Week 7 - MacMillan Cancer Support / Little Princess Trust

I suspect that cancer charities will come up quite regularly here.  I'm sure we have all been affected by cancer and there are many, many different charities raising money for different aspects of the disease.  This one is rather unusual and quite a cute story.  It was brought to my attention via a network of Marillion fans (this may prove to be a regular feature!)

Ben Fisher posted the following message on the 'Marillion and fans' Facebook group:

"My 12 year old son Jacob hasn't had his hair cut for 3 years so its pretty long and he's very very proud of it. Last week out of the blue he said I'm shaving my hair off for the MacMillan Cancer trust and I'm donating the hair to the Little Princess trust that makes wigs for kids suffering from cancer."

Macmillan Cancer Support are very well known for their work in helping people through cancer.  They provide specialised nurses and health care professionals in their cancer care centres.  They provide financial advice and support to cancer sufferers, their families and their carers.  And they campaign to fight discrimination against those that are suffering from cancer or have been debilitated by the disease.

The Little Princess Trust is one I've not heard of before.  They provide real hair wigs for children who have lost their hair following cancer treatment.  You don't need to be as drastic as shaving it all off - if you are going from a long hairstyle to a short one your hair can be donated.  It takes at least five heads of donated hair to create one wig.  They also fundraiser to purchase wigs where necessary - these cost around £350 each.

These are two inspiring charities and Jacob's decision to support them is also an inspiration.  Jacob's fundraising page is HERE.

Week 6 - Ummah Welfare Trust

Eid Mubarak!

As this is an auspicious time in the Muslim calendar I thought I'd donate to a Muslim charity.  I have no personal belief in Islam but I know that charity (zakat) is an important part of the faith and of Ramadan so it felt appropriate for this week.

The charity I've chosen is Ummah Welfare Trust.  They work on many projects around the world and you can choose the project that your donation goes to.  I've chosen their Girls Academy, a safe environment for girls to learn which they are currently fundraising to build.  The site of the academy is the Sunderbans in West Bengal, India, an area where almost 50% of the population exist below the poverty line.  Amidst this poverty girls are increasingly forced into marriage with wealthy men or into prostituion.  The academy aims to house around 300 girls from the area who are prone to exploitation.

100% of charitable donations to Ummah Welfare Trust go to the project you are supporting.  Money for administration is raised and accounted for separately (through sales in their charity shops, Gift Aid and specific donations).

Week 5 - The Doghouse Sanctuary

As Marillion's charity raffle last week was doing so well, their manager Lucy decided to do her own.  I missed the actual raffle but decided to make it this week's donation anyway.

Lucy is raising money for The Doghouse Sanctuary who work to rehabilitate and rehome stray dogs in Northern Ireland.  They also use their donations to neuter dogs to try to reduce the number of unwanted litters in the area.

Week 4 - Crohn's and Colitis UK

OK, a bit of a cheat this week.  My £5 donation has a possible bonus for me but it's still a full fiver to charity so I'm happy it counts!  My favourite band Marillion are doing a raffle to win a huge poster that was displayed at their recent Weekend in Port Zelande in the Netherlands.  They have chosen Crohn's and Colitis UK as their charity for this particular competition.  This charity helps people with inflammatory bowel diseases live a better quality of life along with raising awareness of the conditions and funding research to ultimately find a cure.

Marillion are a rock band who are an inspiration to their thousands of devoted fans around the world.  They produce thoughtful and emotional music; sometimes dark and brooding, sometimes uplifting and joyous; sometimes deeply personal to lyricist Steve Hogarth, sometimes detailing personal stories such as that of ocean rower Don Allum or speed record breaker Donald Campbell and sometimes dealing with global issues such as the situation in Gaza.  They have raised thousands of pounds for various charities throughout the years, running raffles at their biennial Weekends.

The link to the raffle is https://www.justgiving.com/Marillion-Official or to donate to Crohn's and Colitis UK directly go to https://www.justgiving.com/crohnsandcolitisuk

Week 3 - WaterAid

An early one this week as I'm heading to Glastonbury Festival.  So I thought I'd pick my favourite Glastonbury charity, WaterAid.  They are committed to providing that most basic human need that we all take for granted - clean, safe water and proper sanitation.

Week 2 - Diabetes UK

Two weeks ago an ex-colleague of mine passed away.  Janet was a strong-willed character who faced up to the troubles in her life with an acerbic wit and a sharp tongue.  She was diagnosed with diabetes late on, sadly too late to prevent the amputation of both her legs due to the degeneration of her cardiovascular system.  She survived the extreme surgery for about two years but sadly contracted an infection that she just couldn't fight.

I have fond memories of Janet cracking jokes following the loss of her legs.  I didn't know her particularly well but I very much enjoyed her company.  Her family asked for donations to Diabetes UK so Janet, this one's for you.

Week 1 - Royal National Lifeboat Institution

My friend Wenna Blewett successfully completed her H2Only challenge this week.  The challenge was to give up all drinks except water for ten days.  She was allowed on lifeline which she took on day 4 due to craving an ice-cold glass of Coke but she had to donate £24 for it - that's an expensive glass of Coke!

The challenge was to raise money for the RNLI.  The blurb on Just Giving describes them as such;

"The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea.  It's volunteer lifeboat crews rescue an average of 24 people a every day and the RNLI lifeguards provide a seasonal lifeguard service on selected beaches.  The RNLI is independent from Government and relies on donations from people like you."

Wenna's Just Giving page is here - https://www.justgiving.com/wenna1977/

A Year Of Charity

I had an idea that I've been mulling over for some time and I've decided that it might make for interesting reading so I thought I'd blog it.  I often feel I should give more to charity.  In the age of social media we all get lots of requests for sponsorship.  Sometimes I give, sometimes I don't but why don't I?  I'm really not sure, time, circumstance.  I might see a post when I'm not in a position to donate and then forget to go back to it.  I certainly can't use the excuse that I can't afford it.  But I'm someone who likes structure and that's where the idea came about.

The plan is to donate £5 a week for a year.  Maybe longer.  To sponsorships, to urgent appeals, to telethons, to whatever's on my mind or in the news at the time.  Every week will be a different charity or appeal.  It's difficult to know if it will turn out easy or hard to find things. Which is why I thought I'd blog it from the beginning!

The plan is to take nominations throughout the week and donate on a Friday.  I've already got a couple lined up but it'll be interesting to see where it leads...