The WWF is one of the world’s best known animal charities, helping to protect dangered species. They also work as an environmental charity to help protect habitat such as endangered rain forests. You can help the WWF with a Charity Gift this Christmas for a loved one. we asked the WWF to tell us a bit more about how you can help and where the donations you make will be spent.

How are donations via charity gifts spent by the charity?
Charity donations are spent funding our wide range of conservations and environmental projects across the world, from protecting endangered species and their habitats - such as the Panda and Orang-utan to our work to tackle climate change and our campaigns to lobby governments eg. to cut carbon emissions.  We also use them to fund the administration of these projects.

What percentage of the money goes directly to the cause e.g. no admin costs etc?
We are proud to say that WWF spends 66% of our income on conservation, education and public awareness and 7% on direct support for this work - supporting and training our other offices worldwide working directly on our conservation programmes. A further 26% of our income is spent on fundraising and for every pound we spend on this; nearly £4 is generated for our valuable conservation work. We also spend less than 1% of our income on management and administration.

What are your top gifts for Christmas?

Christmas Charity Gift 1
WWF  ‘Adopt a Wild Animal’ products. Our most popular are :

• Polar bear 
• Orang-utan
• Tiger
• Panda
• We also offer Dolphin, Elephant and Rhino Adoptions

What is in the Adoption pack?
An irresistibly fluffy toy of the adoption species, WWF bag, certificate, photos and a greetings card. We also send three updates through the year, letting you know how your donations are helping.

Xmas Charity Gift 2
WWF Membership

What is in the Membership Pack?
A members handbook, a guide to green living and three issues of WWF Action Magazine a year to keep you up to date on how your support is helping address the very real threat of environmental destruction,  Plus 2 beautiful wildlife fridge magnets.

What makes your Christmas Charity Gifts unique?

Christams Charity Gift 1
WWF ‘Adopt a Wild Animal’
- From just £2.50 a month you can help WWF protect the adoption species and its habitat (and by protecting habitat you are also helping lots of other species that live there.) The adoption animal is a REAL wild animal. A Christmas gift that makes a big difference.

Xmas Charity Gifts 2
WWF Membership
- From £3 a month you can play your part in conserving the future of the natural world and the wildlife and people that depend upon it,  A Christmas gift that makes a big difference.

Delivery Dates :
Last date for ordering for delivery by Xmas – 13th December 2007

>> Adopt an Animal with the WWF

>> Sign up for WWF Membership

>> Top Christmas Charity Gifts

Next in our series introducing Christmas Charity Gift providers we’re going to take a look at Practical Presents which is the charity gift shop for Practical Action who work with poor people in developing nations to develop a better future.

Briefly describe your charity and which areas it works in.
Practical Action (the parent charity of the practical presents charity gift shop) aims to use the power of sustainable technology to reduce poverty in developing countries. We believe that the right idea - however small – can change lives – by creating jobs and improving health and livelihoods. Since 1966, we’ve been working with poor people to develop the skills and technology that will enable them to build a better future. The tools may be simple or sophisticated – but to provide long-term, appropriate and practical answers, we believe they must be firmly in the hands of local people who shape the technology and control it for themselves

How are donations via charity gifts spent by the charity?
All gifts are greatly valued and will fund the whole of Practical Action’s work around the world. To ensure our work grows from strength to strength Practical Action will use your donation wherever the need is greatest. 

What percentage of the money goes directly to the cause e.g. no admin costs etc?
For every £1 of an Practical Presents donation, 83 pence is used for our current and future projects.

 What are your top gifts for Christmas?

• A dynamic donkey
• fluffy ducks
• and gorgeous goats.

What are makes you charity gifts unique?
Unlike novelty socks, a Practical Present is a gift that helps to change lives.

If you’re fed up with sending friends and loved ones gifts they don’t really need, choose a Practical Present instead. We offer lots of ingenious solutions to poverty like a dynamic donkey, the power of water or a clean latrine. Whichever you choose, you’ll receive a gift card, a certificate and a special keepsake for your friend or loved one; and your money will help to support Practical Action’s long term projects in developing countries.

>> Buy a Charity Gift from Practical Presents from just £10.00

>> Read our review of Practical Presents

>> Top Christmas Charity Gifts

This is the first blog from Five Talents, a UK based Microfinance Charity. We have joined up with Donation4Charity to bring news about our work as a charity and news from our projects. The idea is to enable people to read about microfinance – a particularly hot topic in the charity world at the moment - and to enjoy stories and experiences from our projects around the world.

