Category: Charity

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Charity: Are you brave enough to let your child style you for a day on 10th June 2016?

I often get asked to help publicise events for charities, and I do pick some to share with you all, especially where I think they’re relevant to much of my audience.   The UK’s largest breast cancer charity asked me to write about a new fundraising event they have coming up in a few days…

Style a Child 1

The Very First Styled By a Child Day, is on Friday 10th June 2016.  

What that means, is having some fun with your child, and letting them give you a makeover, which they’ve styled in their own taste, after rooting through your wardrobe.  And you remain like that for the day.  It could be a fun challenge for some of you.  I remember one of my boys doing my make up when he was three.  Going on the school run like that, would have raised some eyebrows, for sure.  Mine are too old for this now, but many of you might enjoy getting involved.

Style a Child 2

Why?

To raise money for Breast Cancer Now, and help fund research into the disease, to help them achieve their aim, that by 2050, nobody will die from breast cancer.

How?

Style a Child 4

Let your kids choose your clothes, accessories, and even make-up, if you’re brave enough to let them.

Family and friends, as well as relatives and neighbours might be tempted to sponsore them, in a bid to see you look silly for a day.  Who knows, your child might send you out looking like a supermodel with a ballgown for a day.

This is the first year of the event, so they’re encouraging signups for the day on 10th June.

Themes – Some Ideas from Breast Cancer Now

Fashion face off – up the style stakes and challenge your friends, family or mums on the school run to take part and see which kid-adult team can create the wildest look for the most donations. Marks out of ten, please!

Strike a pose – so we promised you’d only have to dress up for a day, but we never promised there wouldn’t be proof you’d been styled by a child! Strike a pose and ask your nearest and dearest to pay for photographic evidence… or even a profile picture.

Kid’s catwalk – invite friends and family over in their own stylish creations and strut your stuff for the kids in a living room fashion show. Fundraising never looked so good.

Relive your childhood – throw a kids party… for adults! The kids are in charge of your wardrobe, so why not let them plan the party? Swap coffee and cake for party ring biscuits, balloons and party bags.

Finger foods of fun – secretly wish your lunch box was still full of sausage rolls and strawberry jelly? Let the kids pack your lunch for a day and indulge in the lunch of your youth, guilt-free! Then donate the money you would have spent on your grown-up lunch.

Do a dare – why should the kids have all the fun? Adults can get silly too by making a list of (very) public places to send you in the outfit… Whether it’s the local shop, the office or even your favourite restaurant, prepare to be dared!

Dare to let the kids choose what you wear? The challenge is simple: for one day only, the kids are in charge of your wardrobe.

Whether you’re a model mum, designer dad, a gran that can or an auntie with attitude, sign-up to look funny for money and help fund research that will save lives.

For more information or to sign up for Styled by a Child visit – http://breastcancernow.org/styled

Social Media

Support Styled By a Child on social media, encouraging everybody to get #StyledbyaChild – tag @bcnow_scotland on Twitter.

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Safer Internet Day 2015 #SID2015

If we’ve been on the internet for any length of time, we’ve all done it.  Either we’ve said something we did not really mean, or someone has been mean to us, or called us names, or been downright nasty.  We could have seen things we wished we’d never known existed and it can seriously put a damper on a day if something upsetting catches our eye.  And that’s for us as adults.  How much worse is it for children to be exposed to the same things, with their immature emotional state?

Today is safer internet day for 2015.

I know, I know, you’re all probably sighing and reaching for the big back button at the top of the screen, but being safer online is a responsibility of us all.

The Safer Internet Centre in the UK is co-ordinating help to promote the safe, responsible and positive use of technology for our children and young people.

The theme is: Let’s Create a Better Internet Together.

It’s celebrated by over a hundred countries, and supported by the European Commission, but what is it?

Raising Awareness

The day is mean to highlight positive uses of technology, to create a safer online community.  The responsibility falls on us as parents, carers, teachers, social workers, and everyone else, to make the internet a safer place for our children.

Youth Leading The Way

According to Safer Internet, around 30% of 11-16 year olds have experienced some forms of unpleasant behaviour online in the last year, and also explains what they love about going on the internet.

A new film #Up2Us, created by schoolchildren tells us about their own experiences online and inspires young people to do something kind today.

Social Internet Day TV Today

Visit the online channel today at 11am to see Molly and Harvey from CBBC’s Friday Download Show.  I’m hoping to get my kids to watch it on catchup after school.

