News from Everyclick

Orphans in the Wild to send laptops to Tanzania

23 Jun 2009 17:25:41 GMT

The Orphans in the Wild charity has announced that it will be sending 20 laptops to Tanzania.

It is able to make the shipment due to the generosity of the larger Cheltenham-based charity IT Schools Africa, reports the Evesham Journal.

Usually IT Schools Africa sends its own engineers with the computer technology to ensure that the equipment is installed correctly.

Marion Gough who is a trustee of the charity, told the local news provider: "By two charities working together we are able to provide this African Community with the means to improve their education and create better prospects for their future."

She added that it was up to the smaller charity to convince the larger one that the schools receiving the computer equipment did indeed have its own technicians.

The area in Tanzania set to receive the laptops is Mufindi, which is a mountainous, rainy and cool region renowned for its tea plantations.

Steve Redgrave to drop from the skies for Disability Snowsport UK

23 Jun 2009 17:23:03 GMT

Steve Redgrave is set to undertake a fundraising feat in the skies by jumping out of a plane for Disability Snowsport UK.

He will perform his skydive with the Red Devils as well as Olympic skier Alain Baxter and the chief executive of the charity itself Fiona Young, among others.

The team hopes that its daring drop at 13,000 ft will raise £25,000 for the good cause, which provides disabled people with the opportunity to undertake snow sports.

However, Redgrave is a little nervous about attempting the challenge.

The Olympic medalist commented: "I was a bit apprehensive at first and when I broke my leg at a sporting event recently I thought I would be able to get out of it, but unfortunately the plaster comes off two days before the jump!"

Redgrave is one of only four athletes to win gold at five Olympic Games' in a row.

Gwent Association for the Blind awarded lottery money

23 Jun 2009 17:20:41 GMT

Gwent Association for the Blind is celebrating after finding out it has been awarded a National Lottery grant.

The charity supports partially-sighted and blind people and is hoping to use the windfall to build a mobile unit, reports the South Wales Argus.

A new vehicle to provide further transportation for users will also be purchased, as will vital equipment.

Chief executive Sharon Beckett told the local news provider: "We have a fabulous building, but many people find it difficult to get to, particularly if they are elderly or do not have transport."

She added that the additional funds will enable the charity to hire a project manager as well as a minibus driver and a rehabilitation assistant.

A recent study carried out by researchers at Queen's University Belfast has discovered an antioxidant supplement can slow the pace of sight loss in elderly people.

Slumdog Millionaire inspires Calcutta Rescue Fund fundraiser

23 Jun 2009 16:12:31 GMT

A Keyworth pharmacist's experiences travelling in India 15 years ago have now prompted him to take part in the Big Street Sleep for the Calcutta Rescue Fund.

While working as a volunteer pharmacist in Calcutta during the summer of 1993 and again the following year, Steve Wong was struck by the poverty and lack of sanitation, reports thisisnottingham.

The street clinics he staffed brought him face to face with India's underbelly and it was the success of the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire that brought back those memories and prompted him to take action.

Mr Wong told the local news provider: "Slumdog Millionaire certainly provokes emotion and highlights the plight of many millions of people living on the streets and slums of India.

"It has a bittersweet ending, but it still only covers a small area of a very complex situation. And it certainly does not give you the feel and smell of India."

According to the Department for International Development, of the one quarter of India's population residing in cities, 60 per cent are slum-dwellers.

Age Concern and Help the Aged urge locals to join wardrobe challenge

23 Jun 2009 16:11:08 GMT

Age Concern is joining forces with Help the Aged to launch an initiative to encourage members of the public to rifle through their wardrobes for donatable items.

The Wardrobe Challenge, as it has been dubbed, calls on individuals to look delve deep so that they may come up with the goods - literally, reports the Portsmouth News.

Both charities, which have merged to create four regional branches, are hoping the campaign will raise much-needed cash for the good cause.

Portsmouth's charity shop in Southsea has made a special request for books, clothes, shoes and bric-a-brac.

It has also asked the city's residents to generously donate at least one item that will raise £5.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics last week (June 17th) showed that there has been an almost 15 per cent jump in the number of people aged 50 or above who have lost their jobs in the past three months.

Hoping Foundation gets celebrities crooning

23 Jun 2009 14:20:39 GMT

The Hoping Foundation was the cause that sent a host of celebrities into spontaneous song at London's exclusive Cafe de Paris Club.

