Posted: May 19, 2014 | Author: gortoner | Filed under: Uncategorized | Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) will be introducing the international giving campaign to these shores later this year, in partnership with Blackbaud.
 
is a campaign that originated in the United States, and takes place on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving each year.
 
Over recent years the retail sector has cashed in on the holiday season through Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Black Friday has typically been the busiest shopping day since 2005, and Cyber Monday acts as a spur to encourage more people to shop online.
 
But the creation of these two shopping days meant there was something missing. Someone needed to put the ‘giving’ back into ‘giving season.’
 
In response, and to create an antidote to the consumerism of the previous two shopping days, New York charity 92 Y partnered with the United Nations Foundation to launch in 2012, a day committed to getting people to engage in charitable activities.
 
brings together individuals, businesses, charities, celebrities, politicians – everyone committed to using their resources to making positive change happen.
 
Some participants choose to give money, others prefer to volunteer, charities launch campaigns, businesses match funds and give their staff the chance to volunteer – in short, there is a wealth of activity dedicated to supporting good causes and the range of action taking place means that there is something for everyone.
 
And the organisations supporting shows just how successful it has been. Well-known businesses such as Google, Microsoft and Skype have signed up to the campaign, in addition to the thousands of SMEs doing their bit to help charity on the day. In addition, the campaign has been backed by celebrities such as Kevin Bacon and Tiger Woods, with President Obama chipping in to add his support.
 
Starting in the United States, expanded significantly in 2013, with activities reaching Canada, Australia, Latin America, Mexico, Singapore and Israel. 2014 will see imported to the UK for the first time. Even though we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in the UK, the recent adoption of Black Friday and Cyber Monday has proved to be very successful for retailers, and we’re keen to make sure that charities have their day too!
 
More seriously, the success of the ‘shopping holidays’ in the UK shows that there is an appetite for themed days over here, and we would be letting our great country down if we didn’t give the millions of generous donors and volunteers the chances to get involved with . Our proud heritage of charitable giving as a nation makes us a natural partner for an international day of giving.
 
It’s exciting to be part of a global movement for good.
 
Part of the reason that has been so successful is because it harnesses the power of social media to give everyone taking part the chance to let others know what they’re up to and inspire even more people to get involved with giving.
 
Last year, the hashtag ‘’ was trending for most of the day and saw more than 269,000 tweets. Particularly successful was the use of the ‘unselfie’ – urging people to post photos of themselves and their favourite charitable cause.
 
Since announcing the launch of in the UK we’ve had some great messages of support from people and organisations keen to get involved and to show that the UK can compete with the best when it comes to giving. Last year, CAF’s World Giving Index ranked the UK as one of the most generous nations in the world, and this year our participation in the global giving day will prove it.
 
Over the next few months we’ll be helping co-ordinate activity, but the reality is that belongs to you.
 
The success of relies on businesses, charities and people in the UK coming together and committing to using December 2nd 2014 to make a difference. We’ll be launching our website shortly where you’ll be able to find out all about , but in the meantime follow us on twitter , find us on Facebook or for more information get in touch –
 
We hope that you’ll join us in making UK a great success!

Steve Clapperton

(This article first appeared on www.givingthought.org)

 

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Posted: April 24, 2014 | Author: gortoner | Filed under: Uncategorized | What made you decide to get involved in running marathons to raise money for charity?

I have always been very keen on sport and played a lot of Saturday and Sunday park football. I witnessed a good friend of mine break his leg and decided that, with a young family, it was time to give up football. But I also wanted to make sure I kept fit so I signed up for the “Run to the Beat” half marathon. While I was training for that I entered myself into lots of local 10k runs and some further afield, travelling as far as Canvey Island. After I had run the half marathon I knew I definitely caught the running bug and wanted more of that.

How do you decide which charities to run for?

I follow a lot of runners on Twitter and at the time my decision to run a marathon, the New York Marathon was taking places so I contacted Hospice in the Weald to see if this was something they had in their fundraising programme. I had previously jumped out of a plane at 10,000 ft and raised about £800 doing that for them. They didn’t have any marathon places so I then contacted Macmillan Cancer Support and they were happy to offer me a place in their running team.

I will be honest and say that my family has never been affected by cancer, but I have heard of the excellent work that Macmillan does and before I ran I attended an emotional evening, as Anna Watkins (Olympic rower) gave a speech explaining how Macmillan helped her father-in-law in his fight against cancer.

What has been the greatest challenge you’ve faced during a marathon so far?

Until you run a marathon I don’t think you can completely understand how dark a place you can go too. New York made me an emotional wreck. Not just the fact that you are in this great city running one of the best marathons in the world, but also that hundreds of thousands of people have come out to support you and call your name. My wife and children couldn’t come with me on that journey but I took my mum with me as she had never travelled anywhere like that before.

I knew she was waiting at mile 23 for me at the Macmillan cheer point and I remember thinking “I just want to see my mum” and that is what I needed to get me over the line. It was then that you start thinking about why you’re doing it. Reading the vests of people around you helps as well as there are so many charities being supported.

One thing that really stands out for me in London is the last 1 mile and 385 yards as at the Macmillan pasta party they had said that if you see a fellow Macmillan runner struggling, a simple tap on the shoulder can spur someone on. At the 25 mile marker I noticed a Macmillan runner walking so I went over to him and said that I think we should run over the line together which we did and he said to me afterwards that it was me that got him over the line as he was really struggling. I needed him as much as he needed me and that is what a marathon can do to you and for you!

When you’re running do you find yourself thinking about the cause that you are running in support of?

