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Sport Relief Weekend Kicks Off with Fundraising Friday

Jude — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:43:39 +0000

The Sport Relief Weekend is only 2 days away so you’d best get ready to splash the cash when fundraising Friday gets under way! Celebrities have been out in full force this year, taking part in some awesome challenges that would test the limits of most adventurers- including Eddie Izzard’s Marathon a Day.

Above is a clip of Eddie at the finish line in London. We believe Eddie deserves a special mention for successfully running 43 marathons in 51 days – a total distance of 1,106 miles around the UK!

However, you don’t have to be a celebrity nor spend weeks up to your armpits in mushy peas to raise money for Sport Relief – there is still time to register for the Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile taking place on Sunday 21st March!

If the Sport Relief Mile is not your thing, the Beckham designed Sport Relief t-shirts are still available to buy instore at Sainsbury’s and TK Maxx as well as online at Sainsbury’s and the official website.

Buy a Beckham Tshirt for Sport Relief

Sport Mat Set Black/Red
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Sport Mat Set Black
£19.99
Give your car a sporty make-over with these ultra-funky floor mats. Made of durable PVC, they featur …

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Children in Need 80 Days Around the World Trip worth the Cost to the Tax Payer?

Jude — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:34:17 +0000

Over £20 million pounds was raised on Friday night when Children in Need took over BBC 1 for the whole evening for Pudsey’s Big Night In. One of the events of the show was the around the 80 Days Around the World relay trip taken by 12 celebrities, which we blogged about previously, questioning whether the amount of money raised would justify the expense of laying on the trip.

According to the Daily Mail the trip cost £1 million and was funded by license fee payer cash. They also add that environmentalists have attacked the show for the ‘pointless carbon emissions’ of sending celebrities on an around-the-world ‘jolly’ using public cash. In total, the trip raised around £145k for Children in Need.

Should the BBC have given the cash directly to the charity where it could have helped fund far more projects than the amount raised by the trip?

Is the BBC abusing it’s unique position of public funding, creating shows which seem to lack any value for money, when license payers are struggling to make ends meet in the current recession?

Children in Need 80 Days Around the World Trip worth the Cost to the Tax Payer?

Donate to Children in Need

X Factor Finalist Release Charity Single for Great Ormand Street

Jude — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:03:42 +0000

It’s nearly Christmas and the season of the charity single is in full swing! Hot on the heels of Young Soul Rebels War Child charity single, the X Factor finalists are due to release their now annual charity effort. It will certainly be a hit if the success of last year’s smash single Hero in aid of Help For Heroes is anything to go by, which raised in excess of £1 million for the charity.

This year’s song is a cover of the Michael Jackson hit You Are Not Alone and cash raised from the sale of the record will go to Great Ormond Street Hospital, one of the world’s leading children’s hospitals.

A minimum of £1 from the sale of each copy of the single will go to the charity which needs to raise over £50 million every year to keep helping children get some of the best medical treatment in the world.

The contestants will perform the single for the first time on The X Factor during the results show on Sunday November 15 and will be released the next day. It is is available to pre-order now at iTunes, Amazon and Play.com.

X Factor Finalist Release Charity Single for Great Ormand Street

Is Big Brother the latest casualty of the credit crunch?

Jude — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:48:28 +0000

For the first time since 2006, Channel 4 will not be donating to charity a share of the money raised by the weekly telephone votes in Big Brother. The reasons given are that the Channel cannot afford to give to donate cash in the current financial climate and advertising revenue slump. The cost of phone votes will remain at 35p, in line with recent series, which is a bit cheeky considering we are all suffering the same financial climate!

According to the article in the Guardian, Channel 4 have been losing money through the phone voting system for years and are no longer prepared to bear the losses. From a charity’s perspective, this is disastrous for as well as now missing out on badly needed funds, the exposure they could have received on such a high profile show has now been denied them. Unfortunately, charities are the first to feel the brunt of a recession as we discussed here a few months ago.

Just to remind ourselves to have faith in the generosity of the human spirit, here’s a clip of Craig Phillips, winner of the first Big Brother who gave his £70k winnings to his friend to help pay for her heart and lung transplant in the USA.

Recession Putting a Hole in Charities Pockets

Jude — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:06:26 +0000

Last month we posed the question Are Charity Donations Being Affected by the Current Financial Climate? As a follow up, we decided to look at ways you can support charities on a budget.

Raising cash is the primary objective for a charity, especially when planning for future projects, however you can still help your favourite charity if you short of cash.

Become a volunteer
This will depend on the availability and services in your local area. If you can spare a few hours every week, volunteer in a local charity shop.
The National Trust organise litter picks a couple of times a year in their costal parks, a good opportunity to work with members of your community and clean up the environment for everyone to enjoy.
Macmillan Cancer Support rely on thousands of volunteers for fundraising, helping in offices and support centers.
TimeBank is a charity that finds ways for you to give your time volunteering to best suit your needs and that of the world around us.

Follow Charities on Twitter
Charities are embracing social network websites such as Twitter and Facebook, follow them and find out about their latest news and campaigns

Charities on Twitter include
http://twitter.com/ActionAidUK
http://twitter.com/BritishRedCross
http://twitter.com/macmillancancer
http://twitter.com/nationaltrust
http://twitter.com/timebank

You can also search Twitter for your favourite charity as they will probably be listed on there now.