As a charity, Five Talents’ mission is to fight poverty, create jobs and transform lives. We do this by empowering the poor in developing countries to start or expand a small business, using microcredit and savings programs, business training and support. Our motto is “giving a hand-up not a hand-out”. We currently support projects in 9 developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and have three UK volunteers helping our projects in Uganda, Peru and Tanzania. These volunteers are all keeping blogs, and it is here on Donation4Charity that you can hear their latest news first. So, for starters, here’s an introduction :

Simon is our longest serving volunteer, having been at our project in Uganda for over a year now. He used to be a Finance Manager at Diageo in London and decided to do something unusual in Africa instead. The project supports 1,337 poor clients with small loans. In his blog you can find anecdotes about his time in Uganda, including his recent engagement to be married! Look out for his thoughts on Prince Philip, who is coming to Uganda and will be meeting Simon and other Five Talents Uganda staff at the end of this week. (more…)

Continuing our series introducing Christmas Charity Gift providers we’re going to take a look at the Aspinall Foundation who are a UK based animal charity who also run a zoo meaning you can actually see in the flesh the animal you adopt!

Briefly describe your charity and which areas it works in.
The Aspinall Foundation in conjunction with Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks is devoted to protecting rare and  endangered animals, and where possible returning them back to their natural habitat in the wild.

How are donations via charity gifts spent by the charity?
The charity manages two Wild Animal Parks in Kent where we care for more than 1,000 wild animals, many of which are endangered in the wild due to habitat destruction and the bush-meat trade. This work includes managing two gorilla protection and rehabilitation projects in Congo and Gabon where we have reintroduced over 50 gorillas, most of which were rescued from the bush-meat trade.  In the last 3 years we have celebrated 5 successful births to these gorillas. Most recently we celebrated the first birth to a group of gorillas in the Gabon who include 6 gorillas born at Howletts Wild Animal Park, Kent who were returned back to the wild in 2003. 

What are your top charity gifts for Christmas?
You can adopt an animal online today from just £3 per month where you can choose from 20 different endangered species - Adopt in a box the perfect gift for Christmas at £25 – your very own tiger, elephant for gorilla!

What makes you charit gift unique?
The animals you adopt are being protected and cared for by us at our parks in Kent or in Africa – so you could come to visit your adopted animal – many of the animals are also the stars of BBC2 ROAR!

>> Click here to adopt an animal from £3 a month with the Aspinall Foundation

>> Click here to read more about the Aspinall Foundation

>> View top Christmas Charity Gifts

In the lead up to Christmas we have asked a number of charity gift providers to provide us with some information relating to their programme to help you choose the best charity to support when purchasing Christmas Gifts. First up is the RSPB (the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds).

Briefly describe your charity and which areas it works in.
The RSPB is the UK charity working to secure a healthy environment for birds and other wildlife, helping to create a better world for us all. We are the largest wildlife conservation organisation in Europe with over one million members.

Bird populations reflect the health of the planet on which our future depends. Climate change, agricultural intensification, expansion of urban areas and transport infrastructure, and over-exploitation of our seas all pose major threats to birds. The RSPB aims to protect birds and the environment and focuses its work on the species and habitats that are in the greatest danger.

How are donations via charity gifts spent by the charity?
The RSPB could not exist without its supporters and members. Members joining the RSPB via Charity Gifts help us to protect wild birds and the environment in many ways. The RSPB does all of the following with the help of its members and supporters:

• Campaigns on behalf of birds and the environment.
• Protects, restores and manages habitats for birds and other wildlife.
• Owns and manages over 100 nature reserves where wildlife can flourish and people can get closer to nature.
• Researches the problems facing birds and the environment seeking practical solutions.
• Carries out recovery projects for threatened species.
• Helps people enjoy the natural world and learn more about it.
• Tackles wildlife crime and habitat loss.
• Works with landowners and farmers to help countryside birds.
• Champions the cause of biodiversity conservation within the wider debate on sustainable development.
• As well as being active across the UK at national, regional and local levels, the RSPB also tackles international conservation issues through the Birdlife International Partnership – a global coalition of like-minded conservation organisations.

What percentage of the money goes directly to the cause e.g. no admin costs etc?
For every £1 of an RSPB membership fee, 87 pence is channelled into our current and future conservation projects.

What are your top charity gifts for Christmas?
RSPB membership itself is a very popular Christmas gift. RSPB gift memberships can be purchased for adults, families and children, and include free entry into over 100 RSPB nature reserves across the UK, regular magazines and free gifts. Kids’ Wildlife Explorer memberships cost from just £14 for a year and a single adult membership is just £32 a year.

What makes your charity gift unique?
When someone joins the RSPB they are joining over a million members who care about birds and nature. Most members aren’t “bird experts”, they are ordinary people who want to see birds and other wildlife flourish in their natural habitats. Aside from the knowledge that they are helping our vital conservation work, members get free entry into over 100 beautiful RSPB nature reserves, an exclusive members magazine (kids’ magazines are tailored to their age group), and a free bird handbook or seed feeder (for adult memberships – kids’ free gifts are also tailored to their age group). And, for all this, it costs from just £2.67 a month for an adult to become a member of the RSPB. 

