Concern

As kids right across the UK countdown the days until the end of term, don’t forget to spare a thought for the teachers that have taught them day-in, day-out for the last year. Committed, hard-working and dedicated teachers make the world of the difference to our kids’ education so why not show your appreciation with a Gift from Concern Worldwide?

Their range of quirky and fun ethical gifts is perfect for teachers of every age group and all of them come with a specially designed card for you to personalise and send on. Every purchase from their School Days section will specifically help to fund their education projects around the world.

In Concern’s Gifts range you’ll find something for every taste and budget:

£7 could buy a water filter to provide clean, disease-free water to communities so children can concentrate on going to school rather than having to collect water from far-away water sources.

£21 could buy pens, pencils and other essential school items for ten school children to ensure that they have the things they need to make the most out of their education.

£63 could provide a teacher with training to improve their teaching methods, expand their knowledge and grow in confidence, so that the children they teach have the best chance in life.

Concern believes that education is the key to ending poverty which is why we run a variety of education projects in some of the world’s poorest communities: In Kenya, for example, they provide grants to local primary schools to improve school buildings and ensure that children have a safe, secure place to learn; In Bangladesh they are working with school boards to ensure that the poorest children receive special attention in school to improve their performance; and in Haiti right now they are running child friendly spaces – areas set aside in refugee camps for earthquake affected children where they have lesson in reading and writing, as well as arts, crafts and music. By providing children with an education, they are equipping them with knowledge and skills they need to break the grinding cycle of poverty.

A gift for your favourite teacher today, could mean children living in extreme poverty around the world receive the education that every child needs. Please buy a Concern Gift today.

Concern

Strains of ‘If you’re happy and you know it’ ring out as groups of children are gathered together laughing, singing and playing. It could be a scene from any nursery school in the UK but what makes this scene remarkable is that it’s in a refugee camp in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince – a city devastated by a terrifying earthquake just a few months earlier.

It’s hard to imagine your whole life changing in an instant but for millions of people living in Haiti, it did on January 12^th 2010. In just a few minutes, the earthquake claimed the lives of over 230,000 people and left 1.5 million homeless. As the island shook, homes were destroyed and roads, hospitals and other essential infrastructure decimated.

The education system in Port-au-Prince was particularly badly affected – school buildings were destroyed and others left in urgent need of repair. Without schools to go to, many children are forced to wander around camps like Place de la Paix, one of Port-au-Prince’s largest and most densely populated makeshift settlements.

But on the edge of the camp there is an unexpected bright spot: a playground with a children’s slide, a tiny merry-go-round and a colourful mural, and children gathered together, singing and playing.

This is part of Concern Worldwide’s emergency response programme in Port-au-Prince. Where in the midst of some of the largest camps, Concern has set up its Child-Friendly Spaces – classrooms, many in large tents or existing structures, that give children the space to forget their traumatic experiences and just be children for a short while. We’re reaching nearly 2,000 earthquake-affected children, giving them instruction in basic reading and writing, as well as arts, crafts and music.

Annette Ambroisa, made homeless by the earthquake, has seen changes in her daughters, Farline, (6), and Fedeline, (2) already:

“They’re happier, they’re learning something new every day, and they’re able to stay clean,” she says.

The children of Port-au-Prince have been through so much since the earthquake but thanks to the dedication of Concern’s staff on the ground, we can make them smile again.

And you can help Concern be ready to respond to the next emergency wherever and whenever it happens by treating a loved one to a Concern Gift this summer. We’ve got gifts for every taste and budget from life-saving water filters at £7 to emergency food supplies for £48. Each and every gift makes a real and lasting difference to people affected by emergencies and comes with a lovely card for you to personalise and send on.

With your help, we can be really for the next emergency – please buy a Concern Gift today.

BBQ kings will love our fuel efficient stove at £18. These brilliant little devices make the world of difference to women in Darfur who use them to keep warm and cook meals for their families.

For Dads who love gardening, just £28 could buy one vegetable pack with seeds, insecticides, fertilizer and a small sprayer – everything someone needs to grow vegetables on a small plot. The crops that are grown can be eaten or sold to pay for essential items like school fees or medical bills.

