There are now some great new additions to the Present Aid virtual gifts shop. From chickens, to flood kits. From juggling clubs to a doctor’s salary for a month. This year find a gift to suit everyone at www.presentaid.org.

Each Present Aid gift has its own unique value. For example 16 ducks can help families recovering from the effects or the devastation of floods to become self-sufficient. A tap, toilet and sink will provide clean piped water, transforming the lives of poor families in India.

This year get a little bit more!

With every order over £40 receive a FREE 2010 calendar.

A revolutionary approach to delivering humanitarian aid to disaster areas introduced by Advance Aid can boost local economies in developing countries, cut costs threefold and reduce carbon emissions by 58 times.

Research by Cardiff Business School (CBS) published today reveals how delivering aid to disaster areas could become more sustainable.

Currently, up to 60% of the estimated $12bn annual budget of disaster relief is spent in Africa. But less than 10% of the products supplied are made there, with the rest being delivered from outside Africa – largely from China and India, but also from Europe and even North America – after a disaster has occurred.

The CBS research shows that Advance Aid’s model of the emergency relief supply chain is more efficient and cost effective than conventional methods.

Advance Aid, a new non-governmental organisation, introduces a proactive model for disaster relief supply. It focuses on the sustainable development of high-risk regions, such as Africa. Advance Aid advocates producing emergency relief goods in the areas where disasters are most likely to happen and storing them locally at all times. This will create local jobs, cut spending on aid and significantly reduce the carbon footprint currently generated by aid agencies that have to fly in relief aid from overseas.

Using four key performance indicators – lead times, supply chain vulnerability, total costs and carbon footprint – CBS focused on one essential emergency relief item, tarpaulin, and analysed the way it is currently being supplied to disaster areas. CBS then compared the standard method of supplying aid against Advance Aid’s model and found the latter to be more efficient.

Betty Maina, chief executive of the Kenya Manufacturers Assocation said: “As the body tasked with promoting competitive local manufacturing, we did not need to be convinced that manufacturing emergency relief materials for Africa in Africa was a good idea. It is very encouraging to see that academic research supports this. I am delighted that Advance Aid’s is planning to establish its first hub in Kenya.”

George Fenton, Chairman of the Humanitarian Logistics Association, said: “I strongly believe that the humanitarian sector has a lot to learn from the highly sophisticated approach taken to logistics by the commercial world. I think the lessons that can be learned from the Cardiff Business School report will be taken to heart by the humanitarian sector – indeed, in many cases they are already being acted upon.”

David Dickie, Director of Advance Aid, said: “I was not surprised by the results of the Cardiff work, as they confirmed all of the anecdotal stories that I have heard over the past two years. But it is still striking to see these results in black and white. Their methodology exposed many of the flaws in the current supply chains which we can fix with local production.”

David Taylor, Senior Research Fellow at Cardiff Business School, said: “Value Chain Analysis (VCA), which is based on the Lean principles developed by Toyota, has been employed here to provide a systematic and quantified evaluation of existing models of supplying aid into Africa compared to the alternative of local manufacture and pre-positioned stock holding. VCA techniques are now widely used by leading edge organisations in the commercial sector, but to the best of my knowledge this project is the first application of these techniques in the humanitarian sector.”

www.advanceaid.org 

According
to latest research, over 60% of British people do not have a Will and that
those most in need of a Will are least likely to have one – these
include, those with dependents, in particular children, step children and
children from previous relationships; those who are separated but not divorced
and those who live together without being married or in a civil partnership.

It
appears that there is a lack of knowledge and certainly confusion about what
actually happens when someone dies without a Will. The deceased’s estate
is distributed according to the rules of intestacy, which may well not deliver
the outcome the deceased would have wished for. The same outcome applies if a
Will cannot be found. According to Certainty the national Will Register, 67% of
people do not know where their parent’s Will is kept. (Source: Certainty
consumer survey 2008)

The
charity Will-writing campaign, Will Aid, which runs in November, provides the
perfect opportunity for people to put their affairs in order by writing a Will
with a qualified solicitor and, instead of paying the solicitor’s usual
fee, making a donation to the Will Aid charities. The 2008 campaign raised £1
million in donations and £5.4 million in legacy pledges to the Will Aid
charities. In addition, many other charities and good causes were promised
legacies worth millions.

