Planet Buddies Expands on Conservation Efforts with Major Charities

Marine Conservation Society & World Land Trust Become Charity Partners of Child Friendly and  Sustainably Packaged Accessory Brand, Planet Buddies 

Planet Buddies, an environmentally conscious child friendly  accessory brand announces their first charitable partnerships in pledge to educate and support  conservation efforts and educate children through use of technology. 

Trek Kilimanjaro...from home! With Child Bereavement UK

To provide some light relief for families coping with being at home during lockdown, Child Bereavement UK are launching an exciting fundraising event that the whole family can get involved in.

They are challenging families to ‘trek’ to the summit of Kilimanjaro without even leaving the house!  This imaginative challenge will see participants keep active, work as a team and keep up their spirits while stuck indoors.  

Sennheiser launch 'Season of Giving' charity program

Donations of 1,500 headsets, worth €148,000, made to 7 charities globally 

Sennheiser unveil their Season of Giving program, donating huge quantities of the special edition GSP 305 gaming headsets to 7 charities across the globe. 

Alder Hey Children’s Charity

Alder Hey Children’s Charity Ambassadors are children from all walks of life, who have been treated at Alder Hey or are a relative of a patient who has undergone treatment at our children’s hospital. Childhood should be filled with happiness, laughter and fun but when a child becomes ill, children often have to be brave and grow up quickly in order to deal with the difficult time in their life. At Alder Hey Children’s Charity we want to support all of the children who come through our doors. Everything we do is with our amazing Alder Hey patients and their families in mind.

Test for Tommy - every newborn baby deserves the test that could help save their life.

Imagine if you were about to have a baby. Now imagine you’d heard that there was a test that could be carried out on all newborn babies – a quick, easy and painless test that could help detect potentially life-threatening heart disease. You’d want your baby to have that test, wouldn’t you?

Tiny Tickers, the baby heart charity, thinks so too and that’s why they have created their latest campaign, Test for Tommy. The campaign is named in memory of baby Tommy, who died from undiagnosed heart defect at eleven days old. And by ‘test’, they are referring to pulse oximetry testing.

Spin Master Toys and KidZania London spreading festive joy with giant charity advent calendar

KidZania London celebrates the 25 days of Christmas 

with Spin Master Toys

* Giant charity advent calendar returns to KidZania London *

* Instant prizes to be won for visitors during December *

* A whopping £25k charity donation of toys from Spin Master to help spread the joy of Christmas to children in need *

KidZania London, the indoor city run by kids at Westfield London, Shepherd’s Bush, is teaming up with Spin Master Toys for the second year in a row to spread a little festive joy to children across the country this Christmas. The giant Spin Master Advent Calendar returns to the city on 1 December 2018, but this time, it’s even bigger and better than before.

Tiny Tickers BBC Lifeline Appeal

Airing Sunday 21st May 2017, 4pm on BBC 1 & Wednesday 24th May 2017, 1pm on BBC 2

Every two hours a baby is born in the UK with a serious heart condition. Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the biggest killer of babies in the UK, causing one in every 13 infant deaths. Early detection of heart defects means babies will get the treatment they need from the first opportunity – which can save lives, improve post-surgery survival rates and lead to a better long-term quality of life.

Tiny Tickers is the only national charity with a focus on improving the early detection, diagnosis and care of babies with heart conditions. Congenital heart defects are the most common type of birth defect and it is Tiny Tickers’ ambition that no baby should ever die with an undetected heart defect.

The Great Daffodil Appeal by Marie Curie

Daffodils are my favourite flower.

I love the beautiful yellow that brings joy and colour when the flowers bloom becoming in spring.

Being Welsh as the national flower for Wales is the daffodil they also evoke a sense of pride for my country.

They also remind me of the amazing charity Marie Curie which I support and champion. Marie Curie are a charity close to my heart as helped care for my late Mamgu (grandmother) when she was fighting breast cancer during her last few months of life.

The Giant Wiggle – Action for Children event.

Join The Very Hungry Caterpillar™ by taking part in The Giant Wiggle to help vulnerable children and Action for Children

Leading UK charity Action for Children is teaming up with The World of Eric Carle™ and the most read children’s book in the UK, The Very Hungry Caterpillar™, to get children’s centres, nurseries and other groups throughout the country to host Giant Wiggle events during the week of 21st-27th March 2016.

Children’s charity to repeat sweet success of cream tea delivery.

This summer renowned children’s charity Action Medical Research are giving cream tea lovers a fresh chance to indulge and satisfy their sweet tooth as its popular cream teas in a box scheme runs for a second time.

Following the sweet success of the first cream teas charity campaign, when thousands of cream teas were delivered to homes, schools and workplaces across the UK, the charity is running a second cream teas delivery in August.

