Simon Cowell is backing Superhero Friday
Simon Cowell, patron of Children’s Hospices UK, is calling for heroes to get involved in Children’s Hospice Week, 14-21 May.
Friday 20th May is “Superhero Friday”, when fundraising will be hero-inspired. Why not dress up as a superhero and make a donation to Children’s Hospices UK? Get your friends, family and work colleagues involved and see who can come up with the best outfit!
Simon Cowell said: “Children’s hospices are incredible places that help life-limited children, young people and their families. As Patron of Children’s Hospices UK, I’m calling on you to be a hero and fundraise for Children’s Hospice Week.”
He continued: “Superhero Friday is a great way to support your local children’s hospice and have some fun at the same time.”
Visit childrenshospiceweek.org.uk for more information on how to get involved.
Raising money for meningitis research.
‘Boogie Fit with Pete and Marvin’ is a new DVD for kids that not only keeps them active but helps to raise money for the Meningitis Research Foundation.
The £8 DVD stars CBeebies’ Boogie Pete and the MRF’s mascot Marvin the friendly monster, and features six catchy new songs and simple dance routines designed specially to appeal to preschool children.
MRF’s community fundraiser, Genna Vizard, said, “Boogie Fit promotes exercise and movement amongst children under six and encourages creativity and expression to music. By buying this DVD you’ll not only be giving your kids a great time, you’ll be supporting MRF in our fight against meningitis and septicaemia.”
The DVD can be bought from www.meningitis.org/boogiefit.
Music mogul Simon Cowell has given his support to the Have a Heart Appeal, raising money to help children’s hospices provide more vital care and support to seriously ill children, young people and their families in the home.
Pictured here in an exclusive interview with Heart’s Toby Anstis, Children’s Hospices UK patron Simon Cowell urged listeners to start fundraising for their local children’s hospice, saying, “I have seen first-hand the incredible work children’s hospices do to help seriously ill children, young people and their families make the most of short, precious lives. The Have a Heart Appeal is all about raising money to give these families a helping hand at home when they most need it. Please join me in supporting this appeal to help your local children’s hospice continue their vital work.”
Have a Heart aims to raise enough money to provide 28 children’s hospices with a MINI and funding for nursing hours to deliver care and support when and where it is needed most. The Appeal Week will run from Monday 28 February to Friday 4 March, culminating in a fundraising extravaganza, featuring a host of celebrities alongside Heart presenters.
Heart morning presenter Toby Anstis said, “Children’s Hospices UK does amazing work to give children the highest quality of life possible and to support their families through difficult times. I was very humbled when I visited some of the hospices last year – they’re incredibly happy and inspiring places. With help from our listeners, we look forward to raising thousands of pounds for local hospices across the UK and making a real difference to children’s lives.”
For more information, tune into Heart and visit www.heart.co.uk/haveaheart
Photo Credit: Ian West/PA
Soon, excited children up and down the country will be waiting anxiously by their letterboxes; eagerly awaiting their Letters from Santa, courtesy of the NSPCC
The NSPCC has worked very closely with their representatives in the North Pole over the last few months, and Santa has decided to send personalised letters to every child on the ‘Letters from Santa’ list!
For a suggested donation of £5, a letter will be personalised and placed upon Santa’s sleigh for delivery over the Christmas period to a child (or big kid!) that’s special to you. Every pound is warmly received as it will help the NSPCC continue to provide help and support to vulnerable children.
Each Letter from Santa will make a significant difference to the lives of children – for example £20 donated could enable the NSPCC to answer another five calls to ChildLine.
All of the personalised Letters from Santa will be posted in time for Christmas. Letters can be ordered through the NSPCC Wishes website, where you can find Christmas eCards, Corporate eCards and Letters from Santa. You can even make a donation to Charity.
Letters from Santa with the NSPCC are easy to order, so it couldn’t be simpler to support the NSPCC this Christmas
So, please help to put smiles on the faces of the nation’s children this festive season, starting with a magical Letter from Santa himself!
Are you keen on dressing your baby or toddler in designer clothing but have struggled to justify the cost of doing so?
If so, Little Lunalu’s collection of clothing from over forty trendy brands could be for you.
Not only is their Spring/Summer 2010 range meant to be more accessible and affordable, but 5% of all purchases made goes straight to The Little Lunalu Foundation which supports charities helping disadvantaged children.
You can see the complete collection at the Little Lunalu web site.
Labels include American Apparel’s cool baby basics and funky extras like leopard-print tights from Swedish designers Popup Shop, through to ‘mini-me’ items like Hunter wellies and Baby Bloch’s exquisite ballerina shoes for little girls.
As well as stocking a number of exclusive collections, the store also offers its very own range of stylish sunglasses, including bang-on-trend gold-rimmed aviators for just £10, plus a collection of unique stroller covers and footmuffs for Bugaboos, created by the founder of Little Lunalu – available in five different designs such as a trendy houndstooth print,
camouflage and paisley.