Now
thanks to its partnership with Certainty national Will Register, Will Aid is
able to offer Will-makers additional peace of mind with free Will registration
(usual coast £28.75) so that their legitimate beneficiaries will be able to
find the Will when necessary.

Those
wishing to gain peace of mind and the assurance that their wishes are carried
out after death should act now to take advantage of Will Aid and the free
Certainty offer. The next step is to contact a convenient Will Aid solicitor
and make an appointment for November. Participating solicitors can be found at www.willaid.org.uk
or by calling the hotline 0300 0300 013.

This
Christmas, Present Aid offers an alternative gift for
chocoholics that is not only calorie
free but also helps poor
farmers
cope with the impact of climate change.

The
chocolate kit, which costs £47 from Christian Aid’s virtual gift
service,
consists of cocoa seedlings and training for
Nicaraguan farmers to help them adapt to global warming by switching
from
growing coffee to cocoa that strives in hot climates.

Fourteen
million people worldwide
depend upon
cocoa for their livelihoods,
almost
90 per cent  of whom are on small family-run farms in developing
countries. Aurora Picado, 45
year
old coffee farmer, said: ‘We just used to grow coffee, now we grow
bananas and
cocoa. Everyone has seen their coffee harvest fall… If it is very hot,
the
plants get many diseases. That is why cocoa is a good alternative. It
likes a
hot climate.’

Other
new Present Aid gifts include a soap making kit from Burkina Faso for £13, equipment that helps women make
high quality
soap to sell; a flooding survival kit in Central America for £20; a nutritious meal for
80 children in Bangladesh for
only
£10; and a school kit for
£22
consisting of exercise books, pencils, pens, and erasers for 30 students for
one year. The Present Aid catalogue and website www.presentaid.org
contain 40 gift ideas, ranging in price from £5 to £1,400.

Ruth
Ruderham,
Christian Aid’s Head of Fundraising, said: ‘Through Present Aid, people
can
purchase unusual and meaningful gifts that make a lasting difference to
some of
the poorest communities in
the world’

As
a Present Aid buyer you receive a card with more
information about the gift
you have
‘bought’ which you can send to your loved one you have bought the
present for, and the actual
gift goes to help someone in a poor
country. The money goes to one of the following
project funds relevant to the gift from where it gets distributed to
Christian
Aid partner organizations:

-         
agriculture
and
livestock

-         
emergency
and
disaster preparedness

-         
healthcare
inc.
HIV/Aids

-         
training
and
education

-         
water
and
environment

The
deadline for Christmas gift
purchases is 15 December. Call 0845 3300 500 to order
a catalogue.

European Commission proposals about how poor countries should be
helped financially to deal with climate change show a ‘serious lack of
ambition’ says Christian Aid.

The Commission said that EU should provide poor countries with
between €2 -15bn annually for both adapting to climate change, and
reducing emissions. Christian Aid and other climate justice campaigners say the
figure should be €35bn a year.

Nelson Muffuh, advocacy coordinator at Christian Aid, said:
‘If this figure is accepted, the goal of limiting global warming to 2^oC
becomes ever more remote.

‘Pollution
from rich countries is already having devastating effects in developing
countries, through droughts, floods and tropical storms. Rich countries have to
face up to their historic responsibility for the emissions that have caused
climate change.’

Christian Aid also criticised the EC’s proposals as relying
too heavily on the carbon market to raise the money. The market, it said, does
not guarantee reliable financial flows and has earlier proved to disadvantage
the poorest nations because of a lack of interest in investing in those
countries.

The charity also attacked an annex to the commission’s
proposal which said some of the money could come from official development
assistance (ODA).

‘This is alarming,’ said Muffuh. ‘In the short
term they seem to want to rely totally on ODA for adaptation support which
threatens the poverty eradication objectives of developing countries by
diverting already meagre resources.

‘For the crucial UN climate change negotiations in Copenhagen
in December to stand any chance of success, industrialised countries must
strongly commit to providing substantial funding to cover the full incremental
costs for sustainable development and adaptation to climate change in
developing countries.

‘Many poorer nations are disappointed at the lack of EU
leadership. After decades of broken aid promises, the trust gap between rich
and poor countries, which it is essential to bridge if we are to counter
climate change, simply widens.