Social Media

At 8am today, there was a mass tweet, using the hashtag #SID2015, with over 800 organisations agreeing to take part.  That’s an awesome target.  As a parent, I’ve watched my children talking to friends online who acted very unfriendly, even making fake accounts and using those to be nasty to classmates, anonymously of course.  The upset it causes to the people they target is unnecessary and distressing for the children involved.  It’s easy for us to say, ignore the haters and delete those accounts, but for children, that’s a very difficult thing to do.

I have to admit to being a little disappointed that none of my local schools seemed to take this on board.  I think these are great ways to interact with our kids and share important learning, but as parents, we can bridge that gap where we can.

The internet is a wonderful and scary place to be.  Let’s try and make it safer for our kids, by teaching them to be kind to each other online.

AT 8pm, Bars & Melody are taking over the Safer Internet Day Twitter Account for a question and answer session about why the safer internet day is important to them and what their views are on being kind and safe online.  Join in the chat by using the hashtag #SIDTV.

Here’s the Safer Internet Day Programme for today.

Safer Internet DAy

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Wear It, Beat It. British Heart Foundation – Heart Month

Did you know our hearts beat around 100,000 times a day?  That’s a lot of work for one muscle to do.  It pumps around 23,000 litres of blood around our bodies in a day and just keeps on working away in the background.  We’re rarely even aware that it’s doing anything at all.

Red Heart

Today’s the day to raise awareness.  Wear as much red as you can and support the British Heart Foundation.  If anyone asks why you’re wearing red, tell them it’s to raise awareness of looking after your heart.

February is heart month.  It’s not surprising with Valentine’s Day in the wings, but how many of us take our hearts for granted?  I know I do.

This month, show your heart some love.   Sign up to the British Heat Foundation 10 Minute Challenge and celebrate by wearing something red, or discover how to keep your own heart happy and healthy.

There will be one simple challenge sent to your inbox each day for ten days.  Each challenge takes a maximum of ten minutes to complete.

Take The British Heart Foundation Ten Minute Challenge

or

Take The British Heart Foundation Wordplace Ten Minute Challenge

On the website, are booklets and guides to help you improve the health of your heart, covering topics like moving, eating, quitting smoking, lowering stress, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, as well as managing diabetes.

What are you waiting for?

If you’d like to donate to the British Heart Foundation, you can Text ‘RED’ to 70060 to donate £3 to help fund research.

 

 

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Charity Guest Post: Would You Like To Start 2015 Changing A Life? Volunteer For Guide Dogs

Did you know that 180,000 people who are blind or partially sighted rarely leave home alone? At Guide Dogs we are committed to change this and we need your help to do so.

Besides training guide dogs, we offer other services that contribute to change the life of blind and sighted people in Scotland.

We are currently looking for volunteers in Aberdeen and the surrounding areas to fulfil central roles: Puppy Walkers and My Guide.

Whether you have a couple of hours per week or are available full-time, your can make an enormous difference on people’s life.

Would you like to help us?

If you are free full-time, maybe you’d be interested in becoming a volunteer Puppy Walker?

Guide Dogs 1

A Puppy Walker is a challenging yet very rewarding role. You’ll be welcoming at home a puppy and helping them live different experiences that will give them the confidence to be a super guide dog in the near future.

Thanks to your help, this puppy will become a guide dog that will give to a blind or partially sighted the confidence to enjoy of the same freedom of movement as everyone else.

If you are working but have a couple of hours free, maybe you would to become a volunteer My Guide?

Guide Dogs 2

As My Guide you will be supporting a person who is blind or partially sighted for a couple of hours to go out. You’ll be receiving training and on-going support as you are carefully matched to a local person who is blind or partially sighted.

Your local staff are there to answer any questions or help as needed.

If you are interested in finding out more about the roles of Puppy Walker or My Guide, why not have a chat with Emma our Volunteer Consultant at the Edinburgh Mobility Team?

We look forward to hearing from you soon and see how you can help Guide Dogs make a real difference in Scotland.

Contact us:

emma.murton@guidedogs.org.uk

0845 372 7406
Visit our website http://www.guidedogs.org.uk/

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Guest Post: Parenting Across Scotland – Top Tips Resources

We all know that being a parent is extremely rewarding. But there are many decisions, concerns and worries that often come in to play along the way – starting at birth and continuing right through to the teenage years.

