Winehouse Charity Donates £10,000 to Essex Hospice

Posted by Stephanie Yip

The Amy Winehouse Foundation (AWF),  set up by the late singer’s family after her death, has made its first donation to support children with life limiting conditions.

AWF has donated £10,000 to Little Haven’s Children’s Hospice in Essex.The donation will support 18 children and their families, and is expected to pay for over 600 hours of nursing care.

Mitch and Janis Winehouse, who established the foundation in their late daughter’s honour, said they were certain Amy would have approved of the inaugural donation:

“Amy would be pleased because she loved children and I know she’s fully behind us in all the work we are doing,” Mitch Winehouse said.

Mr Winehouse also credits AWF as having helped him and his wife come to terms with their daughter’s death:

“Amy’s passing now concentrates us on raising money for children, so we are trying to make sense of it [Winehouse’s death].”

AWF was established on 14 September 2011 and seeks to build funds to support youth affected by ill health, disability, financial disadvantage and addiction by organizing events, auctions and public donations, .

AWF has also donated £10,000 to Chestnut Tree House Children’s Hospice in Sussex to help it set up a neonatal service, and is currently donating £1 for every copy of Winehouse’s album “Lioness: Hidden Treasures” sold in Ireland to Laura Lynn Hospice.

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Human Traffic Light Brings Order to Indian Road Chaos

Posted by Simon Cooper

Sanjeev Trehan is a local hero who exemplifies the practice of community spirit in action.

Every morning for the past three years Mr. Trehan has – remarkably – waded into the middle of one of the worst congested roads in India and set about directing the traffic himself.

Dressed in casual pants and a tee shirt, the 52 year-old catering manager can be found between 8.30-10.30am controlling traffic flow through a notoriously congested underpass in Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi.

As the Indian news website Prokerala reports:

“Every week from Monday to Friday, commuters on the busy Ghaziabad-Noida underpass on National Highway 24 adjoining the capital are greeted by an incongruous sight — a well-built man, clad in cargo pants and T-shirt, waving his arms frantically and hollering at the top of his voice, standing in the middle of a sea of honking cars.”

Prokerala quotes the extraordinary Mr. Trehan as saying:

“I started this as a social service after I was stuck here for 40 minutes a few years back and was shocked that no one cared to manage it for a while. And then I thought something should be done about it and here I am,” Trehan shrugs.

According to daily commuters, the first thing he does is to put up barriers… this leaves the underpass open for commuters from Indirapuram, Vasundhara, Vaishali and other adjoining areas to use to reach their offices in Noida.

This simple traffic management trick — giving preference to the office-bound traffic, which vastly outnumbers carscoming from Noida — has benefited both sides as the entire area is free of bottlenecks.”

Mr. Trehan’s volunteer traffic calming routine has made a significant difference to the commuters who faced a daily nightmare.

Anubhav Sinha … said: “First, I thought he must be a cop but later I came to know about him through my neighbours. Whenever I see him, I always thank him and tell him that he is doing a great job for society.”

Seema Chaudhary, a lecturer, too is all praise for Trehan. “Hard to believe that in this age such a man exists; otherwise who cares. Hats off to him,” she said.

Even the local traffic police are grateful for Mr. Trehan’s one-man contribution to road safety.

“He has been doing this for quite some time. And we appreciate that. Like him, more people should come forward,” said a constable on duty at Indirapuram.”

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Rap King Jay-Z to Take to the Stage to Help America’s Poorest Students

Posted by Alex Bowell

Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter has announced two fundraising concerts to take place at Carnegie Hall in New York in early February.  All proceeds from the two nights will be donated to The Shawn Carter Foundation and United Way of New York City.

In announcing the events Jay-Z said:

It’s every artist’s dream to play a venue as legendary as Carnegie Hall.  The fact that I can use the arts and my talent to benefit the education of the next generation of artists, entrepreneurs, and great thinkers makes for a legendary night.

At the moment, few fans will be able to afford the price of a ticket, which currently ranges from $500 to $2,500 each.  However, whilst the Foundation is targeting the event at high-level corporations whose financial power will help raise the largest sums for the charity, a limited number of tickets at prices more normal for a Jay-Z concert will be released at the end of January.

Founded in 2003, The Shawn Carter Foundation was established by Carter and his mother Gloria Carter, CEO of the Foundation, to:

help any individual facing socio-economic hardships further his or her education at institutions of higher learning.