One positive aspect was the EC’s proposal that a specific
climate fund be set up under the UN Convention. ‘This is a good
initiative that we would like to see elaborated further since it would not be a
donor controlled fund,’ said Muffuh.                                                   

Busting
the myths about sun protection – from Lucy Rose of www.lucyrose.biz

With a bit of luck Summer might be just
around the corner, and as we are collectively so passionate about a
natural and organic approach to our lifestyles, it’s a good job
that we can rely on some of the top organic beauty brands to provide
us with safe and effective SPF protection so that we can make the
most of the sun’s rays.

But understanding the array of sun
products that are available can be a tall order, even within the
organic sector. Especially when you take into account recent
recommended changes to labelling and to the ratio of UVA versus UVB
protection.

This is designed to be a
straightforward guide to unravelling some of the common myths,
misconceptions and complex science relating to sun care in the hope
that you will be able to relax safe in the knowledge that you are
slapping on the best protection for you and your family.

Read on to find out the facts!

• UVA or UVB?

UVA protection is more important in
preventing long term skin damage than UVB protection

UVA radiation penetrates deep under the
skin’s surface and is responsible for long-term cell damage
including premature ageing and skin cancer. UVB radiation causes sun
burn and therefore warns the body that it has been in the sun for too
long. It is really important to ensure that your sun lotion has
adequate UVA protection as well as UVB. New recommendations suggest
that the ratio of UVA to UVB protection should be 1:3.

• How effective are SPFs?

SPF 30 does not offer double the
protection of SPF 15

SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor
and only measures the amount of UVB protection provided by a sun
screen (not UVA). So for example, an SPF 15 will protect you against
roughly 93% of UVB rays while an SPF 30 protects you against
approximately 97% UVB – you are therefore only achieving a marginal
increase in UVB protection with the higher SPFs. It is more
important to reapply the sun screen every 2-3 hours, or after
swimming or wiping with a towel, to provide effective protection from
the sun’s rays.

• Should I worry about nano
  particles?

Nano particles in 100% natural
mineral sunscreens are completely safe to use

Yes, organic sun lotions do contain
nano-particles which in synthetic products cause concern for two
reasons: they can penetrate the skin and enter the body and they can
cause the formation of free-radicals when exposed to UV light.
However, the good news is that for 100% natural mineral sunscreens,
the nano-particles are covered in a film which prevents them from
being exposed to UV light and once combined with the cream base, they
will also be unable to penetrate the deeper layers of the skin.

• Will I be safe in the shade or
  when it’s cloudy?

The sun’s rays can still be
damaging regardless of cloudy or shady conditions

Make sure you are protected from the
sun even if it’s cloudy or you are in the shade – up to 40% of
the sun’s rays can still break through even in shady conditions -
and the rays are just as strong through the cloud.

• What’s good for you

The right protection for you will
depend on your skin type, the strength of the sun, your age e.g.
adult, child or baby, the climate, the location e.g. in the sea, in
the desert or up mountains, the season and the time of day.

To be on the safe side, if in doubt,
wear protective clothing, avoid the sun or sun bathing at the hottest
times of the day and remember to keep applying a 100% natural sun
screen.

• Five good reasons to go natural

Natural mineral sunscreens work well
because

1. They act as a natural filter using
   mineral ingredients such as titanium dioxide

2. They begin to work immediately
   after application

3. The UVA and UVB rays are reflected
   rather than absorbed

4. They won’t cause any skin
   irritation

5. And last, but not least, they are
   waterproof.

If you’ve any further questions about
organic sun care, you can email/speak to the experts at Lucy Rose
(www.lucyrose.biz)
who provide an extensive selection of organic sun care products,
including Lavera and Green People, hand-picked because of their
authenticity, safety and effectiveness.

We hope that your overall enjoyment of
the sun will be enhanced by the comfort of knowing you are fully
protected by totally natural, organic and beautiful sun products. So
here’s to happy times in the sunshine and a long hot summer!

Habitat Aid is an ecommerce retailer selling high quality products, mostly plants and seeds, which enhance or regenerate our vanishing native habitats. Half of the profits it makes go to specialist charities working to protect and promote biodiversity in Britain.
As well as raising money we hope to inform, by linking each product to a relevant charity. The charities we are working with include the British Beekeepers’ Association, Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Butterfly Conservation, the Grasslands Trust, Froglife, the Bird Observatory Council, National Hedgelayers’ Association, and the Hawk and Owl Trust.
More information : info@habitataid

Press
release

May
1st 2009

Conscientious
bargain hunters pledge support to JumbleAID.com – the website that
recycles ‘stuff’ while raising money for charity

A
website that combines the ethos of Freecycle with raising money for
charity is proving popular with those looking to bag a
‘conscientious’ bargain during the recession.

www.jumbleaid.com
was launched last November and aims to find new homes for unwanted
possessions while raising money for charity.

