The NSPCC has a magical way for you to surprise someone this Christmas with a personalised Letter from Santa. Each of these amazing charity gift donations allow you to make each letter totally unique, by adding the chosen recipients name, age, address and gender. You can even add a best friend’s name too!

There’s three different age categories to suit different reading abilities, and there’s even a special letter available for a newborn; a perfect memento to save for a babies first Christmas with their family. Plus if you wanted to send separate letters to more than one child in the same home, you can do that too as long as you order at the same time.

Each letter is beautifully illustrated and will arrive through ‘Rudolph Mail’, the perfect way to add a bit of extra Christmas pizazz on this amazing festive treat. Prices start for just a small £5 donation, with the money you are donating going a long way to not only help stop child cruelty, but also provide 24 hour helplines and support. The NSPCC work tirelessly to help those children who need it the most, and thanks to your kind gift, they will be able to help more people this Christmas.

For some children, Christmas can be the most difficult time of the year. But with your help the NSPCC will be working throughout the festive period to answer as many phone calls as possible from those that are in distress and need someone to talk too. Last year alone, the NSPCC received 50,000 contacts to ChildLine. That’s almost a 20% increase on the year before. Thanks to your support, the NSPCC will be there for many more vulnerable children this Christmas.

As an added bonus, each letter that’s purchased will be put into a prize draw for a once in a lifetime trip to Lapland to see where Santa and his Reindeer are actually from. All orders need to be in by 18th December 2012, with the winner being announced on 7th January 2013. Even more reason to make someone’s Christmas this year by purchasing an amazing Letter from Santa with the NSPCC.

For more information on how the Letter from Santa works, check out our dedicated charity page to find out more about how you can help the NSPCC stop child cruelty and help those that need it the most.

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Roll up roll up folks, for a fabulous evening of comedy and music for a fantastic cause! Some amazing acts are getting together on Saturday 17th November 2012 at the Hammersmith Apollo, to help raise much needed funds for the Street Child of Sierra Leone charity.

The evening is hosted by award winning comedian Marcus Brigstocke, who back in June raised a staggering £230,000 for the charity by taking part in the first ever marathon in Sierra Leone – must have been a scorcher!

Other acts on the night include  -

• Phill Jupitus
• Robin Ince
• Greg Burns
• KT Tunstall
• Plus many more…

with all proceeds going to help the Street Child of Sierra Leone charity, who believe that every child deserves the right to live in a safe, secure home and the chance to receive a quality education. Since the civil war, over half of the population of Sierra Leone are children, and they desperately need our help. With 70% of the population living in poverty, now is the chance to help this broken country towards a brighter future.

Simply click on the link below to order tickets for what is sure to be an outstanding evening of comedy and music for a truly great cause. Tickets start from just £20, but pleas do hurry has half the allocation have already sold out.

> > Click here for Tickets

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NSPCC charity officials were over the moon with the news that the recent 2012 White Hat Ball raised a whopping £115,000 for ChildLine. No in it’s 7th year, the ball was held in London at the Lancaster London hotel for 640 guests. Whilst enjoying a 3 course meal and champagne reception, the guests were given the chance to bid on some really unique items, including a signed Salvador Dali engraving and a one off lunch at the top of the BT Tower.

The event was hosted by The Bill acoter by actor Graham Cole, with this year’s total dwarfing the £87,000 raised at the 2011 soiree. White Hat Events came together to help raise money to support charities like ChildLine, with their name derived from the white hats that the good cowboy wore in western films.

Chairman of the White Hat Events Committee, David Morgan, said -

It’s fantastic to see that the White Hat Ball continues to defy the financial climate and was able to raise more for ChildLine this year than ever before. The Ball has become a real fixture on the fundraising calendar and we’re delighted to support ChildLine’s hugely important work a result. Many thanks as well to everyone who generously supported the event, be it our sponsors, prize donors or our guests. It is wonderful to see how many people want to help to make a positive difference to the lives of young people in need.

