A second Christmas without Madeleine

A letter from Gerry and Kate McCann (see website for letter and more information)

Dear Supporter,

First of all we would like to take this opportunity to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support. Your solidarity has helped maintain our strength and our hope - especially at this difficult time of year.

A quick update on what has been happening:
As you may have seen in the media, the Portuguese authorities have lifted our ‘arguido’ status and in July 2008 closed the investigation to find Madeleine. It is therefore even more important now that we, Madeleine's family, do everything we possibly can to try and find our little girl.

Reassuringly, we know that there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to suggest that Madeleine has been seriously harmed (and this has been further confirmed after studying the recently released Portuguese police files). In light of this, we passionately believe that there is a very strong likelihood that Madeleine is out there and can be found.

With your support we will NEVER give up looking for Madeleine.

Like any family who suddenly find themselves in such a confusing and terrifying situation, we don't know if any of us could have got through all this without the support of people like you. So thank you so much for your help. Without your prayers and efforts, the confusion, isolation and heartache our family has faced would have been so much harder.

Yours sincerely

Gerry and Kate McCann

It'll only take a minute...

The United Nations Foundation is to support the "Say NO to Violence against Women” campaign by the UN Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM by donate $1 for each of the first 100,000 signatures to the online campaign. The donations will be passed to the UNIFEM-managed UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women.

The "Say No to Violence against Women" campaign was launched on 26 November 2007. So far more than 18,000 people worldwide have signed the call that urges an end to violence against women and encourages support for the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women.

UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman welcomed the UN Foundation's support. "Thanks to this fantastic challenge grant, every signature will bolster our cause to make ending violence against women worldwide a top priority", she said.

The United Nations Foundation, a charity, was created in 1998 with entrepreneur Ted Turner's $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities. The UN Foundation builds and implements public-private partnerships "to address the world's most pressing problems" and also works to broaden support for the UN through advocacy and public outreach.

Click here: www.saynotoviolence.org ; then add your name & email. That's all you need to do.

It'll only take a minute, but might make a world of difference.

Not so charitable Christmas cards

From the UK Fundraising site comes a report that confirms what some of us already knew:

The Irish Times found that in most cases it was impossible to tell from the cards what the return was to charity. Two exceptions were Marks and Spencer cards sold in Ireland, which is giving 10 per cent of the sales price to Focus Ireland, and Debenhams, which is giving 20 per cent to the ISPCC.

Not surprisingly, buying cards directly from the charity gives a much larger percentage to the charity. The Irish Cancer Society says 80 per cent of revenues goes to their organisation if people buy directly from them but as little is 10 per cent if people buy their cards from Boots.

An umbrella group, Irish Charity Cards, says 25 per cent of their revenues go to
seven charities. The ICC is not in favour of putting the direct return to charity on the card as is the case in the UK because large card producers have greater economies of scale.

An Post says Irish people will send 110 million cards this year.

Full link: http://www.fundraising.co.uk/ireland/news/8698

If you want to buy charity Christmas cards go to http://www.studio51.com/ . This great company gives 51p for every £1 you spend on their cards. Available only online to cut costs, here is a company that helps charities raise funds at no cost to them or their supporters.

In a recent news item, Studio 51 MD Alan Hawkes says :
"Charities get around £10-15 million a year and that is just plain disappointing when more than £100 million a year is currently spent on charity Christmas cards in the UK. That figure should be – and could be – around £20 to £30 million by Christmas 2012."

"It's easy to buy a box of so-called 'charity' cards in the high street and that is all many people do, even though charities get such a poor deal out of the arrangement. And of course many people don't buy charity cards at all."

Hawkes says that attitude must change. "I want buying charity cards to be so normal that if you receive a Christmas card from a friend or relative and there is no charity donation attached, you'll be saying something like: "I can't believe cousin John didn’t send charity cards this year."

He advises people to buy cards direct from a charity to ensure most of the money goes to that charity. His company provides a service to those charities which don't have the time or resources to set up a retail operation.

See a list of the 'Meanest Christmas Cards retailers' here.

What are you waiting for? Send some Studio51 cards today!

PS: If you want a charity recommendation, choose this one.
PPS: I don't work for the company nor do I have a stake in it. My charity benefits from any purchases attributed to us, but you are free to choose any charity of your choice. Really.

Happy Monday (a fairytale?)

NDCS, the National Deaf Children's Society, has declared Monday 10 September to be 'Happy Monday' and is encouraging people to hold Happy Monday parties in their office to raise funds for the charity.

Happy Monday party organisers are encouraged to collect at least £3 per head from colleagues that they invite to the party.

The charity is offering a party pack to help organisers plan their event, together with downloadable posters, jokes, and smilies, the logo of the campaign. You can also create your own smiley and download it to post on your website or blog to "be part of the UK's biggest smile".

More: www.happymonday.org.uk

Last call for duckies!

The Great British Duck Race takes place this weekend at Hampton Court Palace.

If you haven't yet adopted a duck (for as little as £2), do it now! You stand to win £10,000 if your duck is the first across the line. There are prizes for the next 30 ducks as well, so what are you waiting for?