And for Dads who love technology, £48 could buy a mobile phone and solar powered charger. We use these to transfer emergency cash grants to people during an emergency – and we’re making use of this groundbreaking technology right now in Niger where a food crisis is affecting thousands of people.

Each gift comes with a beautiful card you can personalise and send to your Dad to make the day extra special.

So whatever your Dad’s into, you’ll find something perfect for him at Concern Gifts.

Concern Worldwide

A devastating food crisis is unfolding in the west African country of Niger which is the poorest, least developed country on earth. 50% of the country’s 15million people are now vulnerable to food shortages caused by the failed rains and widespread crop failures of 2009.

Concern has been working in Niger for a number of years and our staff on the ground have seen for themselves the terrible effects of the 2009 crop failures. They have seen how villages and communities had been totally deserted and emptied because of crop failure. And how there have been large rates of migration out of villages by people with no access to food, abandoning homes in search of work in urban areas.

The situation is so bad that the government of Niger has appealed to the international community for urgent help and Concern is there now and helping those most in need.

Concern ’s response

Concern doesn’t just want to treat malnutrition once it’s happened in Niger – we want to try and stop it in its tracks. That’s why in the next few months we’ll be:

• Using mobile phones to transfer emergency cash grants to 2,500 families giving them the freedom to spend the money on essential items for their families.

• Distributing seeds and fertilizer to 3,000 households to help replace the failed crops and prevent future food shortages.

• Providing nutritional support to children under 5 years old and pregnant women who are most at risk of malnutrition.

The people we’re helping

In the next few months Concern’s emergency programme will help over 80,000 people in Niger— people just like Asama Masala.

25 year old Asama lives in Indire in the Tahoua ragion of southwestern Niger where Concern estimates that the global acute malnutrition rate is at 13% – well above the 10% rate that signifies a nutrition emergency.

With six children to feed, Asama found life extremely tough at the start of 2010. A lack of pasture and the catastrophic harvest in 2009 left her with very little food for her family.

But the emergency cash transfer she received from Concern has made a real difference. She recalls “The help is a big relief as it will allow me to buy us necessary things like food for my children.  Thank you for your help, because we have never received any help like this in the past.  My husband is also gone abroad

to find work, so there is no one to help me here.”

How you can help

By purchasing a Concern gift online today you can help Concern be there for the people affected by the food crisis in Niger and other emergencies around the world. We’ve got items to suit every taste and budget including Plumpy Nut sachets to treat childhood malnutrition at £16, vegetable packs containing seeds and tools for £28, and mobile phone technology for just £48. Each gift will make a last and real difference to the lives of people living in poverty around the world.

Do something amazing today and buy a Concern Gift!

1 Action Aid

With Action Aid, you know that you’re making a difference. Action Aid’s child sponsorship programme is helping children all over Africa fulfil their dreams.

>> Donate now

2 Practical Presents

Practical Presents does exactly what it says on the tin. Choose a charity gift that will make a difference to someone’s life – sometimes drastically so!

>> Donate now

3 NSPCC

One of the UK’s largest charities, helping distressed children all over Great Britain.

>> Donate now

4 Concern Gifts

Whether you choose to donate on a monthly basis or get a gift for someone, your money gets to the right people quickly with Concern Worldwide.

>> Donate now

5 The Art Fund

Interested in funding great works of art? The Art Fund is a charity that does exactly that – set up a direct debit and become a patron.

>> Donate now

6 Greenpeace

One of the most active charities on the planet, and you can either shop in their charity gift store or set up a monthly direct debit to Greenpeace here.

>> Donate now

7 Send a Cow

Send a Cow is brilliant – charity gifts that you can get for people who need them, with a real active involvement. The site is one of the best charity sites we’ve ever seen.

>> Donate now

8 Royal British Legion

An established charity that looks after our heroes – a great place to donate, set up a monthly direct debit here.

>> Donate now

9 Save the Children

More charity gifts here, and ones that could help children in the third world – Save the Children is a great place for gifts.

>> Donate now

10 The Red Cross

There are fewer charities that have such a world class presence as the Red Cross, who have helped in almost every incident around the world of late. You can help them continue helping people by setting up a monthly direct debit here…

>> Donate here

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.