This is why Parenting Across Scotland, a partnership of charities working together to provide a focus for issues and concerns affecting parents and families, has created resources that offer a ‘one-stop-shop’ for parents.

Parenting Across Scotland

The charity has produced a range of six ‘top ten tips’ booklets for key stages in a child’s life – easy, digestible key pieces of information to help parents on their journey.

The resources aim to give parents key advice on topics such as sleep for babies, playing with your child, starting primary school, starting high school and teenagers.

Working in partnership with various organisations such as Sleep Scotland, Play Scotland and Healthy Respect, the charity’s tips provide a great starting point for any parent looking for a bit of friendly guidance.

Clare Simpson, Project Manager at Parenting Across Scotland, said: “We know that parents across the country all want to do what’s best for their children. Parenting doesn’t come with an instruction manual so parents are going to have concerns and questions at different stages of their child’s life – it’s only natural, and healthy.”

She added: “With so much information out there about what to do and what not to do it can be hugely overwhelming. With our ‘top tips’ resources we’ve drilled all this information down to focus on key pieces of bite size advice to make everything much simpler. We’ve chosen topics that we know from experience raise a lot of questions from parents.”

As well as offering advice the tips also offer reassurance.

One parent from Edinburgh who has used the resource for teenagers said: “Every time I hear my teenager’s bedroom door slam I think of the tips and remember ‘conflict is normal’ – it just gives me a minute to calm down.”

The full list of top tip topics include:

  • Sleep: babies and toddlers – covering routines, helping your child to settle themselves.
  • Starting primary school (also available in an ‘easy read’ version) – visiting the school, encouragement.
  • Starting high school – talking and listening, physical changes.
  • Child’s play – messy play, outdoor play.
  • Parenting teenagers – conflict, respecting their views.
  • Sex, relationships and teenagers – being truthful and honest, sharing stories.

The resources are completely free and can be downloaded from the Parenting Across Scotland website:

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Awareness: Children’s Food Crisis In South Sudan

This month, UNICEF are campaigning to raise awareness of the current food crisis in South Sudan.

Meet Nyakhat

She is three years old.  Yes, that is a tiny three years old.  She’s not much more than a baby, yet she led her blind father for four hours to find a UNICEF relief centre to find food.

She’s my heroine of the year.

southsudan

In the South Sudan, there are around 50,000 children at risk.  Think about that.  I know how I would feel if I were facing the prospect of not being able to put a hot meal on the table for my boys.  Or actually, any meal at all.  It must be devastating for the parents, the children and the whole extended families.

Around three million children in the South Sudan have faced need of humanitarian assistance.  That’s over half of all the people who live in Scotland alone.  They struggle with basic needs as a result of decades of civil war.

550,000 children have been displaced.  That means they are living in the open, just as the rainy season begins.  Cholera has begun to break out and parents must be at their wits end.  It really brings home how lucky we are in the Western world, with our basic need for food and shelter met.

Displaced Women

The civil war has meant that South Sudan’s agriculture has not able to flourish.   Crops are not being planted and food is becoming more and more scarce.

I found it frightening that UNICEF reported on the possibility of 4 million people starving by the end of the year, and 50,000 children likely to die.

What is UNICEF Doing?

UNICEF is in South Sudan, working to help the children with care and resources to survive.  Along with their partners, they have screened more than 60,000 children against malnutrition and immunised more than 260,000 against measles.

UNICEF would like to give hygiene kits and safe water for cooking and drinking, for 450,000 people.  It’s an ambitious target and one that needs help to succeed.  How much value do we place on our own ability to have freedom to play and find the families they have often been separated from?  I don’t know how anyone can put a value on that.

Feel free to give whatever you can.

  • Australia
  • UK

£8 could give an emergency water kit for a family.

Just £5 could help give life-saving food for a child for a week.

I am grateful for just how lucky we are as a family.

 

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Talk Pants With Your Kids

Talk Pants With Your KidsI was asked to be involved with the underwear campaign for the NSPCC who held a Google hang out.  I couldn’t make the hangout, but I did commit to raising the issue on my blog.

Personally, I think parents and carers often leave it far too late to start talking to kids about the parts of their bodies that are off limits to other people.

The NSPCC stated that there has been a 16% rise in reported cases of sexual abuse of under-11s reported to the police in 2013-2014.   If those are the cases reported, I would imagine that there are many more that are NOT reported.  With that in mind, we all have to think how we can try to help our children to help themselves stay safe. In reality, we cannot be three feet from our children at all times, and they do need information at young ages to know what is ok and what is not ok.

