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.

December 2016 - Dignity in Dying

The chosen charity for December 2016 is Dignity in Dying.

This charity has been in the news recently as another person (Noel Conway) is campaigning for the right to choose to die in a respectful manner, rather than suffer long term pain. His campaign is supported by this charity, and I wanted to give my support to their cause.

For my Donate A Day, I usually steer clear of charities that could be seen as contentious, since the charities I donate to are visible to others, especially so on my home page for my Chocolate Tortoise business. A campaign to allow people who have long-term terminal illnesses to be helped to die when they choose can be seen as contentious by some, and I suspect I will put a few people off by voicing support for them. However, it is a cause I strongly support.

I am not going to go into the rights and wrongs of the case - others can express those sides of the argument far better and more eloquently than I, and I doubt anything I write will change anyone's mind. Suffice to say that after spending the last year close to someone with onset dementia (my mother), it has brought thoughts of my own later years to my mind. I do not want to spend the last years of my life as an imposition on anyone, in constant pain or being unable to express myself. It does not mean I would want to take my life, but I would want to have the choice. The choice needs to be made thoughtfully, protection given to avoid impulsive decisions etc, but I would want it to be an option. Presently it is not an option in this country, and friends and family who may help me run the risk of being treated as criminals. I don't think this is right. I am not pro-assisted-dying, I am pro-choice-for-assisted-dying.

The name of the charity sums it up well: "Dignity in Dying".

See their website here: www.dignityindying.org.uk/.

November 2016 - Give a Dog a Home

This charity was recommended to me by good friends of ours.

This charity rescues dogs from countries on the continent who have, let's say, a less caring attitude towards animals, and where there are many strays and abused animals. They then rehome them in the UK, focusing on London and the South East.

http://www.giveadogahome.org.uk/

October 2016 - British Hen Welfare Trust

I spotted an advert for this charity in my vets. As a vegetarian of over 30 years, one of the reasons I gave up meat was the intensive battery farming for eggs that was prevalent in the 70s and 80s. Luckily those methods have been banned in the UK for a while now, but still happen elsewhere in the world, and even though intensive battery farming methods are no longer legal in the UK, many methods are still, in my view, cruel. Even Free Range eggs can be produced using only slightly better conditions (but any step in the right direction is a bonus!). For those that may be interested, Organic have far better welfare standards.

The British Hen Welfare Trust promote better conditions in the egg industry, and rehome hens that are retired, or rescued, from the industry, saving them from slaughter.

http://www.bhwt.org.uk/

A number of my clients have rehomed ex-battery hens. They are happy and healthy and it is always good to see them pecking around when I visit.

September 2016 - Men in Sheds

The Men in Sheds project was started in Australia, and is a means for elderly men to be able to get together and socialise, and maybe to turn their hand to a new skill in woodworking, or to teach others what they already know.

The idea has spread around the world, and there are a number of groups that have been set up in the UK, including a successful group that has been running a few years in Caterham.

A new group is just being set up in Oxted, co-ordinated by the Woodhouse Centre.

It's an excellent idea, giving a focus to many people later in life and providing a much needed place to socialise and be around others with similar interests.

This month's donation has been given towards the setting up of the group, in the hope that enough volunteers and members can come forward to make the idea a reality.

August 2016 - Missing People

The chosen donate a day charity for August 2016 is Missing People.

This charity was chosen back in April 2015 when a client of mine, Ross, who has a lovely cat called Tinx, was being sponsored for their "Miles for Missing People 2015" run in May. Once again this year Ross has run for the charity, this time in aid of their "Find Every Child" campaign.

Missing People is an independent charity, funded by donations, who search for missing people on behalf of the people they leave behind - offering help and support for all parties.

From their website https://www.missingpeople.org.uk:
Missing People is the only charity in the UK which specialises in, and is dedicated to, bringing missing children and adults back together with their families. Some missing people you will have heard of, but many more you won’t. For their families, life without them can be a desperate and unbearable struggle. We are there for them 24 hours a day, every day of the year, at the end of a phone, text or email, ready to use every means possible to search for and find their missing loved ones and to provide vital on-going support to families where the agonising wait turns into years, not just days.