To date, the Foundation has raised over $1 million to support over 750 students studying at around 100 institutes of learning throughout the United States.

Despite the fact that Carter did not graduate high school himself, he understands how essential further education is:

Education is super important.  I don’t have a high school diploma or a college diploma, but still […] I had to have some form of schooling to articulate my thoughts.

Earlier this year the Foundation hosted a carnival in New York at the ‘Making the Ordinary Extraordinary’ event at Hudson River Park, which also helped raise funds for further scholarships.

Funds raised from the two concerts in February will also go to United Way for New York City, a 70 year old organisation aimed at supporting New York’s low-income residents.   In a city which has the largest poverty gap in the Unites States and where 30 percent of children live in poverty, the organisation seeks to work with all members of the New York community to develop communal resources and help end poverty.

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A Christmas Gift: One Week’s Rent Absolutely Free

Posted by Stephanie Yip

It might not be Christmas Day yet, but a family in semi-rural New South Wales, Australia has been given an early Christmas present to kick off the season of giving. A week’s worth of rent, absolutely free.

Laura and Samuel Bowen and their four children moved into the Bellington property that they now call home around ten months ago. During that time, the family has been model tenants, paying their rent on time and looking after the property.

But just because you’re a good tenant doesn’t mean that you’re without your own difficulties. The family is currently suffering some financial difficulties and their landlords are well aware that in order to make ends meet, the Bowens, like many other Aussie renters, have had to tighten their belts a number of times.

Robin Williams, who owns the property with her husband Paul, explains;

“These guys are your true Aussie battlers, a couple with a blended family of four kids, one working while the other is trying to make a go of a home business whilst studying.”

“They are great reliable tenants, but like hundreds of thousands of other Aussie battlers (both young families and aged pensioners), they (the Bowens) live in a constant state of survival mode where every cent is carefully accounted for, a ripple in the routine means something has to go.”

This December however, the Bowens won’t have to account AU$250 to cover one week’s rental. Every little cent helps, right? And they’re hoping their story and their landlord’s act of charity will encourage other landlords with tenants suffering financial hardship to spread this same generosity. Full details of their Christmas challenge can be found on their Facebook page.

Mrs Bowen says of the movement;

“We thought; imagine if this happened to a whole lot of other tenants this Christmas.”

Her message is:

“Give them a week rent free between now and Christmas and show the rest of the world that inAustraliawe not only look after our own but know the true meaning of Christmas.”

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Welsh Rugby Star’s 737 Challenge Sets New Mountain Climbing Record

Posted by Alex Bowell

Putting a career-ending injury behind him, ex Welsh rugby star Richard Parks has became the first person to climb the highest mountain peaks on all seven continents, climb Mount Everest and reach both the North and South Poles in less than a year.

Richard Parks was forced to end his rugby career early in 2009 after sustaining a shoulder injury which, despite numerous surgeries, could not be fixed.  ‘Bitterly disappointed’ at having to retire, Parks described his reaction as:

the overriding feeling was just fear – nearly agoraphobic. All of a sudden, with no plans in place for my life, I had out of the blue no structure, no regime.

After a period of reflection, Parks decided to push himself, as he had throughout his rugby career, by:

learning the skill of mountaineering, a new skill, testing myself in a new environment with, I suppose, a hope of closing the door on my rugby career.

Parks commenced this amazing 737 challenge, in which he sought to climb the seven summits and reach three poles (including the ‘roof’ of the world, Mt. Everest) in seven months, in December 2010.

He began the challenge in Antarctica, battling ferocious weather to reach the South Pole.  After spending Christmas and New Year on the frozen continent, he travelled to South America to climb Mt. Aconcagua, Africa to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro, and Australasia to conquer Mt. Carstensz.

The completion of Parks’ challenge was seriously jeopardised on the seventh leg, the North Pole, when he suffered severe frostbite in his big right toe.  However, unwilling to give up so close to completing his goal, Parks climbed two further mountains, Mt. Denali in North America and finally Mt. Elbrus in Russia.  On 12 July 2011, he became the first person to complete the 737 challenge.

TV presenter and fellow adventurer Ben Fogle commented:

He has proved that you really can do anything if you really put your mind and body into it. Richard Parks has achieved an extraordinary thing. He really is an inspiration.

