Good things come in small packages, better things come from small charities...

So you have all heard the phrase ‘good things come in small packages’ – a phrase that indicates that the smaller things in life are more valuable. In many ways that notion rings true. When a doctor delivers a baby, it is a small bundle of joy that is precious to both the family to which it has been a blessing to, but also to the pure existence and evolution of mankind. It is the small things that we value more in life – they are usually the things that we consider to be insignificant and take for granted, though without paying close attention to detail they are the things that we work hardest for and endeavor to maintain.

Charities exist for the mere fact of making a difference in the world – whatever the cause, their individual objectives all strive for a communal primary objective – to provide help and aid to those in need. 

Small charities appear to be the shiny diamonds that are so rare to come across. They work hard to secure things that will make a difference to the cause, rather than adopting the ‘spend money to make money’ model. Many of the larger charities employ large amounts of people to dictate vast areas of the ‘business’, although they are run under a ‘not for profit’ structure they rely on methods that involve large sums of money being spent on advertising and paying the wages of street fundraisers to generate an income. So really how much money is generated and given directly to the cause?

With smaller charities, there are fewer beneficiaries and it is notable that any money raised (through fundraising events or other charitable causes) goes directly to the cause in which it has been raised for. Take for example, the two surgical tables that have been donated by St. Thomas’ Hospital in London to a desperately under equipped hospital in Uganda. Through the Ganda Foundation and Dr. Sangeeta Mahajan (Ambassador of Ganda Foundation), two six year old hydraulic operating tables will be handed over at a prestigious ceremony being held at Kawolo Hospital Uganda in a few weeks time. This is a huge deal. This small charity has provided a hospital that has had no new (or even used) equipment since it was built in 1967 (see Ganda Foundation website for more information). Instead of appealing for funds through advertising and street fundraisers, this charity has taken the bull by the horns and approached establishments that can make a difference immediately upon receipt.

Another noteworthy charity that I have had the pleasure of being introduced to is UK Travel Goods Industry Support for Schools, which is a small charity aimed at rebuilding community schools and raising awareness and funds for orphans in Zimbabwe. This charity, like Ganda Foundation, puts the cause at the heart of everything they do – any money raised from events (like the recent That’s Entertainment gig held at IndigO2), functions and donations get pumped directly into building schools and providing basic amenities that we take for granted to the communities in Zimbabwe.

This leads me directly to my point that neither of these small charities that I have mentioned, rely on hounding people for money or spend a small fortune on advertising – they simply do things that earn recognition and support. I am in no way saying that large charities don’t do their part for the causes in which they support, because they do it to the best of their ability. However, I am saying that it is the smaller charities that seem to be overlooked because they are not publicised to the same extent. They seem to make a noticeable and dramatic impact to communities but somehow still go by unrecognised. These charities are run by the hearts of their founders, volunteers and workers – not by their organisations. It seems to all boil down to charity awareness.

For more information about the Ganda Foundation or UK Travel Goods Industry Support for Schools follow the links below:

www.gandafoundation.com

www.support4schools.org

Over and out for now. Weez

Street Fundraising VS The People

I am constantly hounded by street fundraisers in my local town, I have grown to resent their mere existence – and although I have an incredibly big heart when it comes to charity, I dislike being hassled and given the ‘hard sell’ in order to extract money out of me. Crossing the road was once the advisable thing to do when you saw a street fundraiser, you were safe then to go about your business – but these days street fundraisers have evolved to another strain of irritant that you don’t want near your skin in fear of contamination and the very fact that it will burn a hole in your pocket.

Like I said before, I have a big heart when it comes to charity, but it has to be on my terms. I don’t want to be forced into parting with my money – particularly when I know that charities these days ask for a direct debit to be set up and it will be taken straight from my account. I like to walk up to the (arguably ‘out-dated’) man with the collection box and put in the loose change that I can afford. Unfortunately, these are few and far between – now they have young and aesthetically pleasing (both male and female) street fundraisers approaching people with charm and whit. Regardless of whether you pretend to be in a phone call, or if you are talking to your friends, they are fearless and interrupt what you are doing to persuade you to set up a monthly transfer.

I am actually not against street fundraising – I think that if it is executed properly then it is a wonderful thing. I am against the fundraisers that do not leave you alone if you say no, or tell them that you simply cannot afford that monthly transfer. What really got to me was when I was walking through my local town and was hounded by a girl from an animal charity, not only did I tell her that I was not interested in setting up a direct debit, but I told her that I simply couldn’t afford to pay more money from my account each month – her response, ‘well if you eat less, you will spend less on your weekly shop. That way you will be able to afford to donate each month’ – suffice it to say, I ended the conversation with a hole in my lip because I was trying to chew my way out of the situation without being rude.