To help promote the charity and raise funds for the worthwhile charity, Action Medical Research is calling upon supporters across the country to take part in its unique fundraising campaign whilst enjoying a sweet treat at the same time!

Charity celebrates birthday of mascot Paddington Bear™

Children’s charity Action Medical Research is celebrating the birthday of its faithful mascot Paddington Bear on 25 June.

Paddington has been at the heart of fundraising for Action Medical Research ever since his creator, Michael Bond, met the charity’s founder, Duncan Guthrie, in 1976 and his friendly face has helped to attract thousands of new supporters who together have raised millions of pounds to help babies and children.

Seconds Matter to someone living with arthritis.

Tomorrow, Sunday the 11th October 2014, is World Arthritis Day 2014.

Having witnessed my mum and other loved ones dear to my heart suffer with arthritis, seeing the impact the condition has on their lives I support any campaigns that aim to raise awareness of arthritis.

To celebrate World Arthritis Day 2014 and raise awareness of the condition that affects more than 10 million people of all ages across the UK, Premier Care in Bathing created an arthritis awareness video called ‘Seconds Matter'.

In their video Premier Care in Bathing highlighted how arthritis can affect how quickly and easily suffers can do everyday chores by simulating what it would be like to live with arthritis for a day. To showcase how arthritis affects suffers they demonstrated the differences between an able-bodied person getting ready for the day ahead and a non-able-bodied person struggling with the difficulties that arise when trying to getting ready for the day ahead.

Why Child Sponsorship is so important.

The idea of sponsoring a child appeals to many people.  By giving a relatively small amount of money each month they feel that they’re helping someone much less privileged than them experience a better life.  And that, of course, is a good thing.

But child sponsorship is more important than just helping an individual child in the here and now. The changes that it brings about can be far reaching and can improve things for generations of children.

These are just three areas that child sponsorship has a direct impact on, ones that have a positive effect now and for the future.

Health

There’s an old saying that goes something like: “If you’ve got your health, you’ve got your wealth”. It seems a bit trite, but ask anyone who has been seriously ill, or had someone close to them fall gravely sick, and they’ll tell you it’s true.  Without being healthy all other dreams and aspirations, and even basic day to day living, becomes difficult and sometimes impossible.

Childhood Eye Cancer Trust launches Art for Eyes to mark World Retinoblastoma Awareness Week.

National competition to help children appreciate the value 

of sight and raise awareness of the effects of eye cancer.

The children’s cancer charity CHECT is offering schools and clubs across the UK a chance to win a bespoke professional photo shoot plus art supplies in a competition to highlight the value of sight.

To mark World Retinoblastoma (Rb) Awareness Week (May 11-17) the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust (CHECT) is inviting schools and groups around the UK to take part in the Art4Eyes competition to help educate children and parents about the condition while having fun getting creative.

Prizes worth £3,000 have been donated by Clara Lou Photography and Turners Art. The charity’s corporate sponsor, Vision Express, will be collating and judging entries.

SpecialEffect Charity GameBlast Marathon.

Disability charity launches UK-wide 24-hour video game marathon weekend.

SpecialEffect, a charity who help people with disabilities to benefit from the fun and inclusion of video games, is running a GameBlast marathon weekend on 21-23 February 2014.  People of all ages across the UK are invited to play video game marathons with friends or family to raise money for the charity.

The sponsorship raised from the GameBlast marathons will provide funds to modify and provide technology and gaming equipment that will enable more people with disabilities to enjoy video games with their friends.

The charity is calling for teams to set themselves a fundraising target, register onthe website, and undertake their own sponsored marathons, which can last anything up to 24 hours during the weekend.  Every team that registers will automatically be entered into a prize draw to win gaming goodies.

Mark Saville, SpecialEffect Communications Officer said, “Many children across the UK can only watch their friends and family play video games because their disabilities prevent them from using a controller.  We want to change this and the money raised will enable the Special Effect team to create bespoke gaming equipment to bring joy to many families across the UK.” 

SpecialEffect will be running its own marathon from the Gameblast HQ, and will keep the world up to date with their progress through Facebook and Twitter.

For more information visit: www.specialeffect.org.uk/gameblast

 *  I have not been given any form of compensation for sharing this and have done so to support the fabulous work that the charity SpecialEffect does *

Know the glow - Childhood Eye Cancer Trust.

December is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in the UK.  One small charity is working extremely hard to make sure parents around the world ‘know the glow’ and take action if necessary.

Do you know the glow?

The ‘glow’ is a very subtle sign in a child’s eyes that their life may be at risk.

Childhood eye cancer ( retinoblastoma) is rare but can be deadly.

It can rob children of their sight, in most cases at least one of their eyes and from time to time, sadly, their life.  For those affected they can face years of treatment, dozens of examinations under general anaesthetic and the life-long impact of living with an artificial eye.

