DEC

The song, Everybody Hurts, was originally an REM single, and the group have agreed to waive rights. Proceeds will be split between the Disasters Emergency committee and the Sun’s own campaign. We’re still urging people to give whatever they can – the links are there – please visit the DEC site and donate at any time, no matter how little.

Donate for Haiti here

TV’s Gok Wan is lending his support to the British Red Cross shop campaign.

Gok Wan says: “I’ve done some amazing transformations in my time, but nothing on this scale. Here’s an opportunity to turn your clothes into blankets, buckets or even life-saving medical supplies.

“This is a great way to donate if you’re strapped for cash, or just looking for another way to help the survivors of Haiti’s earthquake. Just tell your local British Red Cross shop that you want your clothes, books or DVD to help Haiti, and they’ll sell your stuff to raise money for the DEC Haiti Earthquake Appeal.”

Gok has also been tweeting to urge his fans to turn their cast offs into cash: https://twitter.com/therealgokwan

This is the first time ever the Red Cross has appealed for stock for its 316 stores for an emergency appeal.  Such is the public’s overwhelming desire to help, the Red Cross is offering another way to make a difference to the thousands who have been affected by the devastating earthquake.  Up until Saturday 13 February British Red Cross shops will be accepting donations of good quality clothing, books, household items and unwanted gifts to sell for the DEC Haiti Earthquake Appeal.

People can drop off their donated goods at their local Red Cross shop, say they want them to be sold for Haiti and they will be specially labeled for shoppers to see. The Red Cross is part of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) which brings together 13 leading UK aid agencies at times of major crisis.

British Red Cross Director of Fundraising, Mark Astarita, said:

“We are responding to customers and donors’ desire to do that bit more for Haiti.  Cash is best but for many it may not be an option.  We can’t send donated goods to Haiti but this is a way of turning an unwanted Christmas gift into cash that will go directly to help the thousands of people affected by the earthquake in Haiti.  We have not done something like this in retail in recent memory and it has been made possible by our high tech tills that can track and bank to the DEC Haiti Earthquake Appeal.”

The stock appeal for Haiti will run until Saturday 13th February. Other donated goods will continue to be accepted and sold in Red Cross shops with the money going as usual to help vulnerable people in crisis in the UK and overseas. Any such stock that is unsaleable or remains unsold after the campaign ends will be recycled or sold to help raise funds for Red Cross work, wherever and whenever we are needed.

Haiti appeal

Rush Limbaugh, often called the true leader of the Republican Party, has called on Americans NOT to give any money to the Haiti appeals, claiming that they are already getting enough money from US taxes, and that Barack Obama will simply use the money for his own needs.

Limbaugh said: “This will play right into Obama’s hands. He’s humanitarian, compassionate. They’ll use this to burnish their, shall we say, credibility with the black community – both light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country. This is made to order for them.”

In further insult to the country, evangelical idiot Pat Robinson claimed that Haiti only had itself to blame as it had made a pact with the devil.

We say: There is such a thing as free speech, but sometimes, it needs to be taken away from idiots like Rush Limbaugh. It’s a very dangerous thing, free speech, and people need to be tackled head on if they abuse that right.

If you agree, leave a comment below – it’s the least you can do to signal that you disagree with right-wing fascists like Limbaugh and Robinson.

In the meantime, do donate whatever you can to DEC – they need it urgently.

“We’re really concerned about how the poorest families are coping with this cold snap,” said Fergus Drake, Save the Children’s UK Director. “Heating and winter clothes are expensive and, for families on a tight budget, they simply cannot afford to keep warm. …Many families are choosing between sitting in a freezing cold house or getting into debt to keep warm, pushing them further into poverty.”

A survey conducted by YouGov and Save the Children found that over a quarter (27%) of the UK’s poorest families (those with an income below £12,000 a year) said they will have to borrow money in order to pay bills such as gas and electricity. Over half (60%) said that they would cut back on heating, or limit it to a few a hours a day to afford to get by this winter. A further 22% said that they were going to have to borrow money to buy winter clothing, including warm jumpers, coats and shoes.

The government currently provides a £25 per week ‘Cold Winter Payment’ to families on low incomes with children under five or disabled children on condition that the temperature falls below 0 degrees seven days in a row.

With such restrictions, this payment will not help many families facing fuel poverty. Save the Children wants to see a winter fuel payment of £200 per annum guaranteed to all low income families living with disabled children or children under five. Only then will the UK’s most vulnerable families be protected from the cold and from fuel poverty and the consequences of debt.

“Everyone’s going to be dreading receiving their heating bill after this cold snap, but none more so than families who are already struggling to afford to get by this winter,” said Drake. “We want to see the winter fuel allowance extended to the UK’s most vulnerable families so they can afford to keep warm this winter and every winter, without having to get into debt.”

We say: Donate to Save the Children by visiting their website here.

A team of 30 British Red Cross staff and volunteers have been using specially equipped 4×4 vehicles to reach patients in Northern Scotland, where conditions have been particularly difficult in rural areas.

