British bosses are being asked to take the lead from one of the UK’s top pub chains and give their staff February 29 off to lift the country’s community spirit.

The www.leapday.co.uk campaign is designed to get British workers helping out good causes; but they need their bosses to let them have time off. Punch Taverns, which leases out 5000 pubs, has risen to the challenge and is giving all their staff a day off to back the Give Away Your Leap Day. The innovative campaign has been launched by the UK’s largest charity shopping site easyfundraising.org.uk.

Punch Taverns employees are volunteering for a whole host of activities, including revamping the garden at St Giles Hospice in Lichfield. Some of the 250 staff members at the Burton-on-Trent headquarters will bank their day off so they can help the hospice with projects throughout the year.

Managing Director of easyfundraising.org.uk, Gary Thompson, says: “We want to generate awareness for businesses to support good causes in their local area. This day is going to make a real difference to the community.”

One of the volunteers from Punch Taverns, Jenni Fryer says: It’s about giving something back and engaging the community we operate in. Pubs are at the heart of the community and as a company which owns 5000 leased pubs, we want to support that, help a brilliant local cause and motivate our staff.”

There are an estimated 30 million workers in Britain who earn on average £100 per day. Employers don’t have to free up their workers for the whole day, anything from an hour is still helpful and businesses can bank the time for another day if February 29 is not suitable.

Give Away Your Leap Day organiser easyfundraising.org.uk gives an average five per cent of each sale to the charity of the shopper’s choice. So far more than £3 million has been given away to good causes.

For more information visit http://www.leapday.co.uk/

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Image: http://www.contextpr.co.uk/images/client_images/leap_day.jpg
Caption: Gary Thompson, Jenni Fryer and Jenni Dawson do their bit for Give Away Your Leap Day campaign.
Image 2: http://www.contextpr.co.uk/images/client_images/leap_day2.jpg
Caption 2: Gary Thompson, Jenni Fryer and Jenni Dawson dig deep for good causes.

About easyfundraising.org.uk easyfundraising.org.uk is a free and simple online shopping facility that helps consumers to support a cause of their choice. Shoppers make purchases at their favourite online stores at no extra cost to raise vital funds for a charity, good cause or group of their choice. Each purchase made generates an average of 5% to the chosen cause. easysearch.org.uk is a free tool that raises money for charities and causes through internet searches. easysearch combines results from several major search engines to track down the most relevant results from across the web. For more information visit www.easyfundraising.org.uk

Social worker Andrew Fazekas, from Luton, loves rock music, and he loved to listen to it loudly. Occasionally it would leave him with a ringing in his ears that always wore off. But in 2004, overnight, the noises stayed and got worse. Andrew spiralled into a period of depression and isolation as he struggled to cope with the persistent, permanent noises in his head: he had tinnitus.

Now, aged 51, Andrew has taught himself to manage his tinnitus and is determined not to let it hold him back. Completing his degree and post graduate diploma in Social work, Andrew used techniques he picked up through this work to create coping strategies for dealing with tinnitus. “I was first diagnosed with tinnitus in 2004,” said Andrew. “It was an awful time for me and it affected me terribly. The worst part was feeling so isolated. I was off work for a long time and the sofa became like my comfort blanket. When I was looking for help I couldn’t find any. There wasn’t a support group in my area and the nearest was Sheffield.”

Andrew became so low and withdrawn that at times he even considered suicide. It was the only way he could think of to end the noises he describes as ‘a fish tank sound in his head’. It is this isolation and lack of support, often felt by tinnitus sufferers, that national charity Deafness Research UK is helping to eradicate through their freephone information helpline 0808 808 2222.

“When I look back I was struggling to accept that tinnitus was now part of who I am,” Andrew explained. “I couldn’t sleep and I would actively listen for the noise. Now I can see that it wasn’t helping”

Andrew’s tinnitus is worse at times than others. He finds anxiety and stress seem to change the pitch of the noises, making them more unbearable, and his tinnitus is more noticeable in quiet environments. It is at these times Andrew turns to his coping strategies.

“I’ve found that I can adapt some of my social work skills to help myself cope with tinnitus,” Andrew said. “I’ve used meditation programmes to help me sleep and breathing exercises to help control the symptoms, both of which have worked for me. I’ve got family and grandchildren, so there’s a lot to live for and I don’t intend letting my tinnitus get in the way. What I’d like to see now is more support groups and local help for sufferers.”

Deafness Research UK is the country’s only charity dedicated to finding new cures, treatments and technologies for deaf, hard of hearing and other hearing impaired people including tinnitus sufferers. Vivienne Michael, Chief Executive of Deafness Research UK, said: “About five million people in the UK are affected by tinnitus and it can have a devastating affect on their quality of life. Tinnitus is a very complex condition and we are determined to do something about it. Along with funding research into cures and treatments, our charity is committed to supporting and helping sufferers cope with their situation,” she added.

For more information on tinnitus and research into deafness and other hearing conditions, go to www.deafnessresearch.org.uk where you can access a wide range of information. People can call the Deafness Research UK freephone information helpline on 0808 808 2222 or email info@deafnessresearch.org.uk
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There are millions of charity’s that deserve some of our hard earned cash but with so many promoting their message it is hard to cipher through the information and find the charity’s that you want to assist.

