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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.

With Father’s Day just around the corner top gift retailer Prezzybox have come up with a novel way to help raise awareness of male cancers and to support Orchid, the only UK charity working for everyone affected by testicular, prostate or penile cancer. Prezzybox have set up a number of competitions celebrating dads and using these promotions as a way to spread the Orchid message.

There are 5 competitions, open to everyone, which involve sending in images of dancing dads, pictures of you in your pants (an ideal category for Pants Man Philip Taylor from The Apprentice), stories of Dad DIY disasters and pants you’ve designed yourself. There’s also a “count the number of balls” competition too.

You can find all the details on the Prezzybox Father’s Day Fun Page. All the competitions close on June 19th and prizes vary from chocolate footballs and vouchers to bottle openers and a Supercar Experience Day.

As well as all the fun, and some great gift ideas for Dad, there’s a more serious message too. You can find out about Orchid and learn about Prezzybox’s aim to “raise some much-needed funds to help develop research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment” of male cancers. There’s opportunity to donate via links on the Prezzybox pages, but more importantly there’s useful information to give yourself a bit of check up too.

Prezzybox Launch Father’s Day Competitions To Raise Male Cancer Awareness

Personalised Framed Poem with Photos £89 Give the ultimate personalised gift, all your favourite memories captured forever in a charming, per … Sonia Spencer 30th Birthday Keyring £15.95 A keyring may not seem like a very interesting gift but when you can personalise it, it adds a littl … Mr Beer Home Cider Kit £59 Now you can make delicious cider in your own home with the Mr Beer Home Cider Kit. In just 14 days y … Own a Football Share £29.95 Do you know somebody who is a bit of a football nut? Well, have we got a great gift for you! Until …

Join up with the RSPB online by 30 June 2009 and you can choose a copy of the new RSPB Handbook of Garden Wildlife as your free joining gift. This offer open to all new adult and family memberships.

Adult membership starts from £35 a year and members receive a magazine 4 times a year, entry to over 100 nature reserves and a free joining gift! For every £1 of your membership fee, the RSPB channel 90 pence into their current and future conservation projects.

You can also give a membership as a gift to a bird lover. You can pick a starting date for the membership, like someone’s birthday for example, include a gift message and even get the membership pack sent directly to them!

Click here for more information on the RSPB memberships.

This week is National Vegetarian Week in the UK. Running from Monday 18th to Sunday 24th May, the week is an annual event organised by the Vegetarian Society charity and being sponsored this year by Cauldron Foods, to highlight the benefits of following a meat free lifestyle.

To celebrate, there are events happening around the country including Vegetarian Cooking Demonstrations, a Cardiff Vegetarian Festival, meat free markets and free food tastings. Also, Something for the Weekend chef, Eccles cake fanatic and anti-Welsh cake vegetarian restaurant owner Simon Rimmer is guest chef at the Newcastle Festival of Food and Wine.

Even if you are not vegetarian, try some of the meat free recipes on the website, we think the Marinated Halloumi Cheese Skewers with Mediterranean Vegetables sounds particularly yummy.

If you are looking to try more vegetarian dishes, we have found some vegetarian cookbooks and listed them below.