Archive for January, 2010

Christian Aid UK is calling for the full cancellation of Haiti’s debt in response to the devastating earthquake which has affected thousands of people. Haiti needs long term support along with emergency financial assistance due to the worst disaster in its history, and with a current debt of $890m, they will need no strings attached loans to help rebuild.

Haiti has made huge payments on servicing its foreign debt over the last 200 years, yet with $890m still owed mostly to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Inter-America Development Bank, this latest disaster will stop Haiti ever having a chance of getting back on it’s feet. The World Bank has announcement plans to waive repayments for five years, but to be given a fighting chance Haiti needs the Bank and the IMF to cancel its debts in full.

You can help the people of Haiti by sign the online petition below, calling for chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling to use his influence as the UK’s representative to the IMF and help cancel Haiti’s debt.

> > Click here to sign the Christian Aid petition

The World Vision charity is still continuing to distribute relief supplies in Haiti, even though a number of big aftershocks have hit Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital. After last weeks magnitude-7 earthquake, World Vision were straight on the scene to give out food, blankets, water containers and hygiene kits to thousands of Haitians.

So far, World Vision has reached 10,000 people with aid relief, with distributions continuing to local hospitals and medical clinics to help treat quake victims. World Vision is also helping to prepare and distribute hot meals to earthquake survivors with the assistance of local restaurants, with further airlifts carrying crucial aid due to arrive this week. So far World Vision have -

• Distributed emergency items around Haiti
• Provided medical supplies to 11 hospitals and health centres
• Supplied food and water to an orphanage of 150 children
• Deployed volunteers to provide assistance at local clinics
• Flown two planes of supplies to Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingo

World Vision UK Chief Executive, Justin Byworth, said -

The extreme poverty in Haiti already makes children extremely vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, and unregulated adoptions could open the door to child traffickers. Children should not be leaving Haiti at this stage except with surviving family members or if adoptions already in process have full required legal documents. We are concerned not only about premature overseas adoption but also about children increasingly being sent unaccompanied to the Dominican Republic.

World Vision is calling for as much help as possible to try and help the people of Haiti at this impossibly difficult time. By making a donation to World Vision, you will be helping to raise the funds to provide those most devastated by the earthquake with the food, water and medical assistance they require at this terrible time.

> > Click here to make a donation to World Vision’s Haiti Appeal

The NSPCC charity has managed to sign up nearly 30,000 people to their Safety.Net campaign petition, which tells the Government that the internet must be made safer for children as soon as possible. The petition was launched 6 months ago in June 2009, and will be presented today at 10 Downing Street by NSPCC staff and celebrity supporter Levi Roots.

The petition is calling on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to take swift and decisive action to -

1. Stop the use of software for private sharing of child abuse images.
2. Block children’s mobile phone access to adult content.
3. Ensure social networking sites protect children by proactively reviewing & removing offensive/illegal content.
4. Pre-install child safety software on all computer and mobile web devices.
5. Make therapeutic services available for children who have been abused and had pictures and films of the abuse appear on the internet.
6. Provide specialist training for professionals who deal with online offenders.

Due to the umlimited access children now have to the internet, it is now time to put into place measures to help shop people praying on the young via the worldwide web. One recently developed measure is the ImSafer Child Internet Security tool, which alerts parents via an email or text if it detects any signs of bullying or grooming during online activities. This preventory measure is a great way for parents to protect their children without being seen to be checking up on them.

Help the NSPCC today

The NSPCC help thousands of children each year, and with your donations they can endeavour to answer more calls from children who struggle to get through on their busy phone lines.

The NSPCC childrens charity are eager to raise £50million to help expand their UK services and recruit nearly two thousand volunteers. By donating to the NSPCC you can help stop atrocities happening to children.