The
website is free to join and simple to use: you
suggest an amount to be donated in return for your ‘Gifts’ and
choose the charity to which you want the money to be passed on to.

There
are over 25,000 UK charities to choose from or you can nominate your
own preferred charity. Items can be found via the keyword or category
search and ‘wanted’ ads can be placed if you are looking for
something specific.

Items
posted on the site range from the usual jumble sale stuff (toys,
games and household goods) to the more unusual – a Ford Escort, a
Table Tennis table and paving stones have all exchanged hands in
return for donations.

Each
item is listed by location so you can look for stuff close to home to
save on delivery costs. Registered users are based across the UK from
Edinburgh to Cornwall with the largest community group currently
being West Yorkshire. To date, the oldest user is 83 and the youngest
18.

Since
launching, JumbleAID has donated money to 23 different charities
ranging from Barnardo’s to the Donkey Sanctuary Devon. The average
donation for an item is £15.26 and due to the website’s unique
set-up, none of the payment goes to JumbleAID but goes directly into
a Charities Trust Account¹
who add GiftAid where applicable and distribute the funds, less
transaction charges, to the nominated charities.

According
to JumbleAID if only 1% of the adult population of the UK were to put
one item a month on to the website and the average donation was just
£2, over £10 million per year would be raised for charity. An
average donation of £5 could generate over £25 million.

The team
behind JumbleAID include co-founders of internet service provider
Freeserve, Ajaz Ahmed and Rob Wilmot, Channel 4 ‘Secret
Millionaire’ Carl Hopkins, and Simon Pailin and Colin Feeley, two
business associates who had the original idea for the website two
years ago.

Simon
says: “In the current economic climate, people are starting to turn
their backs on the ‘throwaway society’ we have become accustomed
to. JumbleAID.com is a
simple idea and perhaps that’s why people ‘get it’ and want to
support it. It
is a perpetual jumble event hosted by a virtual community with a
conscience. We expect to see an increasing number of visitors in the
next few months as people start to reject materialism and look for
alternative solutions.”

• ENDS-

Issued
on behalf of JumbleAID.com by Faith PR. For further details or to
arrange interviews with the JumbleAID founding partners, please
contact Stefanie Hopkins on 07809 484978/ 01484 716244 or email
Stefanie@faith-pr.co.uk.

Editor’s
Notes

The
JumbleAID founding team includes:

Simon
Pailin – Marketing, advertising and design professional

Colin
Feeley – Web developer

Nadio
Granata – Marketing professional and university lecturer

Carl
Hopkins – Business and Social entrepreneur

Ajaz
Ahmed – Internet entrepreneur

Rob
Wilmot – Internet entrepreneur

Rob
Wilmot and Ajaz Ahmed were the team behind the Freeserve phenomenon.

Carl
Hopkins sold his marketing agency JDA in June 2007. He is now a
serial entrepreneur, investor and marketing ‘guru’. Carl recently
appeared on Channel 4’s popular philanthropy show, The Secret
Millionaire.

What
other people have said about JumbleAID.com:

Pauline
Lambert – NSCAN

“This
seems a really good way to support charities and contributing to
protecting the environment – funding from recycling, less waste so
protection for the environment”

Annette
Humphrey – World Vision UK

“Great
idea! We don’t have charity shops so a cyber-market is a whole new
opportunity to raise additional funds – for free too!!”

Keith
Ballard- OLSJ Catholic Arts College

“Sounds
like a really great idea – ethical and practical.”

Andrea
Beer – Goodwin Development Trust

“An
excellent way to raise funds, especially for the smaller charities
that don’t have the marketing budgets of the major players.”

Phil
Beckett – The Nerve Centre

“A
great idea – and excellent fund raising idea for smaller charities.”

Emma
Fox – Diabetes UK (Northern & Yorkshire)

“This
is a brilliant idea I am sure it will really take off !!!”

Cate
Birch – Freelance Fundraiser

“What
a fantastic idea – will be forwarding details to all my contacts and
encouraging them to join in.”

Emma
Dickens -Sheffield Hospitals Charitable Trust

“We’d
like to be one of the first charities on board with this scheme, as
we think it will help us reach a whole new market of supporters.”

