Kylie Minogue patrons StudyVox Foundation: bursary support for UK undergraduates

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.

UK’s premature/sick baby care needs to improve says three-decade strong Bliss charity

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.”

Bliss

What to give this Valentine’s Day? A hug says it best, survey says

While roses, chocolates, candlelit meals and other romantic gestures are very nice for Valentine’s Day (or, indeed, any time of year), it seems that the simple hug often says it best.

A survey by The Co-operative shows that a hug and a kiss even rank above more steamy “between the sheets” pursuits for many.

Sure, two in five men appreciate a great female body while three in five women are keen on a sexy smile and gazing into their partner’s eyes, but the 500-strong survey also found that cards were an inexpensive but appreciated way to show affection.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they’d be spending up to £100 on Valentine’s gifts this year, while 62% said an ideal day would include an intimate dinner.

The survey highlights the partnership between The Co-operative and British Heart Foundation who have set up the Red For Heart fundraising campaign.

Head of corporate partnerships Douglas Campbell Rouse said, “we would like to encourage all romantics out there to buy a Hallmark card from The Co-operative and help us raise vital funds in the fight against heart disease.”

Good neighbours act to save thousands of children as NSPCC launches £50m appeal to grow helplines

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.”

www.childsvoiceappeal.org.uk

Final Harry Potter book to be sent to hundreds of hospitalised children

On July 21st, thousands of children in American hospitals undergoing life-saving treatment, including chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants, will be treated to the final instalment of Harry Potter.

The Hope for Henry Foundation will deliver thousands of print and CD versions of the book, as well as hosting Harry Potter themed parties at the hospitals, complete with gift bags, trivia contests, readings, and other activities.

The audiobook of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, read by Jim Dale, will be given to children too sick or too young to read the 784 pages of this much-anticipated book.

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British Heart Foundation’s Valentine Appeal 2007

Whether you’re cosily coupled up or a sassy singleton the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has the perfect way to make next Valentine’s extra special. By giving a gift that saves lives you can make February 14 a day to remember, not just for you and your loved one, but for heart patients across the UK.

The Valentine Appeal is aiming to raise £1m which will help fund BHF Heart Nurses and the charity’’s Heart Information Line to care for and support more heart patients and their families. Whether a gift for that special person or a treat for yourself, the BHF has a range of heart-warming ways that you can support the Appeal:

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It’s BBC Children in Need day

Here in the UK, it’s the BBC’s annual charity extravaganza raising money for Children in Need in the UK.

Every penny raised goes towards helping disadvantaged children in Britain.

Fundraising has been going on all week: tonight is the grand finalé, kicking off at 7pm on BBC1.

Join in and raise some money for a worthy cause.

BBC Children in Need