Month: November 2017

The Global Fund for Children UK Trust’s small team are taking on #GivingTuesday for the first time!

Slight in size, we are a mighty team with big ideas – our challenge for this year’scampaign is to get as many people as possible, in 24 hours, to cycle the globe to change children’s lives – from bikes to wheelchairs to spinning classes. We need to raise our profile and income so that we can reach even more of the world’s most vulnerable children.

With the help of corporate partners, friends, family and our wonderful team of volunteers, we are hoping to reach out to thousands of people in the UK, Europe and beyond, via multi-media channels to join us and take part in our challengeto cycle 18,000 miles in just one day.

We want people to have fun, get some exercise and do something for the world’s children. Everyone can take part in this challenge – as long as it is on wheels – from bikes to wheelchairs!  Just take a note of the total miles you cover and let us know – you can donate via CAF on our website and record the miles you cover.

Nicky Wynne, MD of the Global Fund for Children UK Trust said:

“Where you sit determines what you see; it is best for me to sit on the ground. It is good to remember that the world looks different when you are small. From a child’s height, chaos and complexity can tower over you and threaten to make you invisible. We invest in grassroots organisations all over the world that give children hope. Because of our #givingtuesday challenge the work of this particular grassroots partner came to mind”:-

Bikes transform children’s lives in Colombia

The mountainous communities of El Retiro, Colombia, are poor and isolated. This area suffered badly during Colombia’s armed conflict, and today, family violence is on the rise, as is alcohol and drug abuse. The community also struggles with school retention and unemployment. Corporación Correcaminos works to address these issues by promoting community participation, education, and economic opportunities through cycling. Correcaminos run three main programmes:

Recreation and Competition programme – This after-school biking and life skills training programme offers 8 hours of training and recreational rides each week for 120 children, as well as 2 hours of life skills workshops that focus on topics such as family planning, drug prevention, and goal setting.

Bike Repair and Job Training programme – This programme trains participants in bike repair and maintenance and operates a small repair shop that employs 7 youths trained by the organisation. The shop serves both community members and visiting cyclists who come to the mountainous town to train.

Biking to School programme – The Biking to School programme encourages school retention and promotes healthy behaviours by donating bikes that enable children to travel the often long distances to school.

Please join our challenge and help us reach our target. To find out how to take part please visit http://www.globalfundforchildren.org.uk/ or get in touch at uktrust@globalfundforchildren.org

Lend DKMS a hand in the fight against blood cancer by hosting a #LetsNailBloodCancer Party this #givingtuesday

Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with a blood cancer and 40% of patients in the UK still cannot find their potential lifesaver. For many of these people a blood stem cell donation, from a matching donor, will be their best and only chance of survival. Yet only one in three people in need will find a suitable matching donor within their own family.  Most rely on the selfless act of kindness from a stranger. Each year around 2,000 people in the UK and 37,000 people worldwide search for their lifesaver.  We are working tirelessly to register as many people onto the UK aligned stem cell registry as possible so that one day there will be a suitable donor for every person who needs one.

At DKMS, patients are at the heart of everything we do. Patients desperate to find their matching donor, like Mel, 41 from Leeds who has been battling aplastic anaemia since she was 8 and was recently diagnosed with myelodysplasia anaemia.  Or Chloe, 7, who was born with the blood disorder Diamond Blackfan Anaemia and now urgently needs a blood stem cell donation from a matching donor and 11-year-old Evie diagnosed  for the second time with acute myeloid leukaemia and myelodysplastic syndrome, and needs another chance at life.

To mark #givingtuesday we’re asking you to get involved: request our fundraising pack and host a mani-pedicure party at home with your friends and family.  Alternatively why not organise a lunchtime party with colleagues to collectively prep your nails for the coming party season whilst at the same time giving back.  Salons and nail bars can get involved too! Demonstrate your social responsibility credentials by donating a percentage of profits from each nail treatment, conducted on #givingtuesday to raise money and help give a second chance of life to a blood cancer patient. How about holding a week-long party that engages all your employees and loyal customers showing that you care about our mission to provide a matching donor for every patient that needs one?

£40 covers the cost of registering one potential blood stem cell donor.  Whilst the NHS is very supportive, it falls to charities like DKMS to reach out to more lifesavers. The money you raise at your party will enable the registration of more people who will then go on standby to potentially save a life.

Become an advocate of our new and exciting fundraising campaign and join us in the fight against blood cancer.  Taking part is easy – and fun so put your best, pedicured foot forward and take the next step to getting your mitts on our kits at www.dkms.org.uk/letsnailbloodcancer  Show ‘Britain’s got Talons’ and together, #LetsNailBloodCancer!

 

New charity aims to get 500 legs walking – all leggy creatures welcome.

Following a diagnosis with a condition called Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) and then having to travel to the USA for help (as there were no NHS doctors experienced with the condition in the UK), and then discovering there were many many other people in the UK also struggling to find treatment and support, a patient recognised the complete vacuum of support for sufferers and founded a charity; Mast Cell Action in 2016.

Mast Cell Action supports sufferers of the little-known and recently recognised disease Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), where sufferers’ immune systems can have violent adverse reaction to the most basic and every day of activities like eating and exercise. Many patients, including babies have to survive on a very limited diet of a short list of foods. Sufferers struggle to find treatment for this frequently undiagnosed and often disabling disease.

Mast Cell Action works to raise the profile of the disease and support its sufferers. Providing emotional support and practical advice though our support community. Producing literature to help patients and inform doctors.

We are looking to raise funds to cover the development of the charity, e.g costs of attending medical conferences and producing professional “patient case studies” to highlight the severity of his disease.

This year for #givingtuesday we will be promoting our “500 Legs walking campaign” which will run throughout November and December, to raise funds to support the work of the charity. Walking the length of the Thames, accompanied by 15 different dogs for each of the 15 stages of his walk, one of our trustees, Chris, has already confirmed 62 legs. We are looking for people who would like to have a bit of fun and help to make up the other 438 legs he needs to reach our target. We’re also looking for as creative entries as possible. For example, if someone walked with a dog, a llama and a parrot that would make 12 legs!

You can get involved by setting up your own sponsored walk of any distance, with or without leggy creatures, or simply by making a donation to the charity. Find out more at https://www.mastcellaction.org/500-legs or look us up on Twitter @MastCellAction using #500legs.