July 2016 - Disability Challengers

The chosen charity for July is Disability Challengers

I'm quite picky about the charities I choose to donate to. There are so many to choose from, and whilst they all support good causes, I like to know that my donation will be well spent (not spent on door-to-door charity collectors, for example) and I have other, ethical and moral, reasons for not donating to certain charities (non testing on animals, for example). It can be quite difficult finding suitable charities to donate to, especially when I am more keen to support smaller, local charities, than large, multi-national charities (with their highly paid executive salaries to support!). So I read with interest any local reports on nearby charities.

This month I spotted a write up in my local magazine, the Oxted Local, about a playscheme in nearby Godstone, for disabled children. I liked the ethos of the charity - enabling parents and carers who have a tough time of things 24/7 to take a break, while allowing their disabled children to play and learn in a protected environment. The fact that the playschemes also allow non-disabled children to come along too is great - the more exposure children have to children of other abilities, races, backgrounds etc, the more tolerant our society will (hopefully!) become.

So all in all, a good charity, and well deserved of my July donation.

Information from their website (http://www.disability-challengers.org/):

Challengers is an independent children's charity that, for more than 30 years, has developed and delivered inclusive play and leisure for disabled children and young people across Surrey, Hampshire and increasingly the surrounding areas. The charity is based in Guildford (at 'Challengers Guildford Playcentre', our headquarters and one of our full time playcentres). In 2014 we delivered more than 138,000 hours for 1,300 disabled children. These services were delivered at Challengers Guildford and Farnham Centres as well as schemes based at schools and community youth centres all through the year.

Challengers has developed an approach that has established the confidence and respect of families and partners (including local authorities and private donors). Our approach is guided by a commitment never to exclude any child or young person and works towards providing fun normal play and leisure experiences for disabled children and young people. All this is done in a positive, intelligent, non-institutional environment.

Challengers play and youth schemes are where disabled children and young people feel that they belong, are safe, have fun and make friends. At every Challengers play and youth scheme there are lots of enthusiastic staff so that children and young people will always have someone to play and be with. The wide range of activities that we provide means that we can offer disabled young people something to do and somewhere to go from the age of 2 to 25.

June 2016 - Big Brother Mouse

The chosen charity for June 2016 is Big Brother Mouse. This has been a selected charity in the past, exactly one year ago in fact, but it is a charity I follow closely - they are very proactive about not only letting people know what they are doing, but also in trying out new ideas. I find them refreshingly down-to-earth in their approach, as well as obviously doing great work.

During our travels in 2010 we loved pretty much every country we visited. I especially liked Laos. Possibly partly due to the fact that we were able to spend a month looking after bears at a sanctuary there, but also because of the very friendly people and the laid back way of life. Luang Prabang was a lovely town that we got to know well, as it was there that we looked after the bears for a month. There was also a charity based there called Big Brother Mouse, which aims to get more kids in Laos able to read, and enthusiastic about reading. We spent an enjoyable morning helping some Lao kids read English and really liked the ethos of the charity.

http://www.bigbrothermouse.com/

Since our return I have kept in touch with what the charity is doing, and they have been great about keeping me informed, without pressure for continued donations. I really like what the charity is doing, and their approach. I try to give them some money each year when I can and thought it was about time they appeared on my Donate a Day radar, so they get this month's donation.

They spend their money visiting schools and holding "Book Parties" where kids get to look through some of the very basic, but fun books that they bring along, and as well as books left for the school, each kid gets to take a book home to own - which is a big thing for them. The charity is also very active in trying out new methods to encourage the kids, and more importantly the schools and teachers, to hold reading sessions where they can improve their reading. The project manager in me likes the fact that they try things out, then test to see if it has worked, and adapt accordingly.

They also publish their own books, since there are so few books in the Lao language aimed at getting kids to read. A previous donation of ours has helped to publish a couple of books which they kindly sent me and sit proudly on our bookshelf. I can't understand a word of them!

Oh, and I love their logo and their name! As the owner of "Chocolate Tortoise" I like companies (and charities) with original names :-)

May 2016 - The Orpheus Centre

The chosen charity for May 2016 is The Orpheus Centre, based in Godstone.

This charity has been suggested to me by a friend of mine. They provide support, accommodation and a learning programme for people with physical and/or learning difficulties.

I also didn't realise, until I checked out their website, that I have walked past their centre regularly in the past when I walked dogs over the back fields in Godstone.