Whilst the challenge was primarily a personal challenge of moving on from his rugby career, Parks also made the expedition a fundraising one.  Choosing Marie Curie Cancer Care because his father has undergone surgery to fight stomach cancer, Parks is well on the way of reaching his goal of £1m raised for the charity.

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Palestinian Students Unite to Form Dove of Peace

Posted by Stephanie Yip

On 25 November, 2011 around one thousand students from United Nations schools across Palestine gathered to send a message of peace to the world by creating a human sculpture of Pablo Picasso’s Dove of Peace.

Directed by British aerial artist John Quigley, the children sat single file to create the outline of this symbol of peace at the foot of the Mount of Temptation, an area in the West Bank city of Jericho that has seen much conflict and international dispute in the past.

However, today it is a site of peace and unity as students of schools run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East work together on an initiative by the Peace on Earth project.

From an aerial perspective, the outline of a dove complete with olive branch in its beak could clearly be seen, along with the words “love all”. This is the image of a dove that was popularised by artist Pablo Picasso in 1949.

Quigley is renowned for his environmentally and socially relevant aerial artworks and jumped at the chance to work on the Dove of Peace:

“Wherever there is conflict I feel there are things we can do to bring people together … I work with large crowd of people to create images on landscapes for social and environmental issues.

Of the chosen location:

“If anyplace needs more love, it is this place and these people … (The children) want a future and this is a way to involve them in speaking to the world.”

“These kids are planting seeds of peace into the heart of the Middle East conflict. They deserve the kind of positive future we wish for all children”.

A Christmas concert will follow this Peace on Earth project on Christmas Day in Bethlehem Square.

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World Toilet Day: An Event Not to be Poo-Pooed.

Posted by Alex Bowell

The 10th World Toilet Day has highlighted the global crisis affecting 2.6 billion people who do not have access to adequate toilet facilities.

The annual campaign day, featuring events in nearly 20 countries, highlights the deficiency in adequate sanitation around the globe.  Lack of toilets and proper sewerage is, according to World Toilet Organization founder Jack Sim, the biggest cause of infection on the planet.

Mr. Sim says despite the gravity of this situation, sanitation is often ignored because of deep-seated cultural embarrassment:

Even though people go to the bathroom an average of six times a day, and we spend an estimated three years of our lives in the bathroom, many of us are still unwilling to discuss toilets for fear of embarrassing ourselves or offending others.

By shying away from talking about the toilet, Sim says, global sanitation is not given the attention it demands, and has led to:

underinvestment in efforts to ensure that 2.6 billion people have access to a safe and affordable way to poop.

The event was celebrated in numerous different ways by countries all around the globe; from the Golden Poo Awards in the UK to the PHLUSH (Public Hygiene Lets Us Stay Human) campaign in Oregon, USA.

In addition, World Toilet Day has garnered much support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which this year donated $43 million in a range of sanitation grants and initiatives.  In a keynotes address at the 2011 AfricaSan Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, the president of the Foundation’s Global Development Program, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, explained that:

No innovation in the past 200 years has done more to save lives and improve health than the sanitation revolution triggered by invention of the toilet.

The Foundation hopes that these generous new grants will encourage innovation in the way we address global sanitation.

At the start of this month, The Foundation donated a further $230,000 to the World Toilet Organization, which will allow the Organization to increase its level of advertising, so that future World Toilet Days will garner even more attention.

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5,000 Fed Free Curry: ‘Ugly’ Vegetables are Still Delicious

Posted by Alex Bowell

After their successful first event in 2009, Feeding 5K returned to Trafalgar Square, London in November, cooking a free meal for 5,000 while raising awareness about wasting food in the UK.

The meal on offer, a vegetable curry, was made out of

‘fresh ingredients that would otherwise go to waste – wonky carrots, misshapen potatoes and other fresh surplus produce.’

The promise of free curry, which attracted huge numbers of food lovers and interested passers-by, also allowed Feeding 5K to highlight the problem issue of food wastage.

The average UK household wastes 25% of the food it buys, and according to event organiser Tristram Stuart,

‘An estimated 20 to 40% of UK fruit and vegetables [are] rejected even before they reach the shops – mostly because they do not match the supermarkets’ excessively strict cosmetic standards.’