Kate Moss performed a duet with Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour while her boyfriend, Kills' guitarist Jamie Hince, opened the Hoping's Got Talent extravaganza.

He performed a rendition of Dream A Little Dream Of Me with Lily Allen, which raised £48,350, beating Moss and Gilmour's efforts, which still generated the impressive sum of £47,600.

Sienna Miller was also in attendance as was Madonna's former squeeze Guy Ritchie and Jeremy Clarkson even made an appearance.

David Walliams and Tracey Emin also made an appearance to raise funds for the charity, which works to improve the conditions in which Palestinian children are forced to live.

Palestinians were forced to leave their homes in 1948 when the state of Israel was formed. At eight million displaced persons, they now form the largest refugee community in the world.

Amnesty International marks Refugee Week

22 Jun 2009 17:21:28 GMT

Amnesty International was one of the co-organisers of a march that took place in London on Saturday (June 20th) to mark Refugee Week.

The demonstration began at Embankment and wound its way to Trafalgar Square where a display of solidarity with asylum seekers took place.

Other organisations involved in the event included the Refugee Council and the London Detainee Support Group.

Speakers at the rally called for an end to the dehumanisation of asylum seekers and the overhaul of processes that leave those seeking asylum unable to work or claim benefits.

Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen commented: "The right to flee persecution in your own country and seek refuge somewhere safe is a vital part of human rights protection and has saved thousands people's lives."

She added that it was vital that the public understand the reasons that prompt people to claim asylum and acknowledge the way in which refugees have enriched the UK.

According to the Refugee Council, a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research found that immigrants and refugees contribute more to the economy than those who are UK-born.

Tearfund highlights poverty with lecture series

22 Jun 2009 17:15:51 GMT

International charity Tearfund has announced that it is to highlight the problem of improverished children living on the breadline in India with the help of a high-profile figure in film.

Timothy Gaikwad has been invited by the Christian charity to speak at a series of lectures and public events, reports the Press Association.

The talks will be held in the very same location that the film Slumdog Millionaire was shot, having received critical acclaim for its poignant portrayal of children growing up in the slums of Mumbai.

Gaikwad has himself made a film titled Zindagi, looking at child trafficking in India and the ways in which criminals prey on youngsters in the slums.

He is also the head of IMCares, which is based in India and works in partnership with Taerfund to support abandoned children.

The seeds for Tearfund were sown in 1960 when the Evangelical Alliance Refugee Fund was formed during World Refugee Year.

The civil war in Nigeria in 1968 prompted the transformation of the organisation into a international aid charity.

Toilet twinning raises money for Cord

22 Jun 2009 17:12:19 GMT

Toilet twinning is the alternative method being used by the charity Cord to raise the profile of its sanitation campaign.

The Right Reverend Christopher Cocksworth, who is the Bishop of Coventry, is kick-starting the good cause by having his own bathroom matched with one in Burundi, reports the BBC.

His toilet now enjoys links with a latrine in Rutana Province, with all proceeds of the campaign going towards projects in Burundi.

Anyone who participates in the scheme can rest assured that the toilet they are twinned with is exclusive to them.

They will even be able to search for the location of their twinned toilet by looking on Google Earth.

The Bishop explained: "It's a bog standard idea with a great message. 40 per cent of the world's population - 2.6 billion people - don't have access to a toilet and it's hard to imagine what that must be like."

Cord has facilitated the construction of 870 pit latrines for families who are returning to the region after living in exile in Tanzania.

Apprentice walks for Meningitis UK

22 Jun 2009 17:01:48 GMT

A former Apprentice has fired herself up to complete a charity fundraising walk for Meningitis UK's Search 4 A Vaccine Campaign.

Lorraine Tighe took part in the 14-mile walk from Bath to Bristol, having almost lost her daughter to the brain infection, reports the BBC.

The experience of discovering that her daughter was seriously ill was a moment in her life so terrifying she is determined to raise funds and awareness to tackle the disease.

Ms Tighe told the local news provider: "We were told that if we'd got Alexia to hospital any later then she might have died.

"It was so traumatic and will stay with me for the rest of my life."

Paul Hobbs, who organised the fundraising event added that they hope to raise more than the £24,000 generated and were thrilled with what could prove to be the highest number of participants ever.

A "baby-gro" that detects fluctuations in a baby's temperature and can potentially alert parents to illnesses such as meningitis has been invented by a pub landlord from Suffolk.