ChildLine presented with the White Hat event team with a unique painting to thank them for all their fantastic work for the NSPCC over the years. Long may it continue if these are the kind of sums they raise, not bad for a nights work I’m sure you’ll agree!

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 children’s 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

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NSPCC charity officials are over the moon with the response to the recent Have a Heart campaign, which raised a staggering £348,456 for ChildLine. Organised by the UK’s largest commercial radio station, Heart FM, the event culminated last month with a host of celebrities lending their support, including -

• Lionel Richie
• Pixie Lott
• James Morrison
• Matt Cardle
• David Hasselhoff

If the Hoff’s in, them I’m in! The main theme of the initiative was ‘Be a Kid for a Kid’ with loads of money raised through School Discos and Uniform Days. There was also a huge radio auction with loads of great prizes, including bids -

• £7,700 for video messages from The Wanted
• £6,000 for break to New York to see James Corden on Broadway (not to sure about that one!)
• £2,200 to meet Peter Andre at his O2 Arena gig

Heart presenter, Emma Bunton, said -

The £348,456 will enable ChildLine to speak to thousands more children across the UK. We’d like to say a massive thank you to all our listeners and guests for being so generous and making the Have a Heart Appeal such a success.

Congratulations to all those who took part and make the Have a Heart appeal such as resounding success. All the funds raised will help pay for the recruitment, training and support of more ChildLine volunteer counsellors.

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 children’s 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

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Shelter charity officials are becoming worried as new statistics show that homeless applications across the country has risen by 18% in the last 12 months. This massive increase across England features 12,830 homeless applications accepted between October and December 2011, with London showing a 36% rise in the same period.

Homeless households more than doubled across seven of London’s boroughs over the twelve months surveyed, with Hounslow rising an astounding 245%! National stats on homelessness show that almost 50,000 households were now in temporary accommodation, with the figure continuing to rise as more and more families slip into bad debt.

Chief Executive of Shelter, Campbell Robb, said -

These figures are a shocking reminder of the divide between the housing haves and have nots in this country. Amid growing economic gloom and rising unemployment, increasing numbers of ordinary families are falling victim to our housing crisis. Some may be priced out of the housing market, forced to bring up their families in a revolving door of private let after private let. Others may have to leave the areas they have always called home, driven out by the cost of housing. And for those we are hearing about in today’s figures, the worst has happened, and they have lost their home altogether. We must see radical, urgent action from Government to address our broken housing system, or thousands more families will suffer as a result.

Shelter is the UK’s leading housing and homelessness charity. They operate local solutions which work to improve the lives of both homeless and badly housed people – you can help Shelter to help those in need most.

> > Click here to donate to Shelter UK

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Action Aid UK is asking for your assistance in helping the people of Gambia, who are experiencing hunger and malnutrition due to the prolonged drought in West Africa. In the Gambia alone, over 700,000 people are struggling to find food, that’s a massive 45% of the population!

Charity officials are working hard on the ground in Gambia to provide food and water to the most vulnerable children and families, but more aid is required.
The severe drought is causing food prices to rocket, meaning that a total of almost 13 million people are facing an uncertain future. Seeds and tools have been provided to help families to prepare for the next harvest, but with the situation growing worse every day, your help is desperately required.

Country Director of ActionAid Gambia, Kujejatou Manneh, said -

Saving lives is our priority and the international community needs to scale up its response to the crisis. This is a real emergency.

Funds are needed to help to deliver supplies to those worst affected by the drought to cope with the demand for food with the hungry months ahead. Simply click on the link below to make a donation to Action Aid to pledge your help during this increasingly difficult time.

> > Click here to make a donation

Help ActionAid with a Charity Gift

You can also help raise funds with the ActionAid Gifts in Action scheme, giving you the chance to buy an unusual and thoughtful charity gift whilst also helping poor communities.

