Cancer Research UK is currently looking for support in their new campaign to help extinguish tobacco marketing to children. Over 80% of smokers start before the age of 19, with up to 450 under 18’s taking up smoking every day across the UK.

Although tobacco advertising has been banned, children are still exposed to branding on packs and tobacco displays in shops. Cancer Research are aiming to remove vending machines and tobacco from public view, plus the introduction of plain packaging to help reduce the pull towards smoking.

Half of all long-term smokers will die of cancer or other smoking-related diseases. Please join their campaign to help us extinguish tobacco marketing to children by signing their petition here.

For the sake of the children - let’s put tobacco out of sight and out of mind.

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

> > click here to find out more about the work of Cancer Research

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The WWF charity is warning that the world could be heading for an ecological credit crunch to match the financial crisis that is currently engulfing the planet.

Human demands on the world’s natural resources are now at a critical phase, almost a third more than earth can sustain. With around 50 countries slipping into a state of permanent water stress and plant and wildlife on the decline, more than three quarters of the world’s people are now living in nations that are ecological debtors.  These are countries where national consumption far outweighs their capacity to produce natural resources and capture carbon emissions.

America and the United Arab Emirates currently have the world’s biggest ecological footprint on the planet, with the UK coming 15th. The United Kingdom alone has the same ecological footprint as 33 African countries put together, with a single UK resident having more than three and a half times the impact on the planet than the average African.

Director General of WWF International, James Leape, said -

‘Most of us are propping up our current lifestyles, and our economic growth, by overdrawing on the ecological capital of other parts of the world. If our demands on the planet continue to increase at the same rate, by the 2030 we would need the equivalent of two planets to maintain our lifestyles.’

Carbon emissions from fossil fuel use and land disturbance are the greatest component of humanity’s footprint, though reports show that a strong concentration on the efficiency of low emissions could meet projected energy demands to 2050.

Director of campaigns at WWF, David Norman, said –

‘We humans have been very good at creating problems - but we can be equally good at solving them. A sustainable world is not an unachievable goal. As the world looks to restore its economies we must build in long term environmental as well as economic sustainability.’

The WWF is a non profit organisiation who can only sustain their tireless work in saving the planet and its inhabitants through donations. You can also help raise more 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 and would make a fantastic charity gift for a loved one this Christmas.

> > click here to Adopt and Animal with the WWF

View the top Christmas Charity Gifts

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The current food and nutrition crisis in Ethiopia has led to their Government announcing that 6.4 million people in the country are now in need of emergency assistance. An estimated 84,000 children are desperately in need of feeding brought about by the failure of seasonal rains and the global rise in the cost of food and fuel.

The next harvest is not due in affected areas until next September, plus many parts of the country have not yet been reached by UNICEF UK immunisation campaign making measles a threat, particularly among malnourished children.

Immediate measures have been taken to provide feeding centres across Ethiopia, along with trained medical professionals to cope with the increasing demand for food and clean water.  To prevent outbreaks of diarrhoea, UNICEF has also provided community treatment centres and transported medicines to affected communities.

UNICEF UK currently needs an additional 4,000 tons of food, emergency medicines and measles vaccines just to cover the next three months. Whilst a great deal of work has been done to feed the malnourished, progress is being compromised by a shortfall in funds. UNICEF still needs another £15 million, of which £9 million is needed to secure food supplies until the end of the year. Any donations will go along way to help the suffering of the thousands of poverty stricken children in Africa.

Help UNICEF this Christmas with a Charity Gift

You can also help raise funds with UNICEF’s Inspired Gifts programme, where you can purchase virtual presents from a little as £8 for you loved ones which make ideal presents at Christmas time.

> > click here to order an Action Aid inspired gift

> > click here to view the top Christmas Charity Gifts

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Action Aid is organizing a Midsummer Challenge to help raise funds to help fight poverty. The challenge is a full day sponsored trek in the beautiful Snowdonia national park, whilst taking in the spectacular scenery as you climb one of the highest mountains in Wales.

Last years challenge raised over £12,000, helping Action Aid make a lasting difference to people who live below the poverty line. With more than two million people dying each year due unclean water, many lives could be saved with your sponsorship walk. You could even bring your friends and work colleagues along for the journey of a lifetime whilst raising funds to help ActionAid’s work in fighting poverty.

Action Aid will provide a full fundraising information pack and will be on hand to support you every step of the way. No experience is necessary, just enthusiasm and the desire to help make a difference.

>> click here to order more information on the Action Aid Midsummer Challenge

Help Action Aid this Christmas with a Charity Gift

You can also help raise more funds at their charity store, with Action Aid’s Gifts in Action allowing you to purchase virtual presents from a little as £8 which make ideal presents at Christmas time.

> > click here to buy online with Gifts In Action

View the top Christmas Charity Gifts

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The effect that large supermarkets are having on our rural communities and the landscape is huge. For every £1 spent at a supermarket as little as 10p is generated for the local economy. The other 90p leaves the area immediately. But this contrasts with the fact that every £1 spent at a local shop generates up to £3 of further business in your local area.