You can choose a charity to support with your duck. Here's who I recommend. Or choose your own.

Say hello to Quackers!

Have you adopted a duck yet?

For as little as £2, you can take part in the Great British Duck Race. This is an outrageous fun event aiming to create a Guiness World Record attempt and raise £500,000 for charity.

About 165,000 yellow plastic ducks will be released in the Thames (*) on 2 Sept in a race. The first duck across will win £10,000 and there are prizes for the next 30 ducks that follow.

If you haven't yet adopted a duck, what are you waiting for? Here is a wonderful opportunity to be a part of a whacky event for peanuts, so go for it!

You can support any charity but consider supporting this one.

Remember, all it takes is £2 to adopt a duck. Anything more than that goes directly to the charity.

Good luck and see you at the finish!

Put the Fun back into Fundraising

Any 'volunteers' out there?

I'm writing an article on volunteering and would love to hear from anybody who has registered on an online volunteering site or has volunteered for an NGO in India.

Email me if you can help. Many thanks.

Examples of online volunteering sites would be this , this and this.

Woohoo!

A grant application that I submitted, asking for 1400£ was successful for (gasp!) £5000!!

Getting more money than I asked for is extremely unusual. It's usually the other way around :)

*little silent dance here*

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The morning, however, began badly.

Mid coffee, for some strange reason, I decided to tidy up my handbag. Emptying the contents, I couldn't find (to my horror) my wallet. Mr.R and I backtracked over the whole day yesterday, but I didn't have any recollection of taking the wallet out when we were on the High Street. The last I saw it was yesterday morning when I left for work and did the usual phone-wallet-keys check. So where could it be?

Precious morning minutes were flying by. In the midst of the semi-panic, Mr.R who was on call, was asked to check on a patient. In the meantime, one of the kitchen cupboard doors came off its hinges. In the middle of the madness, I had the presence of mind to check the bank statement online. My paltry savings were still intact. But that didn't really mean anything, because it takes a day or so for withdrawals to show up.

While mulling over the horror of losing the wallet (cards could be reclaimed, but there was something more precious - Mr.R's passport is being renewed at the High Commission and they gave me a receipt to pick it up tomorrow... Did I dare lose that receipt?!) I managed to re-hinge the cupboard, get ready for work, have a hurried breakfast and get Mr.R off to work on time.

Mr.R gave me a surprise lift to work as he was on his way to a house call. I reached work, praying that the wallet would be there. And (thank you, God), it was. Sitting pretty on my desk without any remorse for the panic it had caused.

All's well that ends well, as they say.

Lesson learnt : Do the phone-wallet-keys check to and from work.

Don’t raid the lottery to fund the Olympics

Please sign an online petition to Tony Blair asking that lottery money should not be used to fund the Olympics. Charities in the UK depend significantly on grants from the Lotteries to pay for their projects. In real terms, this means a possible loss of £300-600m to the charity sector.

Sign the petition here. You need to be a resident of the UK.

Thank you. Every signature helps.

Read more about the NCVO's campaign to stop the diversion of lottery funds.

Charity matters

Just a reminder that a list of Indian NGO's is available on my charity blog (http://charitymatters.blogspot.com). If you know of any others not on the list, please leave a comment with the information.

Also on the blog is lots of links that NGO's in India can use for grant applications and requests for funding. I'm able to help with writing grant applications, if required.

Fundraising for charity

Everyclick.com is a search engine that gives half of the revenue it generates to charity. Use it to raise money for your favourite charity whenever you search the web. Last year search engines generated close to £3.2 billion - just imagine how your selected charity could benefit if you and your friends all used everyclick.com to support them whenever you searched the web.

All you need to do is select the charity you would like to support, there's absolutely no charge to you or the charities involved.

Please consider supporting the Down's Syndrome Research Foundation through this link at Everyclick.com

Charity Matters : Update

I've finally got around to updating the Charity Matters blog. Please take a look : http://charitymatters.blogspot.com

I've added a list of Indian NGO's. If you know of any more and want them on that list,please leave a link or details on the comments section in the Charity Matters Blog and I'll add them to the blog roll. Thanks.

A Million Little Pieces. Or Ten.

Mr R's mum confirms that she can view blogs again, so that's good news. Is it still a problem for some people? Nobody writes to me anymore, so can't be sure :(

Anyway, it's the end of Thursday. The end of a manic week where I spent some (ha!) crazy hours preparing a bid for funding from the National Lottery. The end budget for the project is now a little over ten million (gulp!). The bid's in the post today and they've already got an email copy - it's out of my hands now.

On hindsight, we're not likely to get it for several reasons - we are a relatively small charity and may be in competition with the Big Ones who can afford to employ professional fundraisers and grant writers to do the work. Secondly, there may be other projects that are more appealing in the eyes of the guys evaluating the bids - something closer to their objectives that we may miss out on.

But if we do get through the first stage...

Aaaaah...can't bear to think of what we'll be up against if we do get through the first stage. Can already see a mountain of paperwork ahead!

Never mind. For now, I'm mighty pleased with my effort. It was a good bid, though I can see the potential to make it even better, given more time and preparation.

