Give something back - free £1 charity donation - E 31/12/06

Have received an email from Netmums today asking me to forward it to all my friends, so thought I'd put it on here. For everyone that registers on their website before 31 December, Netmums will donate 50p to the Sunday Times "Seeing is Believing" Christmas Appeal. Standard Chartered have agreed to double that up to £1, so here is a chance to give something back in return for all those freebies and grabbits we have benefitted from. Netmums is a website that gives free local information about local events/places of interest etc for parents and they send the occasional email, but I've been registered with them for over a year and they certainly don't inundate you with rubbish. Here's the email......


[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]As a member of Netmums, we are writing to ask you to help us reduce childhood blindness in the third world - not by sending money (we know you've none left this near to Christmas!) - but by sending this email to everyone you know who has children.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Here's the deal:[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Netmums makes money from advertising and sponsorship, and we use that to pay our running costs. Whatever is left over we use to spread the Netmums word and make sure as many mums as possible get to hear about the information and support we offer. We've got a few quid left in the pot this year and rather than spend it on "advertising" which ends up in corporate coffers we've tried to be a bit more creative.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]We've teamed up with the Sunday Times Christmas Appeal "Seeing is Believing" which aims to prevent childhood blindness in the third world. There are 1.4m blind children in the world, mostly in Africa and Asia. Every year, up to 500,000 children go blind: one every minute. We were fairly shocked to learn that most of these are preventable or reversible. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]So, you tell everyone you know about Netmums and for every one that joins before 31st December, we'll give 50p to the Sunday Times Appeal out of our advertising fund (50p will pay for enough Vitamin A to prevent a child going blind).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Please tell your friends (or just forward this email to your address book) that there are two good reasons them to join Netmums. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1) Free membership to the biggest online club for parents offering loads of local information as well as offers, competitions and advice [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]2) By joining (it's free), you will save a child in the third world from going blind[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Thank you for helping and please do pass this email on to any parents you know.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]A happy and peaceful Christmas wish to you and your families,
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Here's why the Sunday Times "Seeing is Believing" appeal is so important:[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]* 50p will pay for enough Vitamin A to prevent a child going blind;[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]* £5 can provide a basic eye test and glasses, so a child can attend a normal school;
or
* £5 can pay for surgery to stop someone going blind from trachoma. There are 84m people suffering from trachoma, a parasite infection that leads to loss of sight. Antibiotics can be used in its early stages, but when it is advanced, surgery is the only option;[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]* Standard Chartered have agreed with the Sunday Times to match any contributions to the appeal so the 50p we donate for every new member will become £1.[/FONT]