CollateToDonate is attempting to change the way we receive this information and is providing a clear, concise and centralised source for people to make an almost instant decision on whether they wish to donate through maximising social media channels.

Through three updates per day via facebook and twitter a different charity will be promoted. These updates will in turn provide a background on the charity, a mission statement and then finally a link to the donation page, should people feel after hearing their cause through these concise updates feel that they wish to assist their cause.

The plan is to build up a large number of followers which charity’s can promote their causes to each day, allowing charity’s to reach different audiences than their own current social media followers and will allow people to make an almost instant decision on whether they would like to part with some of their money.

In return we ask organisations to promote our service to their followers, meaning that we will continue to build our following in order to help more charities.

In an age of information overload we will help charities re-connect with their audience and set a precedent for how charities promote themselves in this digital age.

Website: www.about.me/collatetodonate
Twitter: @collatetodonate
Facebook: collatetodonate

Big hearted Bristolians who took part in the city’s recent 10k and Midnight Walk events are being urged to get their sponsorship money into St Peter’s Hospice as soon as possible.

Hundreds of runners and walkers signed up to raise money for the charity and the vast majority succeeded in achieving their ambitions.

But Jo Gibbons, head of fundraising at the charity said many people who had pledged to raise funds had yet to send their sponsorship money in.

Jo: “All our runners and walkers did us proud and have all completed the hardest bit. All they have to do now is ensure the money they were pledged gets to the people it was intended for as quickly as possible.”

As Bristol’s only adult hospice St Peter’s Hospice cares for local people with incurable diseases, giving them a better quality of life. All care is provided free of charge with the NHS contributing just 23 per cent of the 6.5 million needed to run the hospice yearly.

Jo added: “The hospice relies on the generosity of Bristolians to support our work. We need to provide care today, tomorrow and next week – we can’t ask people with terminal illnesses to go without our help until the middle of next month – it really is operationally imperative we get the money now!

“It is vitally important for all those who took part in these events on our behalf to get cracking on collecting their sponsorship money and getting it to us as early as possible.”

So far 530 of the 900 women who completed the Midnight Walk have paid their money in. Figures from the Bristol 10k in May reveal a similar picture.

Last year the hospice cared for 2,000 patients in the region and supported over 6,000 family members, including children.

To find out more about how to help St Peter’s Hospice visit www.stpetershospice.org.uk

The Yoxall-based Foresters Scout Group is celebrating fundraising success after supporters helped them raise more than £1,200 by simply by shopping online.

By using easyfundraising.org.uk, supporters of the 11th Burton on Trent Scout Group, locally known as The Foresters, have raised funds to replace and repair camping equipment. The Scout group for boys and girls aged from 6 to 14, offers weekly activities, weekend camps, days out and the learning of new skills. easyfundraising.org.uk is the UK’s largest fundraising shopping site, turning everyday shopping into donations when members shop with over 2,000 partner retailers featured on its site. The Foresters registered with easyfundraising.org.uk four years ago.

Angela Burns, Group Scout Leader, commented: “Scout camps are an integral part of the camping experience and without easyfundraising.org.uk’s input we would have struggled to maintain and replace our camping equipment.”

easyfundraising.org.uk Managing Director Gary Thompson said: “The Foresters have worked hard to raise funds and we congratulate them for pulling together and achieving such a great success.”

easyfundraising.org.uk helps thousands of good causes including schools, sports clubs, scout groups and local causes, as well as national charities. So far, easyfundraising has raised more than £2.4 million for good causes and is on target to raise an additional £1 million in 2011.

Retailers on the site include Marks & Spencer, Boden, Argos and eBay. Consumers shop directly with each retailer and secure an average donation of 5% for their preferred charity or cause.

Good causes are also able to increase their funds by encouraging supporters to use the easysearch.org.uk search engine. By making just 10 searches a day with easysearch.org.uk instead of other search engines, supporters can raise up to £20 per year for their cause.
To support the Foresters visit http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/support-a-cause/ or www.forestersscouts.org

City Link Media would like to announce the production of a new community awareness magazine The Community Review, a publication aimed at improving the communication between the public, emergency services and national charities to create a stronger, better informed community for all. Readers of The Community Review will be members of the general public and workers within the public services such as the emergency services and health professionals: they will be responsible adults who are at the heart of their local community. Distributed across the UK completely free of charge to over 15,000 contact locations per quarter, The Community Review aims to raise awareness by delivering inspirational features on the most pressing and important issues facing our communities today. By keeping people informed about the latest events across the UK, The Community Review will help to create a better understanding of our society and how to make the most of the services available to all.

With government cuts affecting marketing campaigns over the next four years, The Community Review embodies the notion of the government’s ‘Big Society’ approach by publicising national health and awareness campaigns free of charge. The aim is to raise awareness of important campaigns and also highlight positive initiatives that help our communities. The editorial team is open to any suggestions of possible features from organisations and people working within the community. The Community Review is distributed free of charge and the first issue goes out nationally on December 7th.

