March 2018 - Dignity in Dying

I've decided to give another monthly donation to the charity Dignity in Dying, which is fighting to get a change in the UK law to allow for assisted dying in certain circumstances. They are supporting the legal fight by Noel Conway, who is suffering with a terminal disease and wants to be able to die in dignity at a time of his choosing.
If I were in his position, I would want exactly the same. We need to support people like Noel so that the law can be changed so that others can benefit in the future.

February 2018 - Monkey & Owl Haven, Isle of Wight

The chosen charity for February 2018 is the Monkey Haven, Isle of Wight (http://www.monkeyhaven.org/)

Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of creating a blog post for each month, rather than grouping them up!

The Monkey Haven on the Isle of Wight is a fantastic place we visited a number of years ago. I think it used to be called the Owl & Monkey Haven - I think they still have a lot of owls there, as well as meerkats, along with a great variety of primates.

They have really lovely enclosures for rescued animals, and the whole place comes across as well run, clean and tidy. They have a great website too.

They also have a great Amazon Wish List for items they can make use of, which is a really great idea - when you donate by buying one of the items on their wish list it really feels like you are helping the animals directly, though I think it does mean they miss out on Gift Aid for those donations.

The monthly donation for February purchased a net swing for the monkeys to have fun on!

Monthly Donations May 2017 - Jan 2018

January 2018 - London Air Ambulance - Sponsorship of Dylan Middleton as part of Barts and London Rowing Club 24 hour rowathon

December 2017 - LAPA UK (http://www.lapauk.org/en/) - It's about time I gave another donation to this worthy cause

November 2017 - Simon & Jasmine Dale – To help rebuild their Eco-House that was burnt down

October 2017 - World Land Trust (http://www.worldlandtrust.org/)

September 2017 - Space For Giants (http://spaceforgiants.org/)

August 2017 - Farm Animal Rescue Sanctuary (http://www.farmanimalrescue.org.uk/index.html)

July 2017 - Macmillan Cancer Support (https://www.macmillan.org.uk/)

June 2017 - Oxted Master Park (http://www.yourmasterpark.co.uk/)

May 2017 - Missing People (https://www.missingpeople.org.uk/)

I realise I haven't been updating this blog recently, and don't want anyone to think I have stopped my monthly donations - I just haven't had the time to add new posts for each donation! So as a placeholder for future, more detailed, posts on each monthly donation, here are the charities I have donated to for my Donate A Day scheme since the last post in April. I list them at the top of this post, with the latest donation at the top (so on my Chocolate Tortoise home page, people can see the latest charity in the summary box)

April 2017 - Centrepoint

The chosen charity for April 2017 is Centrepoint.

A client of mine, Captain Nathan Mills, is (today!) running his first London Marathon in aid of this worthy cause, so I thought it only right that I support him, and the cause, with my April Donate A Day contribution.

(Nathan's donation page can be found here: virginmoneygiving)

As someone who has lived around London for my whole life, the Centrepoint building has been a focal point, and a recognisable landmark whenever I've been up in the West End, so I was very happy to support a good charity that is based around this familiar building.

Homeless young people, aged 16-25, stay with Centrepoint for up to two years, but they keep supporting them for another six months to make sure they can live independently.
They provide accommodation, health support and life skills to get them back into education, training and employment.

From their website:

Centrepoint is the UK's leading charity for homeless young people - but what does that actually mean? It means that, together with our partners, we support 9,000 young people every year. We help 16-25 year olds into a safe place to live, give them a health assessment and plan support for their individual mental and physical health needs. We start them on a path to more independence and a job.

March 2017 - Trigeminal Neuralgia Association

The chosen charity for March 2017 is the TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA Association.

I don't know very much at all about this charity, nor the condition it supports, but an old friend of mine knows a sufferer of the condition.

TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA is an extremely severe facial pain that tends to come and go unpredictably in sudden shock-like attacks. The pain is normally triggered, for example by light touch, and is described as stabbing, shooting, excruciating or burning. It usually lasts for a few seconds but there can be many bursts of pain in quick succession.

It was only after I had made my donation that I also noticed that they are based in Oxted, where I live, so it is also a local charity too.

After my donation I received a lovely emailed thank you note from them.

February 2017 - Wildlife Aid

The chosen charity for Donate A Day February 2017 is Wildlife Aid.

I have donated to Wildlife Aid before, and was a volunteer there for about a year or so back in 2011/2012 and they do a fantastic job of helping injured and sick wildlife return to their natural place in the wild, whist also enabling volunteers to get closer to wildlife and understand animals' needs.

Set up in 1980 by one man, Simon Cowell OBE (no, not that one!), it has grown to a team dedicated to helping the local wildlife.

Whilst browsing their website, I noticed that at the beginning of the year a thief broke in and stole a caravan belonging to the charity, costing them a lot of money to replace. They set up an appeal to help cover the costs incurred, and this donation went towards that appeal.

January 2017 - St Catherines Hospice

The chosen charity for January's Donate A Day is St Catherine's Hospice

This is a relatively local charity that offers a lot of different levels of support and care.

From their website:

We’re a local charity with a big ambition: to help everyone face death informed, supported and pain free. Providing expert hospice care, we’re there for people in West Sussex and East Surrey when life comes full circle.

We also pioneer standards in end of life care through collaboration, research and training, reaching even more people facing death and bereavement.