New Site Charity Nominations Now Open

coxj2901

I would like to nominate Promise Dreams. They fulfil dreams for terminally ill children such as holidays, computers or critical medical treatment.

JoviAli

I would like to nominate:

Childhood First https://www.childhooldfirst.org.uk

8 words... "They educate, nurture and treat traumatised children" - OK, seven words!

Formerly known as Peper Harrow, they are a charity that prinicpally run residential homes and schools for children who have been given up on because of various behavioural problems - not your run of the mill stuff like ADHD but really screwed up individuals. They give them the love, care and utlimately education needed to bring them back to being human beings that can be part of society.

My late sister-in-law worked at their Greenfields School in Kent as a teaching assistant and although she said the work was punishingly hard and sometimes violent, heartbreaking and downright upsetting - when you got a smile from a child who had never been reached out to before, it was worth it.

They are a small charity and really could do with the money. They are not well known or very high profile simply because they put their money into where it's needed most (not like the NSPCC who badger you to cough up more money when you've already donated as much as you can afford!).

Please at least visit their website and see if you can help! If you have an old mobile phone you don't need, get a recycling envelope from them and they can make money out of it.

Thanks one and all

JoviAli

geoffcham

I would like to nominate Community Money Advice, a debt advice charity.

https://www.communitymoneyadvice.com

It has created a national network of local volunteer groups, who work alongside people to help themselves out of debt in a long-term way.

Community Money Advice was started 10 years ago by one lady, based on her own experience of getting out of debt. It is now a small charity which punches way above its weight, 2 part-time employees being reponsible for having created a network of 40 local groups with 250 fully-trained volunteers. They helped 1000 people in 2005, many over an extended period of time, many being in very difficult positions and needing help and support.

A grant to this charity will be multiplied many times over.

123xyz

I would like to nominate the Salvation Army. Lots of us think we are hard up, but the people they help have absolutely nothing, no shelter, food or warm clothing. Makes you grateful for what you do have, doesn't it?

BerzerkerJoe

Hi Martin,

I'd like to nominate GUCH - Grown Up Congential Heart - Patients Association.

http://www.guch.org.uk/

I was born with a hole in the heart and GUCH help raise funds for other people with heart problems, either heart disease, or heart defects. I myself am a member and I know that the charity raise a lot of awareness and help, plus they do an extremely great job.

Many thanks,
Pete.

rls1973

i would like to nominate a charity called hemihelp.

their website is https://www.hemihelp.org.uk

they are a small and friendly set-up for children/adults with hemiplegia, and their families and friends. however, they are always needing more funding as they would like to be able to expand their services.

hemiplegia is a form of cerebral palsy.

they offer support, information, a shoulder to cry on, and regular get-togethers, and have already saved my sanity many times! :T

Ricky

I would like to nominate the charity: CONSUMER CREDIT COUNSELLING SERVICE.
Website address: https://www.cccs.co.uk
Description of charity: provides confidential free counselling and money management assistance.
Why this charity should be supported: I feel that this charity is one that is pertinent to Martin's ethos. It helps financially distressed families and individuals, who are in debt, and have not yet learnt how to manage and use their money wisely. A manageable monthly amount is worked out with the CCCS, to pay off the debts, and it is not particularly easy, and could take several years, but eventually leads to being debt free. It can actually reinforce ambition to progress in one's career and establish a real resolve to work harder to clear the debt, and to learn about money saving.

sav_c

Hi Martin,

I'd like to nominate the Parkinson's Disease Society http://www.parkinsons.org.uk.

Parkinson's is a horrible disease that can basically take away a person's ability to walk, talk, move and generally look after themselves. Sadly it is a very poorly funded area of medical research and many sufferers rely on the PDS for help. Parkinson's, contrary to popular belief, is not just an old people's disease. Many younger people are being diagnosed with it every year and it's still unclear why they have contracted it - e.g. Michael J Fox has it.

The people I have seen with Parkinson's suffer from involuntary movements and the inability to control their limbs, slurred or mumbled speech and many suffer from deep depression as they can no longer live as they once did.

broomgrove

MSE_Martin wrote:

Nominations for this site's charities fund are now open.
Please carefully read the instructions before nominating

What is the MoneySavingExpert.com Charity Fund?

This is money donated by this site to charities nominated, short-listed and selected by site users.

This site has, what I call, a 'not driven by profits' ethical ethos which means, nothing is ever written unless it is genuinely believed to be the best way to help people save money.