On another occasion, going back to about 2005, I was walking through my hometown with my ex-boyfriend and my brother, when a fundraiser outside Woolworths approached us. I kept my head down, trying to go unnoticed but the fundraiser gently grabbed my arm and stopped us. I felt guilty as we weren’t going to stop, when my ex said that “the trick is to simply confuse them, watch this… sorry mate, I’ve got no arms” – sure enough the guy stood there, looking at my ex, then back to me and back to my ex again, he was totally confused. So maybe this is the way forward. Maybe confusing the ‘lesser-spotted’, scratch that ‘common’ fundraiser is the best thing to do – it will leave them pondering for a few minutes while other potential victims manage to scurry by unscathed.

Fundraising is a huge thing to charities, without it you have no research, you have no funds to fight for the cause you stand for and you have no way of integrating the charity into the public eye – but I do believe that there should be something put in place to stop passers by from being hassled by a string of people asking for money. In the local high street there are fundraisers hassling not only those who are only just eligible for a current account, but also pensioners, and it appears to be a different charity every day – yet the local council do not appear to have a problem with the very fact that people are being bullied in to parting with their money, which in the current climate is increasingly hard to keep hold of. These days you cannot cross the road to get away from the intrusion and the guilt selling that is put upon you and there is no getting away from the other fundraising minion a few metres away.

The process has become an ugly one. Fundraisers are trained to sell the charities in which they work for. Fine, I get that, but so much money is spent on them being on the street and getting people to sign up, people just do not want to be hassled anymore – it is high time that charitable organisations realise this and go back to basics. This is what smaller charities do; they cut out the middleman and go direct the jewels that are going to bring them assets for the charity. I will write more on this in my next blog ‘GOOD THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES, BETTER THINGS COME FROM SMALL CHARITIES’.

Signing off for now. Over and out.


Weez.

It’s like learning a new language…

I know very little about professional writing even though it is plastered around the globe in every corner we turn to. Be it on the Tube or bus, in a newspaper or a novel, the very presence of writing in a 'professional' context is intriguing, yet elaborate. There is so much to think about. 'Will the audience appreciate what I write? Will they even notice that it's there?' - these are two questions that are really the fundamentals of written communication, particularly as we know it.

What is a newspaper without an audience? Who will buy products without effective marketing? Our very economy and existence depends on the art of communication. Written communication is highly understated. 

Earlier this month there was a large buzz generated by the topical debate of adult numeracy – it has been reported that a large portion of adults in the UK struggle with basic mathematics and almost half of the adult population have math skills equating to those of 11-year old school pupils (The Telegraph, 2012). I myself am numerically illiterate – I am unfortunate enough to have dyscalculia and run as far away from numbers as possible – and would love nothing more than to have a firm grasp on the intricacies of mathematics and even the basic understanding of anything numerical. In terms of the responses that have been generated in the media of late, it seems that mathematics and the lack of understanding seem to be more prevalent than a basic grasp of not only the form of written communication, but also the basic concept of the English language.

With technologies and social networking changing at a rapid pace, the desire to use ‘text speak’ and slang appear to be the most commonly used form of a modern language. The use of ‘text speak’ has been adapted over the years, shortening words such as ‘you’ to ‘u’, to a whole new language created by Internet socialites, consisting of letters and numbers such as ‘1337’ (elite). So where do we draw the line?

As the growing Internet communities get younger and we move on from the iPod generation we push boundaries on technologies impacting on the way we use the English language. It is becoming ever apparent that people are incorporating their spoken words into their written language (such as essays or job applications), this will essentially lead to problems when it comes to composing professional letters or emails. So why is literacy being overlooked by professionals?

Maybe it is not just a case of overlooking literacy; maybe it is a case of ignoring requirements and capabilities. Perhaps it boils down to accents – a primary school in Essex was recently in the news regarding elocution lessons for children, it was reported to have benefitted the pupils reflecting in the standards of reading and writing (BBC News – Essex, Feb. 2012). This said, I grew up in a rural part of the country with nothing but fields and farmland – I have a slight accent, but this is not reflected in the way in which I write.


Please take a minute to sign a petition for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) to provide mandatory teacher training in dyslexia - to sign, just follow the link: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20674.