Month: November 2016

On Tuesday 29 November, Cryptic is participating for the first time in #givingtuesday – a global day of giving.

On this day, we would like to invite you to become a Cryptic Angel and be a part of this special event.

Nurturing talent is at the heart of our work, whether providing support to an emerging artist in making those first steps to establish their career, commissioning new works that tour the UK and internationally or bringing you performances from today’s most inspiring artists, we depend on committed supporters and audience members like you.

This year, we have provided support to more than 20 young artists, and shown 11 works in 17 cities across 8 countries. With your help and support, we can do more.

“Organisations like Cryptic are an invaluable resource to the local arts scene in helping people find their feet in what can be a daunting and intimidating world.” Cryptic Nights Artist 2016

No matter what level of support you are able to give, #givingtuesday is a perfect opportunity for our community of supporters to come together to support the next generation of creative artists.

As an example, 60 people giving £5 per month (Bronze Angel), 24 people giving £12.50 per month (Silver Angel), or 12 people giving £25 per month (Gold Angel) annually will help to support 7 Cryptic Nights artists.

“Having an organisation take our work seriously and be so supportive has boosted our confidence no end, particularly given that Cryptic believed in the idea before the piece was finished. It is a remarkable leap of faith and one we will be eternally grateful for.” Cryptic Nights Artist 2014

You can make a gift online now by visiting our website. Alternatively, if you would like to find out more please call Caroline Thompson on +44 (0)141 354 0544 or email planning@cryptic.org.uk

I do hope that you will support us.

No matter what your age, being loved and cared for is important to all of us.

No one should have no one at Christmas. But during Christmas the companionship and support of friends and family seems to mean even more than usual – which is why loneliness feels even harsher.

At Age UK Lincoln & Kesteven, we believe no one should have no one at Christmas.

Yet for approximately 29,300 older people in the 66,100 older people in the East Midlands loneliness is a daily reality. And we don’t just mean at Christmas.

 

Talking to no one

In the UK, over 1 million older people are chronically lonely.

We need to change that. We need to make sure help is available for all older people who find their lives adversely affected by loneliness or illness or poverty, whatever the time of year.

Here in Lincoln & Kesteven we’re working as hard as we can all year round to help older people face the different challenges that growing older brings, and with your help we can work to make sure no one in later life need be alone or isolated.

Whether it’s through our befriending services or lunch clubs, our information and advice around getting the financial support people need to make the most of their later years or just being somewhere to turn when things get too tough to cope with on your own, Age UK Lincoln & Kesteven provides crucial companionship, advice and support to thousands of people every year.

How you can help

But we can’t do any of this without your help. So if you want to change the lives of older people in Lincoln & Kesteven at Christmas, please call 01522 696 000 to find out how you can make a difference.

You can help to change the lives of local people and make sure no one has no one at Christmas. Age UK Lincoln & Kesteven provides a range of services and your gift will go where the need is greatest.

Text NOONE16 £3 to 70070 to donate to Age UK Lincoln and make a difference today.

To mark this year’s #givingtuesday, Handicap International has teamed up with the global expat network InterNations to put on special events around the world in support of people with disabilities.

As part of their regular series of Social Impact nights, InterNations groups in the UK, Germany, Luxembourg and Canada are organising fundraising events for Handicap International’s life-changing work with disabled and injured people.

At the InterNations event in central London, guests will hear Aleema Shivji, Director of Handicap International UK and InterNations Brighton member, talk about the organisation’s humanitarian response to the crisis in Syria. She will also share her personal experience of the situation facing disabled and injured Syrian people that she met on a recent trip to Jordan.

Guests will also watch the Channel 4 documentary ‘The Invisible People’, in which humanitarian photographer Giles Duley explores the situation of disabled Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

How you can help?
To support Handicap International’s Syria crisis appeal, text HIUK14 £3 to 70070 or visit our website now.

About Handicap International
Co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Handicap International is an independent charity working alongside disabled people in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster.

About InterNations
InterNations is the largest global expat network. It helps expats to feel at home abroad, meet people and find information about their new environment.

This year, GamCare is joining the #givingtuesday movement.

We want to use the campaign to raise the profile of our education and awareness work with young people, and the frontline teams who work directly with young and vulnerable people.

As well as sponsoring a youth-specific website at www.BigDeal.org.uk, GamCare is currently fundraising to create three regional ‘youth hubs’ in Bristol, Birmingham and the North West (covering Manchester and Liverpool), as well as expanding our youth education services in London.

These youth hubs will fund youth outreach workers to provide free of charge workshops and training in their local areas, as well as materials and screening tools to assist local youth services and teachers in identifying young people at risk. Each youth hub will also provide referrals to specialist treatment for young people who are experiencing or vulnerable to gambling-related harm.

Dirk Hansen, CEO at GamCare, says:

“Our work aims to ensure that young people can access honest, accurate and relevant information about gambling and make informed choices about whether they choose to gamble. As a result of this programme, young people will also be able to access help and support tailored for them should they need it.”

You can find more information about our plans for #givingtuesday on our website

There are many ways to give that don’t involve donating, and one of these is through volunteering.

This #givingtuesday, Macmillan Cancer Support want to encourage you to explore the variety of volunteering opportunities with them.