Yet many parents have never even heard of it.  More worrying, GPs too are failing parents by missing the symptoms – in 2012 72% of GPs who examined a child with retinoblastoma either missed the tumours altogether or misdiagnosed them as a less serious condition – delaying these children access to vital life-saving treatment.

Now the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust (CHECT) is campaigning to educate parents about the signs and symptoms so they can take action if they ever see the signs in their own child.  Early diagnosis offers the best chance of saving a child’s sight, preventing the need to have their eye or eyes removed and ultimately will save their life.

In 2011 CHECT convinced the Institute for Child Health to publish the signs of retinoblastoma in the Personal Child Health Record (red book) as prior to this there was no public information at all about the condition which is found in around 50 babies and children in the UK each year.

As children with Rb, as it is known for short, often show no other signs of illness, it is crucial that parents know what to look out for and this is why CHECT has released a series of posters online during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in hope of using people power to share these vital messages.  More than 100,000 people on Facebook have been reached so far since the beginning of the month.

A glow in the eye can of course be nothing to worry about – in most cases it is the light of the flash bouncing off the back of the eye  but CHECT reminds us that you cannot rule out serious eye conditions, which include cataracts among others, from a photograph alone and we should always get it checked out.

The good news is there is a simple test our GPs can do to rule out anything serious.  The red reflex test involves shining a torch into the eye of the child - the room should be dark so the pupils are nice and wide.  But CHECT advise to print off details of the test from the website and take them to the GP to help explain any concerns you have. http://www.chect.org.uk/cms/index.php/signs-and-symptoms/who-to-see

The second most common sign of this eye cancer is a squint – often dismissed as a lazy eye, CHECT is doing its best to raise awareness amongst GPs and health visitors to ensure all children with suspected squints are automatically checked with the red reflex test before being referred to a squint clinic.

There are four other signs of Rb which you can read about here http://www.chect.org.uk/cms/index.php/signs-and-symptoms

CHECT’s campaign runs until the end of the month, you can help support their efforts by liking their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Childhood-Eye-Cancer-Trust-CHECT/123729324370622) and more importantly by sharing their awareness posters. It’ll cost you nothing but could save a life.

*  Charity guest post *

Tweeting bra Breast Cancer campaign - sponsored video.

Since losing my grandmother to breast cancer over 10 years ago breast cancer is an issue that is close to my heart.  Having lost a loved one to breast cancer I support campaigns that raise awareness of breast cancer and charities that raise money for the cause.

As I like to support breast cancer campaigns I wanted to share with you about Nestle Fitness’ latest video campaign where they are raising awareness for breast cancer and highlighting the importance of monthly breast self-check-ups.

Realising that due to busy lives some women simply forget to regularly check their breasts Nestle Fitness are aiming to remind women about the importance of regular breast self-check-ups with their innovative breast cancer campaign.

Recognising that in spite of hectic lives many women still find the time to check social media, Nestle Fitness have come up with a ground-breaking way to raise awareness for breast cancer and remind women about the significance of the monthly self-exam on the social media platform twitter with the unique Tweeting Bra.

The Truth about Forced Marriage.

People often confuse arranged marriages with forced marriages but the two are entirely different. An arranged marriage is usually arranged by the spouse’s parents, but the marriage itself still takes place between two consenting adults. However, a forced marriage is one where one or more of the marriage party is being forced or coerced into the marriage against their will. The victims of such marriages are usually young girls, forced to marry men up to four times their own age. These girls then often face a lifetime of abuse and neglect, giving birth to their first child while they themselves are still children. That is, of course, if they survive that long.

Incredibly, every three seconds a girl is married under 18. This is especially dangerous in developing countries where pregnancy and childbirth is the leading cause of death for girls between 15 and 19 and a leading cause of school drop-out.

According to the Convention on the Elimination on All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) - marriage before the age of 18 should not be allowed since children don’t have the ‘full maturity and capacity to act’. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights also states that marriage should be ‘entered only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses’.

Charity raffle for Cancer Research UK and Bliss.

The lovely Twin Mummy and Daddy are taking part in a number of events to raise money for two brilliant charities, Cancer Research UK and Bliss.

Their very first event will be a skydive!

Twin Mummy and Daddy would love to raise £2000 for each charity but to raise money for two very worthy causes they can’t do it without your help.

Their first fundraising event is their Fabulous Charity Raffle which is open right now!

Here are the prizes you could win with Twin Mummy and Daddy’s Fabulous Charity Raffle.

*  £50 Experience Gift voucher to spend at Experience Days

*  £15 iTunes voucher courtesy of Twin Mummy and Daddy

*  £10 iTunes voucher courtesy of Twin Mummy and Daddy

*  £25 voucher to spend at Bunnie Knitwear

*  A personalised word art print of your choice from Baby Cakes Treasures