The Underwear Rule Is A GOOD Thing

As hard as it is to talk to youngsters about what is private and what is not, we need to take responsibility for empowering our children with the knowledge that their bodies are private. The NSPCC also states that at least 1 in 5 of all recorded sexual offences against children are against those too young for secondary school.

Talking to Children Aged 5 – 11

The NSPCC has launched this phase of the campaign to encourage parents of children aged 5 – 11, to talk to them and help them understand how to keep themselves safe from sexual abuse.  The whole point of the campaign is to have simple and easy conversations.

The Campaign Video “Spare Parts” gives you some idea of possible simple terms that children can relate to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72Sh-wjmdzw&feature=youtu.be

Talking Pants 

It’s important to remember that talking pants is just the beginning.  The NSPCC campaign is a start, but it isn’t something we can say once, and then forget as children have a short memory for things that don’t interest them, and to be honest, talking pants with kids is boring for them or might make them just giggle.

Parents need to take the lead role in this, and not expect schools to do all the work.   The NSPCC have supporing materials for parents and give us plenty of guidance with their guide called “Talk PANTS”

The Rules 

  • Privates are private.
  • Always remember your body belongs to you.
  • No means no.
  • Talk about secrets that upset you.
  • Speak up, someone can help.

Special Needs

Getting the message through to my special needs child is really not easy, but hopefully we will get there eventually.

He trusts everyone and no-one, but is fairly open about his body and really doesn’t think there is anything to be worried about.  He goes to respite and is looked after by people outside of my control, so this is a very important lesson for him to learn, even at an age where talking pants is past the point of being helpful for young adults.

The knock on effect is that this learned behaviour will follow him in other settings where he is with new adults or ones that we don’t really know, and for respite, we really don’t know the people who are looking after our family members.

Parents and carers tend to avoid or just not talk about private parts in case the words used end up being spouted at full volume while they are in a kids playground, but for the safety of our special needs children, they really do need to have the same conversations and knowledge as any other vulnerable person, but in a very simple fashion.

At the age of 11 last year in a French swimming pool, a girl eating a hotdog slipped and the hotdog flew up in the air and bounced off him and his trunks – dollops of tomato ketchup and all.  With around 100 people in the immediate vicinity, he instantly whipped off his trunks in full view of everyone before picking up a towel to cover himself.

Because of that incident, we talk underwear at every shower time now.  I just mention it as I put down the towels and make sure the water isn’t too scalding for him.  Most of the time he isn’t interested, but I know that deep down the memory is being planted for him, even if he doesn’t answer me, and I really trust that the memory will come back when it’s really needed, to help him know what is appropriate and what is not.   

By learned behaviour, he is now covering himself up to go into the shower and closing the door to get dressed so it is thankfully sinking in – even if he gives me no reaction whatsoever when I talk about it.  

Find Out More

Visit the website for more information.  NSPCC – The Underwear Rule

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Child’s Book Review: Max Goes To School

A new book has been published that provides a lasting tribute to a fantastically courageous schoolboy who lived in Aberdeen.

Sadly, Max lost his life at the very young age of 11, which is the same age as my middle special needs child.  I didn’t know Max, but I can understand that it would be so difficult to think of something that would provide a future memory, so I applaud Max’s family for finding a special and personal way to share his life in a fun and happy way.

Max had a serious heart infection that led to a aneurysm after being diagnosed with DiGeorge syndrome as a child.

Despite surgery within a few weeks of birth, Max Lechner lived a full and happy life.  He attended Cults Primary School where he was a popular pupil and friend.

The book is called “Max Goes To School.”

Max Goes To School

When it arrived, my youngest child immediately picked it up, read it and chuckled all the way through.  The book was written by Max’s aunt Nicky Bakonyi and the pictures were created by Michael Mucci.

Darcy Bussel CBE, said “You will fall in love with Max, a child who will, without fail, make you smile, and a personality you will never forget.

The book was launched on the 28th August by family and friends of Max and is a very light hearted story of a typical day with Max playing the leading role.

It is a children’s book and is a really good read and is very appropriate for all children as it is really a lovely, funny and heartwarming tale all the way through, from Max chasing his pet mouse Bertie to wolfing down a huge stack of pancakes.   I wonder who Mr Smithereens is, and if he is happy with his cartoon character !!

maxpancakes

The book is funny, it’s clever and it’s a great story that will appeal to all children.