Campaign to Protect Rural England has recently stepped up its campaign to promote local foods by strongly objecting to Competition Commission proposals which would encourage more supermarkets to be built. If implemented, this measure could force hundreds of small and independent shops out of business, deny the consumer real choice and reduce the availability of local foods.

Supermarkets often do not have a clear definition of what is meant by ‘local food’. CPRE’s definition is that the product should be grown and processed within 30 miles of the store. Waitrose has adopted a definition of local foods based on this recommendation, and we hope that other supermarkets will follow its lead in order to give consumers a genuine, informed choice.

In addition we recently launched a new website run jointly with other organisations called www.makingfoodwork.co.uk. The CPRE are also getting active in local communities and schools to gain more support for local foods through our local branches. For example CPRE Cheshire has started a ‘Buy Local’ award scheme as part of its campaign to support locally-produced food. Eligible businesses include farm shops, market traders, high street shops and restaurants that make significant efforts to provide genuinely local food.

>> Click here to register your support for our local foods campaign.

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The 10th December 2008 will mark the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). In the UDHR, the United Nations stated in clear and simple terms the rights that belong equally to each and everyone of us.

Amnesty International UK campaigns across the world for these rights to be upheld and observed. Since 1961, they have campaigned for thousands of individuals whose human rights have been violated. One such person is Yang Chunlin, who was tortured and imprisoned for simply standing up for the rights of others. Amnesty International is campaigning for his release and to stop the use of torture.

>> You can help by registering your support with Amnesty today.

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Are you stuck for great gift ideas? Perhaps you’re not sure what to get that special someone for a birthday or anniversary – or just to let that person know you’re thinking of him or her? Want to give a gift which will save animals’ lives? If so, PETA Presents could be exactly what you’re looking for!

PETA Presents are a range of innovative charity gifts you can give to a loved one - knowing at the same time that you are helping to end cruelty to animals.

How do PETA Presents work? Well when you make a special gift to PETA, we will send you a wonderful gift card for you to personalise and forward on. There are four cards, each featuring a different, striking image of one of the many rescued animals who has been helped by one of PETA’s affiliates. Each card features a short inscription about the animal and the important work PETA is doing thanks to your support through PETA Presents.

PETA focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time: on factory farms, in laboratories, in the clothing trade, and in the entertainment industry. PETA and its affiliates span the globe to make up the largest force working on behalf of animals.

Every PETA Present chosen from our site supports our vital, lifesaving work. You can be confident in the knowledge that your gift will go straight where it is most needed – to help save animals’ lives.

To give one of these amazing gifts, please visit www.peta.org.uk/petapresents.

View the top Christmas Charity Gifts.

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The WWF charity has set up a Spectacled Bear Christmas Raffle, in aid of the creature that lives high in the cloud forests of the Andes in South America.

The Spectacled Bear is under threat of extinction through its forest home being destroyed and being hunted for its meat, skin and claws. Only a quarter of the original population remain in South America, but the WWF are working with local communities to reduce the conflict between bears and humans.

The draw will take place on 16 January 2009 (closing date for entries is 19 December 2008)

Three lucky winners will scoop £5,000, £1,000 or £500 - with five £100 prizes for runners up.

You can support the WWF’s work around the world by ordering your raffle tickets here, and help safeguard the spectacled bear and its cloud forest home from extinction.

> > click here to make a donation to the WWF

> > click here to find out more about the work of the WWF

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Action Aid’s Child Poverty Day this year is on Friday 17 October, and are asking people help raise money and awareness by holding a Big School Dinner event.

As a nation we spend millions on sandwiches and fast food every day for lunch. On Friday 17th October why not encourage your colleagues to bring their own packed lunch then ask everyone to donate the money they normally spend to ActionAid? 

Every day more than 16,000 children die from hunger, that’s one child every five seconds.

Just £5 will provide breakfast for a child in Malawi every day for a year, whilst just 50p a day will help a whole community access the clean water. So why not put a little fun into your lunchtime with ActionAid’s Big School Dinner, you’ll be amazed the difference your ‘dinner money’ will make. Click here for a registration form.

> > click here to make a donation to Action Aid

> > click here to find out more about the work of Action Aid

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The IDDT was first formed in 1994 to help support not only people with diabetes, but also the partners and parents who have to live with diabetes.

The charity also try’s to help poor children and young people with diabetes, with one of the main problems in developing countries being that many sufferers cannot afford the insulin they need to survive. Daily doses of insulin can help diabetic children grow at a normal rate, but if insulin is unavailable then growth can be impaired. This can lead to sufferers falling into a coma and dying. IDDT help collect all in-date insulin, syringes and blood glucose test strips to send to people in need in both Africa and India.

The Insulin Dependent Diabetes Trust is run entirely by voluntary donations and they do not accept funding from the pharmaceutical industry in order to remain uninfluenced and independent. With your help the IDDT will endeavour to aid diabetes sufferers not just in the UK, but also in some of the world’s most poverty stricken countries

> > click here to find out more about the work of the IDDT

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