Little Lunalu’s founder, Adina Belloli, says, “My passion has always been working with disadvantaged children. I’ve been a volunteer since the age of 12 and it’s just part of who I am. The other thing I’ve always enjoyed is fashion and, although they’re polar opposites, I’ve found a way to combine them both through Little Lunalu. When my daughter, Luna, was born, I realised that there were other mums out there who, like me, wanted to have more urban products for their children but just didn’t know where to find them. I decided to solve that by creating the online shop. But, staying true to my real passion for helping disadvantaged children, I also opened The Lunalu Foundation and give 5% of all our sales to this entity which, in turn, provides support to charitable organisations across the world such as Global Action for Children.”
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) has announced its “I Stand for Children” campaign to run alongside the General Election race.
Supporters can send pre-prepared emails to parliamentary candidates that calls for them to pledge support to the NSPCC’s initiatives, via a specially set up web site.
A second web site will allow candidates access to a range of tools and press releases that they can use to communicate with constituents.
A spokesperson for the NSPCC said how important it was for frontline children’s services to be made a priority, at a time when financial cuts or freezes were likely.
“We need to ensure that it stays a priority, in order to protect and be there for more children, and the more people we can get to lobby their election candidates, the more chance we have of success,” said Diana Sutton, head of public affairs and campaign at the NSPCC.
Superstar Kylie Minogue has agreed to become patron of the newly formed StudyVox Foundation, a charity launched today to support British undergraduates seeking help with tuition fees.
Kylie, who has spent time at StudyVox’s headquarters, said, “Studyvox is such a fantastic site for students. It helps them to be connected with one another wherever they may be across the country. I would have loved to have access to this kind of thing when I was studying!”
An initial injection of £16,000 comes from StudyVox, with the first £10k award and three £2,000 awards being presented by Kylie this spring.
Joint CEO of StudyVox, Kevin Martin, commented, “Kylie’s support is a fantastic way of raising the StudyVox Foundation’s profile and getting the word out to students across the UK. Her patronage of The Foundation will add tremendously to its ability to make a difference to the lives of young people.”
The StudyVox Foundation’s aims are to:
- Advance education, and relieve poverty by providing or assisting in the provision of financial or other assistance to poor students;
- Relieve persons who are in need – by reason of youth, ill health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage; and
- Advance citizenship by assisting, encouraging or facilitating volunteering by young people to take part in projects, purposes or events that are carried out for the public benefit.
In the thirty years that special care baby charity Bliss has existed, it has repeatedly called for better services that care for premature and sick babies in the UK.
Every year, some 70,000 babies are born in need of specialist neonatal care in England alone. Added to this, the birth rate is increasing and more premature babies are surviving than ever, which puts additional pressure on overstretched services.
To celebrate thirty years and highlight the issues, Bliss has produced a special report — Three Decades and Counting — which documents the charity’s support and pushes for improvements to special care baby services.
Chief executive of Bliss, Andy Cole, said “We are delighted to be celebrating our thirtieth birthday with the publication of this special report, looking at how Bliss and the services for newborn babies we support have developed. After 30 years of fighting, 2009 should mark a significant change in the fortunes of premature and sick babies and the care they receive. Special care baby units have been stretched to the limits for far too long. We call on the Government and the NHS to ensure that the NHS Taskforce’s recommendations are now delivered without delay.”
Neighbours are acting to save thousands of children living in appalling and dangerous conditions, the NSPCC reveals
Last year, concerned members of the public contacted the charity’s Helpline every five minutes on average, with nearly 10,000 calls being so serious they needed urgent attention. One in three of these came from people living near the abused child and their action helped at least 7000 children.
However, the full scale of child abuse in communities is even higher. At least one in six calls from neighbours and others cannot be answered by overstretched Helpline counsellors, leaving many children at risk of serious harm.
Last year the Helpline received 95,000 calls but 15,000 went unanswered. Most people wait at least a month before calling to help a child, outnumbering those ringing on the same day by seven to one.
To that end, the NSPCC has announced a major expansion of its helplines to enable the charity to recruit and train more counsellors and encourage more people to take action sooner.
A £50m ‘Child’s Voice Appeal’ (childsvoiceappeal.org.uk) is being launched to help grow the service and ensure all these cries for help are covered. This is in addition to £30m already donated by the UK government, which recognises the importance of expanding the NSPCC’s helplines.
Recent calls included one about a nine-year-old boy who had the barrel of a gun placed in his mouth. In another a neighbour described a young girl being threatened with an axe by her father and a third involved a homeless twelve-year-old who was terrified of going to sleep in case he woke up to find his alcoholic mum dead.
In other calls neighbours have described seeing a young mother dangling her two-year-old child by the wrist from a second floor window, parents constantly screaming and swearing at their youngsters and many living in households where drugs are openly used. One shocked woman told how she went into a house where the floors were covered with rubbish and dog mess and the milk in a baby’s bottle had turned green because it was so old.