Yet that doesn't mean it doesn't make money. The sheer scale of the site and near 1 million users a month, means there is cash, and I like to put as much as I can towards doing some good (after I've paid the MoneySaving team, expenses, and myself).

More info: 'How this site is Funded'
More info: Previous years' charity funds

There are a number of changes this year

Over the years, the size of the fund has grown, over £100,000 might be donated this year (Oct to Oct) thus there's an opportunity to expand the remit.

• Only a third of the money is going to the nominated charities. In the past all the money went to the charities. This year the MSE Charity Fund is being set up as a registered charity in its own right. A third of its money will be going to the five nominated charities.
• New MSE Charity Fund Specific Projects Grants. The rest of the cash will be available to be distributed at four points during the year as specific grants to charities, indviduals or groups to help educate, inform and empower consumers in the field of money, debt and consumer info. The exact terms of this are still being hacked out, but hopefully you'll get the idea. More details when the charity launches (info will be linked to from the weekly email)

What's the process?

A. You nominate.

Any user of the site (which means anyone of course) can nominate a charity registered in the UK to receive the money. There are four charities to get money. One charity www.re-cycle.org is automatically selected as my pick. It's very small, has been part of the charity fund since the beginning and it relies on the cash - so I have decided to give it an automatic berth

B. Selected site users do a short-list

Five of the site's most regular users (the volunteer board guides) will be asked to short-list 12 charities. The following are the criteria they will be asked to use when short listing.

• Relevance: Charities which are relevant to both the subject base and usership of MoneySavingExpert.com will be given priority.
• National and International: Roughly two thirds of the selection should be UK based charities and one third overseas/international.
• Six larger and six smaller. To ensure some smaller charities where the money really makes a difference are included, there will be six large and small charities

C. The Vote.

Nominations end on Saturday 26 August. After that there will be a site vote to select the charities. The top two big and two small charities will then each be given 20% of the total money available (ie a third of the entire fund). The winners will be announced in the weekly e-mail

How to nominate a charity
I'm sorry only UK registered charities are acceptable

i. Click Reply to this post. (If you're not registered on the forum, which is different to signing up to the email, you will have to do so. Of course it's totally free and your email is never used for anything else).

ii. IMPORTANT. Please Include in your nomination.
a. The Official Name of the Charity
b. The Website of the Charity
c. A desciption of no more than 8 words of the charity
d. One paragaph only (max 150 words) of why this charity should be supported.

If a charity has already been nominated, please do not do so again, you can show your support by clicking the 'thank you' button for that post. Also please, no other discussions in this thread, it is purely for nominating.

Whilst you may nominate as many charities as you choose, remember they will be shortlisted, so it makes life easier if you just nominate one.

Martin

A final note. The more users of this site, the more money there is for the charity fund. The best way to get regular users is to recommend people join the distribution list of the free Money Tip. Please recommend it to everyone you know.

I nominate "The Familial !!!!!! Paraplegia Support Group"
http://www.fspgroup.org
Supporting those affected by this rare neurological condition

This charity has 258 members in the UK affected by this rare hereditary neurological condition. Those affected have progressive problems with their mobility and usually need the aid of wheelchairs and scooters at some stage. The onset of the condition can be at any age from childhood to late adult. Bladder and fatigue problems are also prevelant with this condition. In most cases there is a 50/50 chance of passing this on to children. The charity supplies grants to members wishing to purchase mobility aids or anything that may improve ones quality of life. Last year this charity managed to supply funds to a research team and this is something that the charity wish to persue.

sylvia_wyatt

Hi Martin

I love your website and often recommend it to friends, what a wonderful idea to nominate charities on this forum!
I would like to nominate Home-Start Ribble Valley, which I am passionate about and have been running for 8 years.
Description: We provide home-visiting support, to young families.

Although this as this is a small, autonomous charity run by a Management Committee, there is a website run by Home-Start National (https://www.home-start.org.uk) which explains what each Home-Start does.
Our funding depends mainly on charitable trusts to keep supporting families, and this is proving increasingly difficult. We support any parents with under fives. We train our volunteers to visit in their own homes, this is especially necessary as the Ribble Valley is very rural and most families state rural isolation as their main problem. Many of our families have debt problems in addition to everything else they are coping with(multiple birth, post natal depression, domestic violence).
These smaller charities are often ignored by funders, and it would be devastating if we weren't able to continue our work with vulnerable families. We receive no government funding whatsoever.

Thanks very much for your consideration