Peter
Jones – Beatbullying

“Brilliant
idea. Wish you the very best of luck with this.”

www.jumbleaid.com

1
Charities Trust is a registered charity and the country’s second
largest HM Customs & Revenues approved Payroll Giving Agency.
They process all donations, adding GiftAid where applicable and
distribute the funds, less transaction charges, to the nominated
charities.

A
New Start / Potential Plus Network Conference
Manchester,
21st May 2009

This
Masterclass focuses on the use of NLP to enhance daily interactions
with others, to create a step change in the functioning of social
enterprises, community and voluntary organisations.

NLP
(neuro-linguistic programming) is recognised as the premier ‘people
change’ discipline across many diverse fields of endeavour. 
From sporting success to sales and marketing, from board rooms to
family therapy; NLP has been used successfully for decades to help
people to be the best they can be.

Potential Plus Network’s
consultants have been working to apply NLP principles in their work
in the social enterprise and regeneration sector for many years, with
notable successes in the UK and beyond.  They are now working
closely with New Start to offer masterclasses sharing their success
principles with other regeneration practitioners.

This
masterclass focuses on the use of NLP to enhance daily interactions
with others, to create a step change in the functioning of groups,
communities and organisations.

The masterclass will provide an
introduction to some of the underlying principles of NLP, and a
chance for all participants to begin to experience the power of
applying these through interactive learning situations. 
Participants will also take away a suite of practical tools they can
apply in their own workplaces.

Feedback from
participants in past New Start / Potential Plus masterclasses was
overwhelmingly excellent.  Here are just a few of the things
people said:

“It can be applied to my workplace, I will use
in meetings, planning sessions, away days, self reflection,
workshops” (Project Manager, Regeneration Partnership)

“Well
thought through and delivered” (Regeneration Strategic Resources
Manager, City Council)

“I have learnt a lot and will use a
range of techniques when working with students and community groups”
(Executive Director, Training Programme)

“I feel confident
that my productivity will be enhanced and also my people management
skills” (Trustee, Regeneration Programme)

“It was good,
enjoyable, informative” (Project Director, regeneration
programme)

“Thank you for organising a very useful event”
(Capital Projects officer, New Deal for Communities Programme)

Each
delegate will also receive a copy of the NLP Principles Toolkit. 
This includes information about how to apply the principles in your
daily work and a suite of practical tools which you can start using
immediately.

NLP
Principles for Social Entrepreneurs – the Every Day Makes a
Difference Toolkit
New
Start and Potential Plus have now run 4 successful events about using
the tools and techniques of NLP in our sector, and have also
developed the comprehensive Every Day Makes a Difference Toolkit,
which provides you with a suite of ready-made tools for use in
regeneration work you can start using immediately.

The
toolkit includes:

• A
  wide range of practical tools for practitioners

• Photocopyable
  pages to use on your own, with your teams and with partners

• Ideas
  and case studies of how the tools can be used in practice

• A
  further reading list for people who want to expand their knowledge
  of NLP

Every
delegate will receive a copy of the Toolkit as part of their delegate
fee.
 
Join us on 21st May and experience the difference
NLP can make for you and your social business. 
Book online
at www.nlpconferences.co.uk

This
Christian
Aid Week, 10 to 16 May, 300,000
volunteers will pound the pavements of the UK distributing thirteen
million red envelopes and helping to raise £15m for poor communities
in the developing world. Thousands of fundraising events will take
place throughout the week, from the charity’s nationwide
fundraising event QUIZAID
to quirky local initiatives like the 61 year old vicar from Brackley
who will be joining a group of leathered bikers on a sponsored road
run.  If
you haven’t got involved yet, there’s still time! QUIZAID
 - supported this year by soap star Kara Tointon – is taking
place up and down the country, in living rooms, pubs, community halls
and churches, and hopes to raise around £225,000. To find your
nearest QUIZAID
event or local fundraiser this Christian Aid Week log on to
www.caweek.org
and type in your postcode. Or if you’d simply like to make a
donation go to
www.caweek.org
 On her return from a trip in
Zambia with Christian Aid, Kara said: ‘‘it’s really important
to get involved and get quizzing this Christian Aid Week. It doesn’t’
cost much to enter but it can make a huge difference. Having seen
some of Christian Aid’s work myself in Zambia,
where I saw children who have been orphaned by HIV given homes and
care, I know how vital this money is.’