More information, from their website (http://www.orpheus.org.uk/):

Orpheus

Orpheus is based in Surrey and was founded by Sir Richard Stilgoe in 1998. It is an independent specialist college offering a learning programme, supported housing and a domiciliary care service. Our students are between the ages of 18 and 25 and have learning and/or physical impairments. Our diverse curriculum covers the arts, independence, employment and functional skills.

Over the past sixteen years Orpheus has transformed the lives of hundreds of young people and their families.  Our students have performed at venues all over the country including the Paralympics, Buckingham Palace and Glastonbury. Our goal is for young disabled people to have the skills and opportunities they need so that they can live fulfilling and independent lives.

March & April 2016 - Sands, stillbirth and neonatal death charity

The Donate a Day charity for March and April is Sands

I've been falling behind with my donations this year and hadn't donated anything in March or April, and it is already nearly May - unforgivable!

It was very timely that something popped up on my Facebook feed, indirectly, that a previous colleague of mine, Adam Leyton, is attempting to break a world record next month and in the process raise a bit of money for a very worthy cause.

He is planning to visit 12 countries in 24 hours using just public transport. The current record is 11, set in 1993.You can track his progress on his blog here:
http://www.leytonweb.com/blog/a-crazy-idea/

He is raising money for Sands, a charity that offers support and counselling for people affected by stillbirth and neonatal death: https://www.uk-sands.org/

Good luck Adam, and whether you make it or not, you have raised money for, and awareness of, a worthy cause, so well done!

UPDATE: He did it! 12 countries visited in 23 hours 52 minutes. A fantastic achievement, and he has raised a large amount for a worthy cause. And judging by the exposure he has received in many different countries' media since he did it, Adam has given the charity great publicity too! Well done Adam!

February 2016 - The Stroke Association

The Donate a Day charity chosen for February 2016 is The Stroke Association.

This UK charity has an immediate relevance to me. My mother had a stroke in early February this year and is currently (as I write this) in hospital recovering from this. She seems to have been lucky and the long term effects seem to be limited. There will be some impact, but many people suffer much more from strokes.

The Stroke Association provides a lot of information that is very useful to sufferers and their carers and families. Many of the websites I have recently visited to find out more information about my mother's condition are either directly provided by this organisation, or reference The Stroke Association's guides and information leaflets.

January 2016 - Compassion in World Farming

The Donate a Day charity for January is Compassion in World Farming.

This is a charity that I have long supported. I became a vegetarian over 30 years ago not because I felt we should not be eating animals at all, but because I felt we did not treat them with the respect they deserve. I am not against animal farming, I am very much against the poor treatment that animals get under many modern farming methods. Human economics has completely destroyed morality and ethics when it comes to our treatment of animals for food.

Compassion in World Farming echoes my sentiments very well. Getting humanity to all give up eating meat is not an achievable aim. Getting humanity to give more respect towards animals is achievable. We have come a long way, not least because of charities like CIWF who highlight the practices behind much of our food industries. Raising awareness is the first step, and a very important one.

December 2015 - Contact the Elderly

The chosen charity for December 2015 is, once again, Contact the Elderly.

Although I try to choose new charities each month to donate to, with Christmas coming up we are reminded of the loneliness of some elderly people (a reminder that has also been nudged by this year's John Lewis advert!), and Contact the Elderly is a nice, small charity that actively helps lonely older people by arranging regular tea 'parties' and gatherings.

I donated to this charity in May 2014. It's about time they got a little more money from me for their good work. It also happens to be their 50th anniversary this year.

Supported by a network of volunteers, Contact the Elderly organises monthly Sunday afternoon tea parties for small groups of older people aged 75 and over, who live alone, offering a regular and vital friendship link every month.

November 2015 - Moor House School, Surrey

The Donate a Day charity for November 2015 is Moor House School in Hurst Green, where I live.

This school specialises in the education of children and young people with speech and language difficulties.

Introduction to Moor HouseMoor House provides specialist schooling and therapy for children with speech and language difficulties and draws upon over 60 years of experience. The school was believed to be the first of it’s kind, has provided inspiration for other schools internationally, and continues to lead in areas of specialist education, therapy and research. Moor House shares it’s expertise and research findings to support children in the wider community.