Ten million.

Boy, I need a pay rise :)

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Local newspaper called saying they wanted my article. Dashed off a few pics I had taken to support the text. Will keep you updated if it gets published!

Charity Matters

My blog on the charity sector is now up and running. Just one post for now, so check again later!

Charity Matters
http://charitymatters.blogspot.com

My debut in Parliament

I have always thought I should be in politics, but never imagined I would be in Parliament so soon.

I was at Westminster the other day - not as an MP, sadly, but as a representative of my charity and the community at large. The occasion in question was a book reading/discussion called 'Defiant Birth' organised by the Alive and Kicking campaign.

The building itself is gorgeous - having only seen it from the outside (and that too, focus is usually limited to Big Ben), it was awesome to look at the marvellous architecture from within the hallowed halls. Friendly policemen guided us to our little committee room, which was soon full of people sympathetic to the cause of anti-abortion/ disability groups /parents/ interested MP's.

Ann Winterton MP chaired the session while Dominic Lawson introduced it. Melinda Tankard Reist, the Australian author of the book and one of the contributors told their stories of despair, horror and discrimination.

It was an interesting evening - for the voices that spoke out, for the opinions expressed, for the lives cherished, for the questions raised.

365 ways to Change the World

On a recent visit to the Barbican to hear a tribute to Yehudi Menuhin, I found this fantastic book in the Farringdons bookshop there : Michael Norton's 365 ways to change the world is full of ideas - sensible and very practical things that you and I could do to make a difference. It's the kind of book I should have written - given that at any time, I have over ten suggestions on how things can be improved :) Maybe in 2010...

Anyway, I have been inspired. Mr R's been reading the book and has been very pleased that he's already doing a lot of the things mentioned. Are you?

I will start adding the relevant entry for the day from the book onto this blog. Who knows, somebody somewhere might read it and think it's a great idea. And the world he/she lives in will never be the same again.

That person might be You.
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From 365 ways to change the world: March 9

Down with Tobacco

Tobacco is the cause of 1 in 10 deaths worldwide (around 5 million people a year), and this is projected to double by 2020 if current smoking trends continue. Half those who smoke today (around 650 million peopl) will be killed by tobacco.

...On National No Smoking Day

• If you're a smoker, give up.
• Be a pain in the bum. Tell everyone you know who smokes, and any smoker whose smoke is curling into your face how harmful smoking is to them, and how unpleasant and dangerous to those around them.
• Download information on smoking and pregnancy. Hand this out to friends and colleagues who are or intend to become pregnant. You'll be giving a baby a better chance of good health.
• Talk to the manager in bars and restuarants about providing smoke-free zones if these aren't yet provided (Three cheers for the UK government here!)

No Smoking Day is the second Wednesday in March.

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Some other similarly inclined sites :

• An idea-a-day
• Global Ideas Bank
• So What Can I Do?
• PledgeBank

Give us your votes

Here's your chance to do your first good deed for the year.

Jessica Williams' royalties from the sales of How to Give to Charity, plus the same amount again on top from the publisher, Icon Books, will be paid to the charity which receives the highest percentage of votes on this website.

Getting involved is straightforward. Please nominate the 'Down's Syndrome Research Foundation' to have the chance of receiving the money. Enter your email address and the name of the charity in the fields below, and click Submit.

Please. All it takes is a minute. And you have no idea what a difference that can make.

http://www.iconbooks.co.uk/charity/nominate.cfm

And when you're done, ask your friends and family to put in a vote as well. Many Thanks.

An email from JC

A new mail landed in my inbox a moment ago. The sender name was, ahem, 'Jesus Christ' and the subject was 'Hidden Rewards'. I didn't dare open the email. The thought of a virus scares me more than the possibility of God trying to get my attention.

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I started work yesterday with a charity that promotes and funds research for Down's Syndrome. After a decade of working with a mammoth organisaton, it's a relief to be with just a few people. The couple who started the charity are moving back to the US in August, so they've hired me and one other lady to run the charity here in the UK, under the watchful eye of the trustees, ofcourse!! We're looking for office space right now, and hopefully will find something reasonable soon. It seems to be a challenging assignment and I'm rather looking forward to making the most of it. It's interesting to see how charities function here. After being with the Samaritans in India, this is a chance to see how the West functions. Very differently, I think!

An update

Dear MW's,

Remember my recent post on 'Are you a good listener?'

The next Orientation program for Mumbaiwallah's interested in volunteering at Samaritans Helpline is on Sunday, November 28, 2004, 10.30 am in the Garden Hall, Seva Niketan, Ground Floor, J.J.Road (right at the junction of Police HQ,Hume High School and the old JJ Bridge). The Orientation will basically provide information about the organisation, the nature and services of the helpline, the kind of people they are looking for etc, ending with a Q/A session. Contact no for more info/registration: 022-23092068.

PLEASE pass this on to friends, relatives and any colleagues so that more MW's can know about this and give of their time if so inclined. There is a link to email this post at the bottom, near the date and time of the post - feel free to use it!

Thanks to all who pass on the message; for the rest of you.....hmmmm!