Any further comments?
The natural world is vast and wonderful, and RSPB memberships not only help protect wildlife, they can also bring great personal enjoyment

> Click here to purchase an RSPB Membership from just £32 a year for an Adult

>> Click here to read more about RSPB Membership

>> View top Christmas Charity Gifts

This Christmas, why not consider Alternative Gifts such as llamas and loos instead of the traditional socks and smellies, asks international relief and development agency, World Vision.

World Vision’s new Christmas range of Alternative Gifts has 79 gifts to choose from, which will directly benefit 34 of World Vision’s community projects across 16 developing countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa and South America. There are also a variety of gifts that will really save the day for use in major disaster and emergency aid situations and, with all gifts having been requested by the communities, you can be sure your gift really will make a real difference to the lives of others this Christmas time.

With gifts ranging from £5 to £5,000 and a large range of personalised gift cards, there’s something to suit and appeal to everyone.

Newly-wed Clare Oakley recently received £6,000 from her 200 wedding guests who all thought her wish to receive contributions towards Alternative Gifts, instead of wedding presents, was a fantastic idea. Clare commented, “I think it’s a wonderful idea and would encourage anyone wondering what to buy at Christmas to choose World Vision Alternative Gifts. What’s so special about World Vision Alternative Gifts is that they actually go to the communities and specific projects they say they are going to. There’s so much waste at Christmas with unwanted gifts and food but this is a brilliant and worthy idea because you’re helping others with real gifts that are wanted not wasted.”

>> Buy a World Vision’s Alternative Gift from £5.00 and make a difference

>> View Other Charity Gifts

The World Cancer Research Fund have yesterday made public their much awaited report in to the causes of common cancers. The study, conducted over five years by two hundred scientists used statistical data over the last forty years to produce what they say is conclusive evidence that a third of cancer cases in Britain are preventable by taking their recommended guidelines on diet and exercise. It has long been known that smoking is the major cause of cancer but this new evidence suggests that obesity comes a close second in terms of having a direct bearing on the risk of getting a range of cancers including kidney, endometrial, oesophagus, pancreas and breast.

Carrying excess body fat is now the second most important lifestyle factor attributing to cancer cases and experts are advising us to monitor our levels by being aware of our body mass index (BMI). This is calculated by taking a persons weight in kilograms and dividing by their height in square metres - there is an easy tool here that will work out your BMI for you. The ‘healthy’ range for BMI is between 18.5 to 25 however, the World Cancer Research Fund are actually recommending that the best place to be is nearer to 18.5 as the risk of cancer increases once you’re at 25. A BMI of 25 - 29 is considered overweight and therefore at risk and anyone over 30 is considered obese. The advice given is to stay as lean as possible throughout adulthood and to avoid putting on weight after the age of 21.

Other recommendations regarding exercise will not come as welcome news to Britain’s army of couch potatoes. The study concludes that at least 30 minutes a day of ‘vigorous’ exercise a day is required or an hour of moderate exercise in order to be of most benefit in terms of preventing cancer. Specific dietary recommendations were to avoid high density carbohydrates, particularly sugary snacks including fruit juices and sugary carbonated drinks and processed that is high in fat. Also, on the black list is red meat which should be consumed in moderation, no more than 500g per week and processed meat such as ham and bacon should be avoided. Interestingly the claims for a diet rich in fruit and vegetables being a source of cancer prevention are still being made but with a slightly different perspective from the their historical view as being of direct benefit. The World Cancer Research Fund have suggested that a diet containing lots of fruit and veg is still the best option but the benefit comes from this type of diet being associated with low BMI rather than cancer fighting properties of vegetables. This claim is backed up by the assertion that vitamin and mineral supplements are of no use and in some cases could even have a direct bearing on causing some cancers.

It was bad news for those who enjoy a tipple also - alcohol is attributed to up to seven common cancers and the risk increases with any level of consumption. The study did acknowledge the benefits of reducing the risk of heart disease in moderate alcohol consumption but from a cancer point of view abstinence is best.

Cancer Research UK welcomed the report. “Small changes can have a big effect on our cancer risk and everyone needs to take action, individuals as well as government,” said Lesley Walker, director of cancer information.

Here are the top ten tips as recommended by the World Cancer Research Fund :

• Stay as slim as possible throughout adulthood - ideally with a BMI closer to 18.5 than 25.
• Take half an hour’s vigorous exercise every day or an hour’s moderate exercise
• Avoid sugary carbonated drinks and fast food
• Eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day and cereals/grains/pulses with every meal
• Eat no more than 500g of red meat a week and no processed meat at all
• No more than one alcoholic drink a day for a woman and two for a man
• No more than 6g a day of salt (most of the population of Britain currently exceeds this level)
• Dietary supplements (vitamin and mineral pills) not recommended
• Breastfeed exclusively for six months
• Cancer survivors to follow a specific diet tailored to include all of the above recommendations.