MoneySavingExpert.com Charity Fund Nominate a Charity June 08

Holly_D

I have a young friend currently risking his life in Afghanistan and he is being paid less than a traffic warden to do it. So I would like to nominate:

The Army Benevolent Fund

www.armybenfund.org

The soldiers' charity

ABF helps soldiers, former soldiers and their dependents in times of need, including those suffering as a result of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Each year, ABF makes grants to over 2,600 individuals to overcome financial obstacles to a decent quality of life. Some are injured and need specialist wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs or re-training for a second career. Others are desperate for help with overwhelming debts, and/or considerable rent and utility arrears.

Soldiers and former soldiers are a proud bunch and are often very reluctant to ask for help. They are also over-represented among the homeless and those who commit suicide. A small financial ‘hand up’ at thr right time can make a massive difference to a whole family, so please vote for ABF!

Holly Davies

kathryn771

Guide Dogs for the Blind
www.guidedogs.org.uk
providing blind & partially-sighted people with freedom & independence
• Guide Dogs receive no government funding and our services are entirely dependent on voluntary donations.
• Guide Dogs have been providing blind and partially-sighted people with the freedom and independence that a guide dog gives for 75 years.
• Guide Dogs requires over £50 million a year to continue its work.
• The charity is supported by about 10,000 volunteers, including puppy walkers, brood-stock holders, dog boarders and thousands of local fundraisers.
• Guide Dogs fund major research projects looking into the prevention and cure of eye disease, and work to raise awareness of the importance of eye care.
• Guide Dogs campaigns for the rights of visually-impaired people, particularly on mobility and access issues. Safer Streets and Access for All are two current campaigns.
• Thousands of blind and partially-sighted people do not receive the rehabilitation services they desperately need. Our ‘Re-think Rehab’ campaign is alerting politicians to this fact, and pressing for major new investment.

1100waters

Action Medical Research

www.action.org.uk

"Funding research into many serious diseases and conditions."

Action Medical Research is the one charity that 99% of people reading this post have benefitted from. Following the outbreak of Polio in the early 1950’s this charity funded research into and developed a vaccine to prevent the spread of this disease. Since then it has gone on to fund research into medical issues that affect our society from the cradle to the grave. Research into Osteoporosis and Parkinsons Disease are just two of the projects they have funded. Touching Tiny Lives is a reason on its own to support this charity. Each year in the UK 70,000 newborn babies need special care. 50,000 babies are born prematurely. 25 premature babies die every week because they were born too soon. AMR is funding 30 projects to help find the answers to life-threatening pregnancy complications, and help sick and vulnerable babies.

Pied_Piper

a) Mary's Meals (Registered charity Scottish International Relief SCO22140)
b) link to website www.marysmeals.org
c)Mary's Meals = a simple solution to world hunger
d)
Mary's Meals sets up school feeding projects in places where poverty prevents children from gaining an education. By providing a daily meal in school, chronically hungry children are attracted into the classroom. Set free from the pangs of hunger, these children are then free to learn. Education is their best hope of escaping from the poverty trap. Mary’s Meals works with local communities and relies on the commitment of thousands of volunteers who cook and serve the meal each day. The campaign began in Malawi in 2002 by feeding 200 orphans. Today in Malawi, Mary’s Meals provides 300,000 children with a daily meal in school at a cost of just £5.30 per child per year! There are also projects in: other parts of Africa, India, Philippines, Burma, Eastern Europe, Bolivia and Haiti. Mary’s Meals is supported by people around the world who appreciate the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of this charity.:A

gordonsmith

Badaguish - Access for all in an integrated setting

Speyside Trust, based at Badaguish Cairngorm Outdoor Centre is a small independent charity helping children and adults with learning difficulties and other special needs

Badaguish is the place where you can explore and develop new and exciting skills in safety, amidst the superb forest and mountain scenery of the Cairngorms National Park.

http://www.badaguish.org/Pages/About%20Badaguish/AboutBadaguish.html

A Charitable Trust to provide a special service to people with disabilities. This includes a fully staffed programme and purpose built Activity Holiday Unit which people with disabilities can visit unaccompanied (24 hour respite care).

Registered with the Care Commission Scotland to provide residential care for people with disabilities.

Operates within nationally accepted Care and Safety Guidelines.

The Trust badly needs funds to further develop its respite care activity holidays and work experience/vocational training programmes.

Malcolmw

Thanks Nash, I'm with you!
posted nomination too for waterAid.
Malcolm

sammy_jo_5

Friends of the Family, Winchester

www.friendsofthefamilywinchester.org.uk

"Non-judgemental support to help vulnerable families help themselves"

This small charity helps families to help themselves by discovering their strengths, building on their own skills and developing their social and relationship skills. It provides two sessions a week where child centred play is available to pre-children and a support group for their mothers. The children are supervised by trained play workers and volunteers while the mums meet to discuss their problems and support each other in a non-judgemental and confidential setting.

We also have a new project which involves trained volunteers befriending families with children aged between 5 and 13 in their own homes, offering practical help and sustained emotional support for as long as the family needs it. Our work has been invaluable to over 200 families that we have supported and really has made a difference. However, none of this would be possible without the continued support and generosity of our volunteers and fund raisers.

Madrigal

a) Send a Cow
b)http://www.sendacow.org.uk/default.asp?
c) innovative charity that could eradicate poverty with self-esteem

Grandpa_2

The National Autistic Society. www.nas.org.uk

There seems little doubt that the incidence of autism has increased considerably. There is also little doubt that the governmental support mechanisms have not increased proportionally.
There are various degrees of autism and even the mildest forms can cause those affected, (and their parents ), to be ridiculed, abused or to be socially excluded.
Often, an affected person may look perfectly normal yet suffer from severe communication and comprehension problems. This can be a devastating combination for a child and sometimes even more so for the parents.
There is little available support and what there is may be very difficult to obtain from local government sources.
Having an autistic child can change lives dramatically. It can do so forever - and a day! "What will happen to my child when I'm gone ?" !
Children and parents need understanding, support and lots of help.
Please support the National Autistic Society.

gerrydl

a. The Andrew Lees Trust (ALT)
Charity Number: 1075592

b. www.andrewleestrust.org

c. Poverty alleviation through empowerment by education and information

d. ALT works in Southern Madagascar where over three quarters of the population live below the poverty line, with no running water, and regular food shortages. We believe in helping people to find sustainable solutions to these challenges through education and training. As two thirds of the population are illiterate and have little access to schools, our village trainings enable families to learn new agricultural techniques, plant trees, develop livelihoods and build fuel efficient stoves.

We also broadcast education via radio to help people learn within the village setting about animal husbandry, farming, fishing, health, family planning, HIV AIDS and the environment. This information empowers people to learn new ways to improve their lives and reduce the effects of poverty. Through radio we can reach approximately 1 million of the most vulnerable and marginalized people on the island, delivering education at less than a dollar per head per year.