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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The UK Climate Impact Programme’s anticipated study of the threat climate change has to the UK will be released on Thursday 18th June 2009. The study will show how the UK’s weather will effect the country over the next hundred years, has been devised using the recent advances in climate science to better understand some of the uncertainties associated with climate change estimates.

Head of Climate Change at WWF charity, Keith Allott, said -

It’s great that the Government has decided to put together such a scientifically robust analysis of the potential impacts of climate change in the UK, but the picture it paints is an alarming one. This research confirms that not only is climate change already having a serious impact in Britain, but that we are also locked into further impacts, and that these impacts will get much worse unless we act now to tackle the problem.

What’s really worrying, is the fact that if these are the kind of impacts we can expect to see in the  UK, then the world’s most vulnerable countries are facing an even bleaker future. It is vital that the developed world breaks out of the collective denial seen at the recent UN climate talks in Bonn, and starts to face up to their obligation to take action on climate change now.

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

Cancer Research UK and Lovefilm have joined forces to make you an ‘offer you can’t refuse’! Lovefilm will now be donating £10 to Cancer Research UK for every new member who signs up for their free 30 day trial. Even if you don’t extend to full membership, the donation will still be given, plus, if you decide to stay on as a member, Lovefilm will also donate another 5% of your monthly subscriptions to Cancer Research.

As an avid user of Lovefilm myself, you can use their delivery service as often or as little as possible. You simply log on to their website, choose a plethora of films and wait for them to send them to you separately or in bundles of 2 or 3. Other great Lovefilm features include -

• Over 65,000 titles to choose from
• Free first class postage to your door and back
• No late fees – keep them as long as you like.
• No obligations, no minimum contract

If you are already a Lovefilm customer you can now also choose to make a £1 donation to Cancer Research UK every month on top of your monthly subscription fees. So why not sign up to Lovefilm and start enjoying their 30 day free trial whilst helping raise funds for Cancer Research UK.

> > Click here sign up for your free 30 day Lovefilm trial today

Don’t forget everyone, Father’s Day is just round the corner. On Sunday 21st June, we will all be thanking that bloke slumped in his chair taking 40 winks for all he has taught us over the years…

how to ride a bike, how to dodge a fight, how to climb a tree, how to swim the sea!

So why not get a little extra for the big fella this year and choose one of Present Aid‘s ethical gifts, along with a card letting him know how his present is helping to change the lives of people living in poverty around the world. The gift you choose will represent the kind of project that will benefit from your purchase, such as -

• Can of worms to fertise crops
• Computer training for a students
• Improve hygiene with a Latrine

A charity gift on Father’s Day is a great way to say thank you, it’s the gift that keeps on giving.  Plus for a limited time with every Present Aid order over £30 you will receive 90g of delicious, Fairtrade Divine Chocolate absolutely FREE!

So why not show your Dad some appreciation this Father’s Day, after all, if it wasn’t for him, you wouldn’t be here to ruin his life!

> > Click here to order with Present Aid

View other top charity gifts