Ian Rideout, Red Cross Operations Director for the North of Scotland, said: “The conditions are unprecedented, there’s been no let up in the weather and some back roads are all but impassable.
On one occasion we had to drive across a field to reach a patient whose home was so cut off, we’d considered sledging him out. We’ve also had to dig through four feet of snow to release one of our carers and their client after they were trapped by an avalanche that fell from the roof.”

In Glasgow, the Red Cross medical loan service was inundated with requests for wheelchairs for people who had fallen and broken hips, legs and ankles on the snow and ice. More than four times as many wheelchairs as normal were given out.

Elsewhere in the UK, volunteers are on standby as the bad weather sweeps through the Midlands and into the South East.

We say: To give to the Red Cross, visit their website here.

They are warning that the 36,700 winter deaths from last year will be exceeded unless something is done quickly.

Currently, the government pays a one-off payment to all pensioners of £250 for the over-60s and £400 for the over-80s. When the weather stays cold for more than seven consecutive days, a one-off, means-tested payment of £25 is made. Suppliers often make grants, but according to the charities, this is no longer viable.

Mervyn Kohler, spokesperson for the charity, says that the winter fuel payment “no longer pays very much of a normal energy bill, the insulation and draft proofing programmes are not working very broadly and the consequences are going to be, more people die, more people are going to get ill, put pressure on the NHS, and more people are going to feel miserable.”

We say: These payments are pathetic given the rising costs of fuel over the last few years, and the government doesn’t seem to want to do any more. If you can volunteer, do so – if you can help your elderly neighbours, ask them. Otherwise, help Age Concern or Help the Aged.

The release of the donor list is linked to Bill Clinton’s wife Hillary being in office and the ironing out of any potential conflicts of interest.  It was President Obama who decreed that the release of the donor list was a condition of her appointment as Secretary of State.

The Foundation works in the US and around the globe helping out on issues such as climate change, healthcare, AIDS and economic development, and also provides for the Presidential Library in Arkansas.

Donors this year included Barbara Streisand, and Saudi Arabian businessman Nasser al-Rashid, who has given at least $1m since its inception. Norway has donated at least $10m to the foundation over time.

90% of its donations were of $250 or less.

We say: We harangue our millionaires for being rich, stupid or both. However, whether it is becoming fashionable or otherwise, many do give up huge sums of money, and the release of this donor list is proof that charitable foundations have a role to play in extracting some of that wealth and redistributing it. The same goes for oil-rich countries, whose wealth can often be redistributed through business, but as we all know, mostly ends up in the hands of businessmen. This is a great way to make sure most of it gets to the people who really need it.

The abolition of the exemption will mean that charities will have to cough up to play music at discos, dances, and even when playing a CD in a charity shop. It will even affect shops who have a radio in their staff room – not necessarily being played to customers!

The government’s own impact assessment claims that it will affect 140,000 charities, 45,000 religious buildings, over 6,5000 charity shops, and the licence will be so expensive that many organisations will just “cease playing music”.

The NCVO has reacted strongly by starting a campaign to highlight the effect of the abolition of the exemption. A handful of MPs have signed a Commons motion to retain the exemption, although the wheels appear to be in motion.

We say: The government does enough to take money away from charities, and this is pretty heartless. The licencing tax should only be used when the music helps the organisation playing it make a profit. Even the musicians must be up in arms over this ridiculous suggestion from Lord Mandelson. We say go to the NCVO website, and sign up to the campaign immediately to stop this ridiculous measure, before it affects our charities!

Charlize Theron - charitable

Charlize Theron has teamed up with TOM shoes to design an exclusive range of shoes for charity. The proceeds will help children in her native South Africa.

The shoes are designed with an image of an Africa baobab tree, and the proceeds will go to the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project. The limited-edition shoes are slip-on sneakers for men and women.

The CTAOP charity helps tens of thousands of children, improving health, education and social development, especially in high schools. Theron says, “It’s exciting that we’re able to come together in such a cool and creative way to bring attention to the needs of many South African youth.”  The eco-friendly shoes will cost $54.

Earlier this year, the charity announced a project to create football fields all over South Africa, ahead of the 2010 World Cup finals. The fields are being created in rural areas where children have no access to the game.

The Chinese player won the bizarre award by tournament sponsors Pukka Pies. They promised the winner his body weight in pies. Ding beat John Higgins 10-8 in a thrilling final, winning £100,000. He said that he wore extra clothes, and would have put some snooker balls in his pockets in order to add a bit of extra weight, and win some more pies for HARC.

Ding said: “I love Sheffield. I want to help those less fortunate than me at Christmas.” He now lives in Sheffield after having left China, and his donation was welcomed by HARC, whose spokesman said: “We’re so grateful for the generosity. The donation is a great help to us in feeding those who come to us because they have nowhere else to go, as we are the only Sheffield organisation which is open to help the homeless over Christmas and New Year.”

We say: Brilliant, and innovative. That’s how to donate to charity – do something that means something to you, and your community.