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For more information or to get involved contact:-

Robbie Muldoon, The Community Review editor, City Link Media

Tel 0203 393 7256

Email: editor@communityreview.co.uk

For a Community Review magazine subscription visit www.citylinkmedia.co.uk

The Community Review will also have a digital presence at www.communityreview.co.uk

Notes to Editors

The Community Review will comprise four issues and 60,000 copies a year distributed seasonally, each with 72 pages.

Wythall Animal Sanctuary in Kings Norton, Birmingham, has won a valuable £500 donation from the UK’s largest pet insurance provider, Petplan. Founded in 1968, the Wythall Animal Sanctuary is run entirely by volunteers and they rely on donations to help save and re-home as many unwanted pets as possible. “We were completely surprised and delighted to have won the Petplan Prize draw.” said Lena McGahey, Assistant Manager of Wythall Animal Sanctuary. “This prize money will be a big help as we are currently raising funds to expand and improve our feline’s isolation quarters, to allow us to rescue even more of the ever-growing number of stray and abandoned cats in the Birmingham area.”

Petplan works with more re-homing charities than any other insurer to help fund the care of thousands of homeless cats and dogs. They offer four weeks free insurance to every owner adopting pets through the shelters it supports and also offers free insurance vouchers to visitors and supporters of the charities. Each month a prize draw is held from all the insurance vouchers issued and one charity benefits from the prize fund.

Neil Brettell, Director of Petplan says, “We are pleased to be able to provide this donation to Wythall Animal Sanctuary, they do a fantastic job caring for animals in the community. We also understand what a difficult time it can be re-homing an animal and are glad to offer new owners 4 weeks free cover to give them this extra peace of mind during the first few weeks of their pet’s life in a new environment. Having your pet insured is an important part of taking care of its future health and it also helps you to plan any unforeseen veterinary costs.”

Petplan is committed to aiding the valuable work that re-homing shelters do. Charities such as Battersea, Cats Protection, Blue Cross and Dogs Trust are just a few of those that have benefited.

All kids love a booger! Launching in the UK May 2011 Gorilla Boogers is created for young children and adults following a healthy lifestyle who have a conscience and a sense of humour!

Gorilla Boogers is all about sweet juicy raisins! Gorilla Booger raisin bags, Gorilla Booger cereal bars, chocolate coated Gorilla Boogers, Gorilla Boogers oats and boogers cookies and Gorilla Booger breakfast cereals with each product promoting the work of The Gorilla Organization via a fun brand that appeals to children and adults alike.

Gorilla Boogers is a firm supporter and funder to the charity The Gorilla Organization which is an international charity led by experienced African conservationists dedicated to saving the world's last remaining gorillas from extinction.

You only need to watch the film Gorillas in the Mist to understand its work and why the charity must continue to exist.

A game app for ipad called 'pick, roll, flick, goal' specifically aimed at both children and adults is in creation with all proceeds being donated to The Gorilla Organization.


The Gorilla Boogers brand has been really well received and by June 2011 will be in over 500 UK retail and foodservice outlets.


Social Media:

http://www.facebook.com/gorillaboogers

http://www.twitter.com/gorillaboogers

Action for Children has gone local with the launch of my.actionforchildren.org.uk. The site enables the public to help disadvantaged children within their local community, by allowing them to identify and support small individual charity projects within their local area.

The new website, the first of its kind for a UK children's charity, is launched in conjunction with the publication of a poll of 2,000 people commissioned by the UK charity.

The findings from the report were that 77% of people who are concerned about children in their local community, would like to help but do not have the time nor the resources to help. However, 71% of them would like more information about other ways in which they could help.

The functionality of the site is simple and easy to use, all users have to do is type in their postcode and decide who and where to help. Contributions start from as little as £2 which can be used to help projects ranging from football kits or dancing lessons to helping fund a minibus or washing machine.

The new campaign has huge support from global celebrities such as Jessica Hynes, Dakota Blue Richards, Frank Lampard, Annie Lennox, Vanilla Ice and Dame Judi Dench.

Duncan Bannatyne, who is the face of the new advertising campaign for my.actionforchildren.org.uk says:

"Ive had some lucky breaks in my life. I look at my kids and think; thank goodness I'm in a position to help you. This isn't the case for thousands of other bright, funny, ambitious children who need a leg up. I think that my.actionforchildren.org.uk is a great idea to help vulnerable children in our communities who really need it."

Dame Clare Tickell, chief executive of Action for Children, said:

"Like most good ideas, my.actionforchildren.org.uk is very simple. Our staff work in more than 400 projects across the country and they know the specific things that will make a real difference locally. Anyone can log on and choose to give local children something that many, luckier, children take for granted."

In a few simple steps supporters can help transform the life of the most vulnerable and neglected children in the UK.

- Choose a project close to your heart or your home
- Give to help fund a specific item or part of the project's work
- See the difference you make in emails direct from the project

For more information on the project or for further details on how to donate and help make a difference to a young child's life visit http://my.actionforchildren.org.uk/