John Cameron, Head of the NSPCC Helpline, said, “Every day we deal with tragic stories of children who are living in the most heart-rending and often dangerous conditions. Many of them are so young they are helpless so their only hope is for someone to see how dreadful their lives are and take action to save them. When they do that we have to be sure we can take their calls.
“Not all children brought to our attention are at serious risk of harm, but many are in very distressing situations. We were asked to help one five-year-old girl who was so hungry she started eating toilet paper to block out the hunger pangs.”
One caller who saw three young children being violently beaten by their parents told a Helpline counsellor, “Please help them. I just want them to have a better future.”
John Cameron added, “It is outrageous that our country’s children continue to suffer such cruelty in 2008. Thankfully, there are many responsible neighbours who are looking out for these children. But we want more to join them and to call as soon as they suspect something is wrong. You might think it’s a difficult thing to make a call like that but in the vast majority of cases the people who rang because they believed the matter was urgent were right.
“It only takes a few seconds to dial the 0808 800 5000 number and that could save a child’s life. Now we have to raise the money to make sure we play our part.”
Dame Mary Marsh, director and chief executive of the NSPCC said, “Our Full Stop Campaign has spurred millions of people to act in recent years. The Child’s Voice Appeal is a major step forward against child cruelty and will allow us to help many more children. Every £10 donated helps us answer another call which could save a child’s life.
“The UK government is committed to helping us develop the NSPCC Helpline and ChildLine. We are confident the public will now play its part in supporting the appeal – working together towards our ultimate aim of ending child cruelty.”
Log on with your kids to find out the really wild truth about our monkey relatives and how to actually make them one of the family
Chat date: 21st January
Chat time: 2pm
Throughout time man has had a fascination with monkeys and apes. Children in particular seem mesmerised by their intelligence, playfulness and inquisitiveness. From Curious George to Marcel’s feature role in Friends our love of our closest relative has never waned.
But in some parts of the world many species of monkey are under threat from the destruction of their habitat and exploitation by man. Which is why across the world there are teams of dedicated volunteers working to protect these animals, safeguarding their habitats and working with local communities help to create a better future for people and wildlife.
The Lilongwe Wildlife Centre in Malawi is one of them. Staff at the sanctuary rescue injured monkeys and help them to recuperate before releasing them back into the wild. Supported by Born Free, the sanctuary relies on donations from companies and people to keep their great work going.
Lee Stewart, who heads up the sanctuary at Lilongwe will be joining us live to tell you everything you ever wanted to know about monkeys and introduce you to some of the 40 vervets and baboons at the sanctuary, all with their own incredible stories.
Joining Lee is Heartbeat’s Joe McFadden. Joe, who plays PC Joe Mason in the ITV series, is a long-standing supporter of Born Free. And alongside him will be Bruce Learner of Kellogg’s – who has teamed up with Born Free to give people the opportunity to take part in the amazing Adopt a Monkey scheme. From January to March 2009, people have the chance to directly help these animals and ‘Adopt a Monkey’ by collecting three special packs of Kellogg’s cereal. Each adoption will last six months and will help Born Free rescue and rehabilitate monkeys and return them to the wild.
To learn more about these incredible creatures and how you can help your children understand more about the monkey kingdom, log on to our live WebTV show.
Lee Stewart, Joe McFadden and Bruce Learner join us live online at http://www.webchats.tv/chat/monkeys_make_them_your_business on 21th January at 2pm to discuss how you can learn about how to help save monkeys from your home.
Click here to submit questions before the chat
To find out more about how Kellogg’s is helping Born Free please visit: http://www.kelloggs.co.uk/whatson/adoptamonkey
The Surviving Parents Coalition (SPC) and National Association to Protect Children (PROTECT) launched their “Not One More Child” campaign in Washington, D.C. today with a formal event at the National Press Club. The event was attended by legislators, law enforcement, and other coalition members. The “Not One More Child” campaign website, www.notonemorechild.org was introduced, along with a public service announcement focusing on the exploding crisis of child exploitation. The groups also released law enforcement maps with data showing hundreds of thousands of criminals who are currently trafficking in child pornography.
“‘Not One More Child’ is literally about rescuing children,” said Ed Smart, parent of Elizabeth, president of the Surviving Parents Coalition and member of the “Not One More Child” Alliance. “The campaign is not only about child pornography, but about pictures that include perpetrators, child victims in crime scenes.”
The children’s charity WellChild today announced the launch of the WellChild Helpline, designed to offer comprehensive help and advice to anyone concerned about the health and well-being of children.
Staffed by a team of trained healthcare professionals from a variety of disciplines, callers will either have questions answered, or efficiently passed to the most appropriate organisation.
BBC1′s Breakfast programme’s GP, Dr Rosemary Leonard, endorsed the WellChild Helpline, saying, “WellChild’s new service is extremely welcome as accessing the right information can seem daunting and not having access to concerns about health can cause a lot of anxiety. By having this multi-disciplinary team of experts at the end of a phone-line or email, WellChild will be putting people in touch with the right health information which could ultimately lead to saved lives as well as an enormous improvement in the quality of many more.”