> > click here to make a donation to the NSPCC

> > Click here to order ImSafer today

Fashion designer Jeff Banks is asking the nation to donate unwanted clothes and help raise £2m for the NSPCC charity. The Great British Clothes Clearout is a fantastic new incentive aimed at collecting more than 5 million bags of second hand clothing in the next 2 years in partnership with clothing collection agent Clothes Aid. Mr. Banks has even cleaned out his own warehouse, donating over 1,000 garments from his many design collections for the launch.

Jeff said -

I think clothes are there to be worn, not be hidden away in your wardrobe! So I want everyone to join the NSPCC’s Great British Clothes Clearout to help prevent cruelty to children. Everyone has a few fashion horrors hidden away at home. For me it’s my suits. The ones from the 80s are probably back in fashion! So I’m having my own Clothes Clearout for the NSPCC – I hope everyone will join me and cast off those terrifying textiles!

Over 60% of the 2 million tonnes of textiles that are purchased in the UK every year, end up as waste. By donating your unworn garments and good quality used clothing to Clothes Aid, you will be extending the lifespan of your unwanted items and help raise much needed funds.

NSPCC head of corporate partnerships Tracy Griffin, said -

We know many people find it hard to give financially during this challenging economic climate. So giving unwanted clothes, shoes, or other textiles is a great alternative way for people to support the NSPCC. Join in the NSPCC Great British Clothes Clearout and start the new decade with only the clothes you love to wear in your wardrobe!

Donations can be picked house to house collections, so keep your eye open for NSPCC branded bags posted through your letterbox. Plus if you organise a drop in at your work, Clothes Aid will even stop off and do a one off collection for 200 bags of clothes or more – I think I may have about 200 bags worth myself!

So why not have a rummage around and create some room in your closet, whilst also helping raise money for the NSPCC?

Help the NSPCC today

The NSPCC help thousands of children each year, and with your donations they can endeavour to answer more calls from children who struggle to get through on their busy phone lines.

The NSPCC childrens charity are eager to raise £50million to help expand their UK services and recruit nearly two thousand volunteers. By donating to the NSPCC you can help stop atrocities happening to children.

> > click here to make a donation to the NSPCC

Read our NSPCC review

The NSPCC charity announced on Tuesday 19th January 2010 that British actor Nicholas Hoult will become their first ever ambassador for children and young people. Nicholas, who has just received a nomination for an Orange Bafta ‘rising star’ award for his role in A Single Man, is a well known face to young people in Britain after his leading role in the cult youth drama ‘Skins’, and of course his breakthrough role in ‘About a Boy’ alongside Hugh Grant.

Nicholas will become the ambassador for a full 12 months and help support the charity’s activities aimed at children and young people. Nicholas will be joining an elite group of NSPCC ambassadors including Kylie Minogue, Peter Andre, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Amir Khan.

Nicholas Hoult said

As an NSPCC ambassador, I want to encourage young people across the UK to share their feelings and feel confident about doing so. My message to them is you all matter and how you feel matters to ChildLine. I’m excited about being nominated for the Orange rising star award at the BAFTAs especially as everyone can vote for their favourite. I’ll probably become nervous about getting votes the closer it gets to the ceremony.

Thanks to his part in Skins and his latest film roles, it is easy for today’s young people to connect with him as a person. The role as ambassador is offered to committed individuals who share the NSPCC’s mission to end cruelty to children by using their public profile over the long term to help promote the NSPCC message. Still only 20 years old, Nicholas is one of Britain’s finest emerging actors of his generation, and with an excellent eye for a role, it appears he has chosen yet another great lead part in helping the NSPCC.

NSPCC director of communications, Keith Bradbrook, said -

Nick has been a supporter of the NSPCC for years and we are thrilled that he’s accepted to be an ambassador.  Nick’s influence and inspiration will help us reach even more children and young people.

Help the NSPCC today

The NSPCC help thousands of children each year, and with your donations they can endeavour to answer more calls from children who struggle to get through on their busy phone lines.

The NSPCC childrens charity are eager to raise £50million to help expand their UK services and recruit nearly two thousand volunteers. By donating to the NSPCC you can help stop atrocities happening to children.