From public speaking and campaigning, to interning or collecting donations in your nearest Argos store, there are lots of ways to volunteer your time. Whether you can give five minutes, a few hours a week, or a couple of days each month, the time you can give Macmillan really will matter.

Look out on Twitter for links to some of their most exciting roles yet, as well as reminders of how their volunteers’ time adds up to drive some of their most important services. Or you can view all current roles online.

Why not make 29 November the start of your volunteering journey?

Everyone remembers a good teacher. But hardly anyone appreciates the day-to-day difficulties faced by so many people working in education.

Education Support Partnership champion’s the mental health, well-being and effectiveness of teachers, lecturers, school leaders and support staff throughout their careers and during retirement.

We receive over 30,000 phone calls a year to our free and confidential helpline. The calls are from teachers at breaking point, in serious distress from the stress, anxiety and workload pressures unique to the profession.

Education Support Partnership exists to help education staff overcome their challenges, and get on with the important task of education our children and young people.

This #givingtuesday we are spreading the word and trying to reach as many education staff as possible! We will receive hundreds of calls this Christmas, from teachers who can’t face going back to school. Teachers like Laura, who called us earlier this year in a high state of distress.

“After a weekend away with my best friend I thought I would come back refreshed and reinvigorated. However, it was the start of a week of panic attacks and desperation.” She saw our number in an advert and thought she had nothing to lose.

“The phone call to your helpline was absolutely the moment when things started to get better. I cannot thank you enough. Your number needs to be on every staffroom wall.”

This #givingtuesday we are asking for help to reach every staffroom, and all teachers who are struggling this Christmas. Can you help us to help education staff? Here are three easy ways that you can support us this #givingtuesday:

This #givingtuesday we’re looking to raise £6,000 to help turn 6 pups into life-changing dogs.

We’re asking people to give what they can to help these pups grow up to do #goodstuff. Our little pups have a special destiny; they could enable a disabled person to live independently, help an autistic child feel less scared and alone, or work in a special needs school helping children fulfil their potential. By giving what they can, people can turn learners into life-changers this #givingtuesday.

Meet our pups:

Find out how you can support our pups by visiting our website now.

St. Francis’ Children’s Society is celebrating #givingtuesday by launching our Christmas Present Appeal!

This Christmas anyone can make a difference to an adopted child through the St. Francis’ Children’s Society Christmas Present Appeal – for as little as £3!

£3 could pay for a Christmas present for an adopted child at our annual Christmas party. We hope that an adopted child receiving a Christmas present from the charity will feel valued and special. Many adopted children will have had a difficult and traumatic past. Knowing that SFCS are here for them, whenever they need us, is a powerful message.

£11 could buy a special teddy to mark the start of an adopted child’s life with their new family. The teddy is a symbol of a new chapter in the child’s life, one filled with love and a family that will help them realise their potential. Each teddy is personalised with the child’s name, making them even more special.

£21 could pay for an adopted child to go on an activity day with another adopted child. Some adopted children are proud that they were specially picked by their family. Others can find it more difficult. Spending time with other adopted children is vitally important so that they know they aren’t alone. These days out allow them to develop practical and social skills and spend time with other adopted children who understand what they have been through.

Much of the support we provide is dependent on voluntary funding. Last year we helped over 2,000 adults and children. We simply couldn’t help this many people without our wonderful fundraisers so your support really means a lot – thank you!

To find out how you can support our Christmas Present Appeal then visit our website now.

On #givingtuesday you are invited to step into a virtual world where aviation and medical innovation combine to restore sight.

Blindness prevention charity Orbis is giving people the opportunity to venture inside their unique Flying Eye Hospital; via a fully immersive, virtual reality tour, voiced by Oscar-nominated actor Djimon Hounsou.

There are 285 million people in the world who are blind and visually impaired, and 80 per cent of them don’t need to be. Orbis transforms lives by working to eliminate avoidable blindness: through long-term programmes in countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America as well as through its Flying Eye Hospital – the world’s only eye hospital on board an MD-10 aircraft.

During the virtual tour, the viewer can direct themselves around the aircraft, making their own way through the various sections of the plane including the operating theatre, patient recovery room and on-board classroom. Whilst doing so, viewers will get a glimpse into how the plane enables Orbis’s world class medical volunteers to train local medical professionals and restore sight to the patients on board.

Orbis is using #givingtuesday to ask people to experience and then share the virtual tour with their friends, and give as many people as possible the chance to get on board this incredible aircraft.

Look out for our virtual tour which will be released on #givintuesday. Here’s a sneak peek:

This #givingtuesday we are running a campaign called ‘Scotland is my home’.

To raise awareness of the work that Multi Cultural Family Base does in supporting young people and families that have settled in Edinburgh, we are highlighting the story of Abijah this #givingtuesday.

Abijah was 12 when she came to Scotland from North Africa in 2015 with her parents. It was a traumatic journey, her father suffered from PTSD and she was responsible for looking her younger siblings. She joined one of the therapeutic groups at Multi-Cultural Family Base, made friends and could talk about her worries and about her home country. Coming to the group made such a big difference to her life; we were able to help the family to secure accommodation and they began to settle in Edinburgh. We want to be able to help more people like Abijah, so please consider donating to us this #givingtuesday.