Raise Awareness of Issues
Women’s Aid give advice on how you can act to stop domestic violence including writing to the leader of your Council or local MP, speaking to family and colleagues, contacting local schools and attending local events.

Create or Sign an Online Petition
The Number10.gov.uk website is where you can set up or sign an online petition that will go before the Prime Minister

Register Your Support
It’s free to register your support for charities visit the Blue Cross Britain’s pet charity for more information.

Are Charity Donations Being Affected by the Current Financial Climate?

Jude — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:19:14 +0000

The BBC reported yesterday that UK charities are feeling the effects of the economic downturn, with donations being down on last year and charitable organisations making cutbacks to conserve existing services. The survey, run by the Charity Commission questioned 1,003 charities in England and Wales showed that over 50% said they had been affected by the economic downturn.

This news comes a couple of days after the 2009 Red Nose Day raised £59,187,065 (at time of publishing) breaking this year’s target of £40 million.

This raises the question –

Are people really giving less to charity?

According to the BBC, Oxfam had seen donations plateau and had been forced to cut jobs as a result. The BBC also reports that the NSPCC has launched an emergency appeal as cases of domestic violence have risen whilst its direct debit payments have dropped by 15%. Shelter has seen a reduction in legacy donations and corporate income, although their regular donors are still giving money.

The huge success of Red Nose Day indicates however that people are still willing to donate money to charity. Perhaps as disposable incomes have decreased, we have become more selective in the causes we give cash to. It is sometimes to easy to forget that charities are not-for-profit organisations and rely on donations from the public to help people who have no-one else to turn to. The NSPCC Child’s Voice Appeal TV advert was launched in February 2009, help the charity ensure that no child’s cry goes unheard, please click here for more information or to donate money.

BBC – Charity donation hit by recession

Limited Edition Crystal iPod Nanos from Sir Elton John

Jude — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 23:10:19 +0000

Sir Elton John, Selfridges and Goldgenie have launched a very special limited edition crystal encrusted iPod Nano to raise funds for Sir Elton’s charity EJAF.

The EJAF Starburst iPOD Nano is inlaid with Swarovski crystals and was designed by Dragon’s Den winner Laban Roomes, owner of Goldgenie. Sir Elton personally oversaw the design which included having his signature lasered onto the back of each one.

These limited edition iPod Nanos are encrusted with over 250 Swarovski crystals, come in a choice of 9 colours and are available in both 8 and 16 GB. There are only 100 in each colour available, so best get your favourite colour ordered now! The price is £399.99 for the 8GB version and £449.99 for the 16GB and a share of the profits will go directly to tEJAF.

Unfortunately the EJAF Starburst iPOD Nanos are not available from the Apple Store but you can buy them at Selfridges and directly from Goldgenie. You will receive a free copy of the Rocket Man: The Definitive Hits CD with every order too!

Red Nose Day Back to Tickle Your Funny Bone

Jude — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 10:00:15 +0000

Hold on to your hats (and noses), Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day is back on the 13th March! Everyone’s favourite bi-annual charity event returns for 2009 bigger and better than ever.

Comic Relief was set up in 1985 by comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis in response to the famine in Ethiopia and the first Red Nose Day was shown on TV on 5 February 1988. Since then, a staggering £500 million + has been raised for charitable causes.

Comic Relief promise that every pound raised by the public goes to charity. If Red Nose Day raises £65 million, Comic Relief will spend at least £65 million on transforming the lives of people living with poverty and social injustice. Operational costs the charity incurs are paid for by corporate sponsors and donors, suppliers, investment income and interest and more.

To donate funds to Red Nose Day click here to visit their donation page.

The Forever Story – Support TreeHouse By Adding Your Contribution

jason — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:43:16 +0000

The Forever Story is a brand new site aimed to at helping to raise money for TreeHouse. The idea of the site is for a story to be written by many different authors in order for it become the world’s longest collectively-written story. The opening 35 words have been contributed by Nick Hornby who starts off The Forever Story with:

“For the first nineteen years of his life, Johnny Razor wasn’t Johnny Razor at all. He was Malcolm Weatherly, and he was born in Mile End Underground station on the night of 17th September 1940.”

How will the story continue? You decide!

For every single contribution to the story via the website, £1 will be donated to Treehouse, the charity that helps children with Autism. The more people who join in, the longer the story will be, and the more money will be raised.

M&Co Breast Cancer Charity Top

jason — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 17:39:15 +0000

News reaches us at Donateto that M&Co are running a promotion to support breast cancer. £2 from all sales of their pink breast cancer charity top get donated to charity!

The top has three quarter length sleeves (as you can see on the left) and is available in S,M,L,XL and XXL. It retails for £14.

Breast Cancer charities are not the only ones who are benefitting from sales at M&Co as they’re also backing Save the Children too. M&Co have recently launched a brand new initiative that will see 5p from every single item of kids clothing sold being donated towards the charity’s campaign to raise funds for the impoverished children of Myanmar. Chairman of M&Co Iain McGeoch said: “We are delighted to be in a position to help so many children in one of the world’s most deprived areas”.