> > click here to make a donation to the NSPCC

Read our NSPCC review

Oxfam UK will dispatching a six strong team of emergency specialists to Haiti to help bolster the charity’s response to the devastating earthquake that struck the country on Tuesday. Below is a blow by blow account at frontline from Cedric Perus, Oxfam’s humanitarian coordinator in Port au Prince -

> > Click here to donate to Oxfam Haiti Appeal

I have seen wounded people flooding into the hospitals and buildings of several stories high that are now totally flat. Several thousands have probably died in the quake, but it will it will take time to get a full picture.  Bodies may stay under the rubble for a long time because it is difficult to access some sites and heavy lifting equipment is in limited supply.

There are bodies all over the city. People have nowhere to put them so they wrap them in sheets and cardboards in the hope that the authorities will pick them. People have also piled bodies in front of the city’s main hospitals.

Oxfam’s teams have now started to assess the scale of the disaster, across the different parts of Port au Prince, as some have been more severely affected than others.  The epicentre was near the slum of Carrefour, where people were living in flimsy shacks. There are reports that over 90% of its buildings are in ruins.

Our immediate priorities will be providing safe water and shelter material for the people who have lost their homes. Many people have lost their homes and were sleeping out in the open last night.

There has been no rain yet, but there was rain earlier in the week and if it comes again it will make the situation much worse for all those made homeless by this quake. It is dangerous at night. Lootings were widespread and some markets were ransacked.

Oxfam UK is now preparing stocks to send to Haiti to help provide adequate materials such as plastic sheeting and water purification to aid the lives of those caught up in the devastation. With communications down and roads, schools and hospitals collapsed, millions of people’s lives have been destroyed since the 7.0 magnitude quake.

> > Click here to donate to Oxfam Haiti Appeal online

Vodafone Foundation has now found the 500 young people from across the country to take part in their World of Difference UK Programme. Over 1100 applied for placements, with the winners spending two months working for a charity of their choice.

The programme gives people from across the UK the opportunity to work for a charity they are passionate about.  The Vodafone Foundation will pay each charity a total £2,500 of which the winners gets the balance once tax and National Insurance has been paid. In addition, Vodafone UK will donate a new mobile phone with pre-paid credit so that winners can capture their experiences and share them on vodafone.co.uk/worldofdifference to inspire others.

The programme was open to anyone over 18 in the UK who had the passion, drive and commitment to donate themselves to a charity. Taking part involved finding the right charity to suit their interests, skills and experience.

Director of the Vodafone Foundation, Andrew Dunnett, said -

We are delighted with the response we have had in the first year of this exciting new phase of the World of Difference programme. We hope that the World of Difference UK programme will help more people to make a contribution to local communities, from veteran volunteers to first-timers.  World of Difference offers an ideal opportunity to help others while gaining valuable life and work experience.

> > Click here for more information on World of Difference

Join the World of Difference Facebook page

Check out this amazing video filmed by the WWF charity tiger research team in Sumatra, Indonesia. The team set up four video camera traps in ‘wildlife corridors’ that allow animals to move between two protected areas in central Sumatra. The corridor, between the Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve and Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in the Riau province, certainly provided some spectacular footage as you can see below.

This amazing footage is just a small snippet of the animals that the camera picked up, with other images of wild boars, deer, tapirs, macaques and porcupines all captured. These pictures are all the more apt when you consider that this year is also the Chinese ‘Year of the Tiger’ which is celebrated on 14th February 2010.

Adopt a Tiger with WWF

The WWF is a non profit organisation who can only sustain their tireless work in saving the planet and its inhabitants through donations. From as little as £3 a month you can help raise funds through the WWF Adopt an Animal scheme. The recipient gets -

• a soft, cuddly Tiger toy
• a certificate
• a print of your Tiger
• a greetings card
• plus much more…

> > Click here to Adopt a Tiger with WWF

View other great charity gifts

WWF charity are concerned that plans for a new ski resort will one of Europe’s last remaining untouched wildernesses. The area around the Carpathian Mountains and the Balkans is now the site for expansion plans on existing facilities across many parts of the region.