The event, opened by Mayor of London, Boris Johnson who dished out the first portion of curry, was partnered by many high-profile food charities, including FareShare, Love Food Hate Waste, and Friends of the Earth.  Local children also attended, representing the School Food Matters campaign whose mission is

‘to ensure that every child enjoys fresh sustainable food at school, and understands where their food comes from.’

Feeding the 5,000 took place in the same week that a report was published by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme).  The report found that a fifth of all food purchased in the UK is wasted.  Whilst these levels of wastage are high, there was also encouraging news:

‘Annual UK household food waste has fallen by 1.1 million tonnes (13%) over a three year period from 8.3 million tonnes to an estimated 7.2 million tonnes.  This avoided food waste would fill the Wembley Stadium in London to the brim.’

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High School student Sam Terry from Canada raises $32,000 through public speaking

Posted by Alex Bowell

Fourteen year old Samantha (Sam) Terry is not your average high school student.

In addition to playing for the school basketball team and volunteering at her local church, Sam tours the province of Alberta as a public speaker, attending events and raising awareness in the community of the Room to Read Foundation.

Set up by former Microsoft executive John Wood, the Foundation strives to raise literacy levels in developing countries.  To date Room to Read has constructed 1,450 schools and 12,522 libraries around the world, and has distributed ten million books around the globe, benefitting six million children.

Motivated after watching a video documenting the work of the foundation, Sam decided that she was going to do her bit and build a school in Nepal.  Since then she has raised over $32,000 through attending public events and speaking on the impact of the Foundation.

When asked why she works so tirelessly to help others, Sam replied:

“My theory is that life is like a lottery and we got the winning ticket; but you could share your prize with everyone.”

Sam focuses her efforts on speaking to children her own age, appealing to their unbridled generosity:

“Adults think with their heads; kids think with their hearts.  Whenever I’m telling my story to kids, it’s not, ‘What’s my financial obligation?’ It’s just, ‘What can I do now?’ ”

In 2009, at the age of 12, Sam was awarded the Government of Alberta’s Great Kid Award for her fundraising and public speaking.  In being presented with the award, Sam was described as

‘already a leader in her community.’

Sam is currently raising funds for the Rotary Everest Trek 2012 school building project, and, although she cannot skip school to go on the expedition, has set herself the goal of raising $15,000.  With over $7,500 currently raised, Sam is well on her way to reaching her target.

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Singapore Gives Street Cleaners the Day Off and Gives Away Daisies for World Kindness Day

Posted by Stephanie Yip

November 13 was World Kindness Day, an initiative of the Kindness Movement that’s been sweeping the globe. This year marks the third anniversary of World Kindness Day and in support of the movement Singaporeans took to the streets to show some kindness and appreciation.

In Marine Parade Town, the cleaners were given a break for the day. They were replaced with volunteers, which included members of Parliament like Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, residents, grassroots leaders and volunteers.

Throughout the day, volunteers picked up litter on private estates and in public areas. They also encouraged locals to clean up after themselves, especially in areas like food courts by placing posters at Marine Terrace 50A Market and Food Centre.

The implementation of this day-long initiative wasn’t just to recognise World Kindness Day, but also to send an overall message to the town’s residents of the need to be conscious about how they treat their environment.

Mr Lim Biow Chuan, MP for Mountbatten said after the day:

“We also want to send a message that we need everyone to do their part to keep the place litter-free. As we walked around, we actually saw a lot of litter, and so we’re just wondering, if everyone does his part… this whole place will be much, much cleaner.”

On Orchid Street, Singapore’s downtown shopping belt, 500 volunteers surprised and delighted passer-bys by handing out 30,000 yellow gerbera daisies while the Singapore Tourism Board bought hundreds of daisies and delivered them to its employees.

As part of the Singapore Kindness Movement, an online interactive map has also been created to track the growth of kindness throughout the country. Each act of kindness allows a flower appear and bloom where it occurred. And the more kind acts in that area, the larger the flower. It can be viewed at www.makesomeonesday.sg.

The World Kindness Movement was officially launched in Singapore on 18 November 2000. It was inspired by the Small Kindness Movement of Japan and aims to inspire and encourage kind acts and unite nations through kindness.

Other acts of kindness on this day included:

A “big hug” event on Bondi Beach,Australia: people joined hands, gave random hugs and enjoyed a free breakfast on the beach.

A “kindness text” event throughout the UK: people sent kind texts to someone they knew, either to thank them, to forward on a kind quote or to advise them of a kind act they witnessed that day.

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