It’s the gift that keeps on giving…

> > Click here to order a gift with Action Aid

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British Telecom with be helping the NSPCC charity to celebrate the 25th anniversary of ChildLine with the launch of their ArtBox. The project, set to take over the capital this summer, will see leading artists and designers apply their creative talents to re-style the famous British telephone box.

The ArtBoxes will be going on display across the capital between 18th June and 16th July 2012, and will be auctioned off at a VIP Gala Auction at the National Portrait Gallery to help raise funds for ChildLine. British Telecom are inviting artists from across the globe to take part in helping to re-imagine the famous BT phone box, a true British style icon.

You too can get involved and even submit your own design to this interesting and innovative way to celebrate 25 years of Childline. Simply click on the link below to download the artist pack and join in the fun.

> > Click here to download artist pack

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 children’s 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

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Action Aid UK is asking for your help to stop a new tax loophole that could end up costing poor countries billions. The government is planning to allow big businesses a much easier way to dodge their taxes thanks a new loophole that could cost poor countries up to £4 billion and the UK £1 billion!

The new loophole will be debated in parliament next month, and Action Aid are asking for you to make your voice heard vis your local MP. Simply click on the link at the bottom of this post to help raise your concerns and make the government change its plans.

Simply click on the link below to add your name to over 1500 others, and let’s stop this new tax loophole costing poor countries billions together.

> > Click here to sign Action Aid petition

Help ActionAid with a Charity Gift

You can also help raise funds with the ActionAid Gifts in Action scheme, giving you the chance to buy an unusual and thoughtful charity gift whilst also helping poor communities.

It’s the gift that keeps on giving…

> > Click here to order a gift with Action Aid

>> Read More

Figures just in from the NSPCC charity show that from Christmas Eve 2011 to January 4th 2012 there was a 19% rise in the number of calls made to Childline compared to the previous year. Over this period almost 50,000 calls were made by children looking for support over the festive season, with a quite staggering 50% increase on Christmas Day calls compared to the previous year!

14% of all of those calls were related to family problems, though there was a dramatic 103% increase in depression and mental health related counselling required this year! The one major plus of these number increases is that it shows more and more children feel comfortable contacting the NSPCC, particularly online, where the ChildLine website increased by 57% last year.

Let’s hope this number increase is a sign of more children feeling the freedom to discuss their feelings and problems with people who understand, and truly care.

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 children’s 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

>> Read More

Action Aid charity officials are still working hard on the front line of the devastating flooding that still effects Thailand and Cambodia 5 months on. The flooding, the worst seen in both countries for decades, has affected nearly seven million residents as people are forced from their homes by overflowing water.

ActionAid officials have provided 36,900 people in Cambodia with -

• Food
• Shelter
• Water purification kits
• Seeds
• Livestock

Whilst in Thailand, the charity has reached over 10,000 with emergency packages. The main focus now is to help people to try and rebuild their lives by ensuring all health and sanitation needs are met. In Cambodia, the ruined rice harvest is causing continued problems through food shortages, malnutrition and of course lack of funds, as these crops were many people’s livelihoods.

ActionAid Head of Emergencies, Bijay Kumar, said -

Although the attention of the world’s media may have moved on, the misery continues, with hundreds of thousands of people still living in appalling conditions. One third of Thailand’s and two-thirds of Cambodia’s provinces have been devastated. The floods have killed hundreds of people, destroyed millions of homes and livelihoods, triggered some serious diseases and ruined the countries’ rice crops. Our work has only just begun. We are moving out of the emergency phase where we have helped people to survive the initial impact of the floods. Our next challenge is helping people rebuild their lives – this will involve long term support that will help people become more resilient to future disasters.

Help ActionAid with a Charity Gift

You can also help raise funds with the ActionAid Gifts in Action scheme, giving you the chance to buy an unusual and thoughtful charity gift whilst also helping poor communities.

It’s the gift that keeps on giving…

> > Click here to order a gift with Action Aid

>> Read More