Definitely! When you need that extra push then you need those thoughts to give you a reason to carry on. As I mentioned there are so many charities that you can’t help but see vests with pictures of family members on and that does help. This can be from grandparents to children, and having a young family I know how special they are to me so for those that have lost young family members it can mean that much more.

What kind of reception do you get from your friends, family and the public?

My friends, family and colleagues have been superb in everything I have done in raising money and hearing me talk about the running all day long! It has become a bit of a standing joke at work that they ask me if I’ve ever run a marathon as I don’t talk about it much! I had a huge target of £5300 to reach for all three marathons and I managed that inside 10 months. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without their support, and when I put together my “Black Tie Charity Evening” it was friends and family that came and supported it. We made £1600 that night evening.

Do you feel a difference between running and running in support of a charity?

My marathon running has been charity orientated and although I have now joined a running club (Tunbridge Wells Harriers) I expect it to stay that way. I see the marathon distance as a challenge still. I’m the sort of person that needs a target to aim for and that is why the fundraising appealed so much.

Do you have any plans to run to raise more money in the future?

I do indeed. I have entered the ballot for London 2015 and I am also contacting Macmillan about running the Paris Marathon in 2015. That would mean two marathons inside two weeks this time so perhaps I could squeeze another one in between! I am also tempted by the London to Brighton (62 miles) ultra run but that is something for the future. The running bug has got me and so has the fundraising bug!

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New Survey Aims to Investigate Life in the Charity Sector

Part of the aim of the Back Britain’s Charities campaign has been to raise awareness of the important work that charities do in communities across Britain, and in the past we’ve highlighted research showing that charities have seen a significant rise in demand for their services. The recession included a drop in disposable income for many people, which means that they are increasingly turning to charities to help them through difficult times.

As regular readers will know, we’ve been keen to get charities to share their experiences with us to help demonstrate the need for the important work that they do, in addition to the impact that the recession has had on their ability to provide support and services to people with nowhere else to turn.

Getting data about the reality for charities isn’t always easy, and we’re delighted that ACEVO has launched a new Social Sector Tracker Survey which they will be using to inform their priorities ahead of the writing of manifestos for the election in 2015. They’ll be listening to what the data tells them about the sector and looking to see how that information can be used to call for a strengthening of the charity sector.

The first survey is now open for responses, and focuses on the value of charity, as well as investigating levels of economic confidence in the sector. This is an area in particular need of scrutiny as charities wait to see whether the return of growth to the economy leads to a consequent improvement in their fortunes.

You can take part in the survey here, and we’re encouraging all Back Britain’s Charities supporters to take ten minutes of their time to respond in order to build up a picture of the health of the sector. The survey is open for responses until 7th March, so please do use it as an opportunity to express your hopes and concerns for the months ahead!

Supporting charity the most uplifting thing in 2013, report finds

What lifted people’s spirits the most in 2013? You might think that it was the prolonged warm weather over the summer (hard to recall now, we know), the birth of the royal baby, or even Andy Murray winning Wimbledon.

Well, accordingly to a survey commissioned by Oxfam to start the New Year, you’d be wrong.

In fact, people said that supporting a charity was the thing that had lifted their spirits most last year, with 70% of respondents to the survey stating that helping a good cause had improved their outlook in 2013.

This compares to 62% citing the weather over the summer, 60% being cheered by Murray’s triumph at SW19 and 52% seeing their spirits lifted by Mo Farah winning double gold at the Athletics World Championships.

When asked about TV programmes that had the most uplifting effect charities once again figured prominently. Children in Need was chosen by 35% of respondents, slightly ahead of The Great British Bakeoff and Strictly Come Dancing.

Looking ahead to 2014, 25% of people are looking forward to a well-earned holiday, with the event that most people expect to be uplifting in the coming year being the football World Cup in Brazil. Whether this will be the case given that the recent draw placed England in the same group as Uruguay, Italy and Costa Rica remains to be seen!

It’s great to see that so many people find supporting a charity so rewarding, and the generosity of people across Britain is truly appreciated by the thousands of charities who rely on the goodwill of donors and volunteers to support them.

The Back Britain’s Charities campaign has been calling for people to give to charity regularly, regardless of the amount that they are able to give. Not only does this help charities better plan their expenditure and ensure that more money can be targeted towards helping beneficiaries, but is also makes donors feel good!

We hope that, following the results of this survey, people continue to generously support charities in 2014. Happy New Year to all of our supporters!

Posted: December 10, 2013 | Author: gortoner | Filed under: Uncategorized | Back Britain’s Charities campaign, the Audit acknowledge that many voluntary sector organisations are experiencing financial difficulty due to rising demand and falling income.

Turning to social indications, the Audit found that there has been a dramatic fall in giving, echoing the findings of the UK Giving 2012 report, which found a 20% drop in donations to charities. More positively, levels of volunteering have risen, although only to the levels that existed before the financial crisis. There has been an increase in volunteering by young people, an area that the Parliamentary Inquiry on Growing Giving has been looking into in more detail.

Looking at the impact of the Big Society reforms on public services, the picture is bleaker. Cuts to voluntary sector funding have already taken place, with dramatic falls estimated over the next four years that will threaten organisations working to support vulnerable people. This reduction in spending is interesting, particularly in light of research carried out for the Back Britain’s Charities campaign which found that

Posted: December 4, 2013 | Author: gortoner | Filed under: Uncategorized | Back Britain’s Charities campaign has been warning of the threat posed if there is a reduction in the proportion of people participating in giving, and we’ll be continuing to urge people from all walks of life to do what they can to support the causes they care about. Let’s see if we can continue the UK’s upwards trend next year!

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