follow the Donation4charity blog on Twitter

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