The conflicts between nature conservation and development should be be looked at by mediated by the European Union to help provide a system for evaluating potential impacts and identify measures to stop negative impacts. The Carpathian Mountains are not only the greatest remaining reserves of old growth forests outside of Russia, but also home to two thirds of the continent’s brown bears, wolves and lynx. Even though limited wildlife safeguards have been put into place around these regions, nature conservation is often ignored when put under economic and political pressure.

Director of WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme, Andreas Beckman, said -

It is striking how little climate change and sustainability appear to be entering calculations for many of the new ski areas. Already, rising temperatures and decreased precipitation and snow cover is causing problems for many facilities, with some poor recent ski seasons.

EU support must not be given for any problematic developments, including those that clearly contravene EU and national legislation as well as projects that are likely to be unviable over the medium-term, e.g. as the result of climate change. In addition relevant authorities must be pressured to fully apply EU legislation in their countries, including especially Strategic and Environmental Impacts Assessments as well as the EU’s Habitats and Birds Directives, for projects at the planning stage.

Ski resorts being developed in the Carpathians are already planning the use of snow cannons as an adaptation measure to combat climate change and help to guarantee snow for perspective tourists. Yet through the huge consumption of energy snow cannons use, this will only contribute to helping to accelerate the rise in temperatures. With over 3,000 already in use across Europe, each year they consume roughly 1 million litres of water and 260,000 kWh of electricity, the same amount as the inhabitants of Hamburg!

Construction of ski facilities not only have a huge impact on the habitats and species of local animals, but also cause the deterioration of general environmental conditions. Thanks to heavy tourist flow effects and the over use of water for artificial snow production, extra ski facilities will only create a more heavy burden on a world that is already struggling to cope with mankind’s demands.

Help WWF UK with a Charity Gift

The WWF is a non profit organisation who can only sustain their tireless work in saving the planet and 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

The RSPB charity Big Garden Birdwatch will be kicking off again on the weekend of Saturday 30th January 2010, with this months event promising to be the biggest ever! This year almost half a million people will be taking part across the country to see how many different types of bird they can spot over the course of weekend, making this the biggest bird survey in the world.

Started in 1979, the Big Garden Birdwatch has been going from strength to strength each year, with over 6 million birds counted in the last 30 years. This survey is a great way to study nationwide animal patterns and also to help decide which birds the RSPB need to focus their conservation work on.

Last year the top ten spotted birds in the UK were -

1. House Sparrow
2. Starling
3. Blackbird
4. Blue Tit
5. Chaffinch
6. Woodpigeon
7. Collared Dove
8. Great Tit
9. Robin
10. Long-tailed Tit

Also, if you become a new member between 19th January and 31st March 2010, you will now receive an RSPB classic apex nest box, which normally retails at £11.99, absolutely free as a joining gift.

By encouraging people to count the birds in their garden for just one hour over this weekend, the information that is provided can help the RSPB prioritise their conservation work to specific areas and breeds where their support is most needed.

Join the RPSB for as little as £2.84 a month

An adult RSPB membership is a fantastic and thoughtful charity gift for a loved. The membership entitles the holder to -

• free entry to over 100 RSPB nature reserves across the UK
• great welcome pack
• quarterly ‘Birds’ magazine
• a choice of free gift

Whilst a junior membership offers -

• free entry to over 100 RSPB nature reserves across the UK
• posters
• stickers
• logbook with activities
• bi-monthly ‘Wild Times’ magazine wildlife
• stationary set.

When you sign up to become a member of the RSPB you not only get the great benefits listed above. You will also help them to continue their important work in protecting endangered birds, restoring vital habitats and campaigning against damage to the environment.

> > Click here to join the RSPB

View other top charity gifts