The proceeds from the book will be divided among four good causes.

  • Max Appeal – giving support to those with DiGeorge syndrome.
  • Ronald McDonald Home – accommodation at Yorkhill and other children’s hospitals in the UK and around the world.
  • Yorkhill Children’s Charity – supporting Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow where Max received specialist tratement.
  • Humpty Dumpty Foundation in Sydney.

With all our support and buying a book that would be a great Christmas stocking filler, the book will support children in the chosen charities.

The book is available at Waterstones and John Lewis in Aberdeen and can be easily sourced in the North East and Glasgow.

To buy online, the book is available from e-bay for £5.99, or find out more information about Max at www.maxgoestoschool.com

It’s really really good and hopefully it is the start of a whole series for our kids to enjoy.

Disclaimer:  We were provided with a copy of Max Goes To School but were under no obligation to write about it.  I’d like to thank the PR for the book as it is actually very lovely and it is well appreciated by us.

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5 Things to Remember when Baking with Kids

This is a guest post from Chris who writes for one of the child sponsorship charities, World Vision UK..   I’m already linked to World Vision as one of the bloggers who does a sponsor share for a child through their sponsorship scheme.  You can find out more about what we bloggers did for that here.   Interestingly, Chris has chosen to blog about baking with our kids.

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cherry cake slice

Baking with kids should be many things, fun, entertaining, enjoyable and should hopefully result in some tasty treats.  I will offer five small things to remember when baking with kids to ensure you make the most of the experience.

Be Generous

I think being generous goes hand in hand with baking, don’t try and limit the ingredients, I find a nice mix of ingredients makes the baking experience that much more enjoyable.  If it’s cookies you are making why not buy a variety of ingredients to make different flavours, a nice selection always works better in my experience. You could use white chocolate, milk chocolate or caramel chunks; basically any sweet treats that you think will add to the taste should be included.

Be Creative

Following a recipe is initially advisable to make sure you have got the basics right but add your own creative touch, in fact encourage the kids to add their own style, this will help get them involved and should add to the enjoyment of the exercise. If its small cakes you are making, Smarties, chocolate chips or multi coloured icing should help them use their creative touch.

Be Prepared

It may seem obvious but making sure everything is prepared can go a long way in ensuring a successful days baking, having the ingredients to hand can help avoid any disasters amidst the potential chaos that may ensue. If you are thinking about baking two or three different treats prepare your time especially for this, it should go a long way to making sure everything comes out as planned.

The Kids are Always Right

My favourite thing to remember when it comes to baking and something I’m sure the kids will agree with is that the kids are always right. Aside from the key basics there are generally no fixed rules which means all sorts of variations will work. Deciding how things are decorated and what is mixed is all part of the experience, fingers crossed the cakes and cookies come out well.

Have Fun

The most important thing to remember in my opinion, baking should be about having as much fun as possible.  If you are doing it as a family then great, make it as enjoyable as you can; don’t be too worried if the presentation is not perfect.   The main thing is getting the kids involved; let them make a bit of a mess, after all that usually means there will be plenty of fun being had.

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Help the Scottish SPCA in Scotland

SSPCA
Image Credit: SSPCA

 

“Mummy, mummy, mummy, can we put some money to the starving doggies.”  a small child cried many years ago.

Looking up the RSPCA, I clicked on how to sign up for a monthly payment.  The adverts in the sidebar showed a little picture of an emaciated dog which looked incredibly in pain.  I don’t usually click on adverts for things and my instincts took over.

Such was my introduction to the very under advertised SSPCA – the wholly separate charity for the safety, care and rescue of animals in Scotland.  Any money subscribed to the RSPCA goes South of the border only.  Happy that I had the right place, I signed up to pay my £4 month.

The RSPCA has no place in Scotland as it does nothing here to help our animals.

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is what we need for the animals in Scotland.   I think there is still a lot of misunderstanding, and like me, many people subscribing to the RSPCA when they live in Scotland and would want that money to go to local animals.  Our SSPCA is a smaller charity than the RSPCA and needs all the donations it can get.

I mistakenly believed that the RSPCA was a UK wide charity that helped animals in Scotland.    Our SSPCA may be smaller, but it has more powers than the English version as our animal welfare charity can investigate animal abuse and submit to the prosecutors at the Crown Office in powers given to it by the Scottish Executive.

It’s not enough to just have the power to help animals, our local charity for the welfare of animals needs much more help.  It needs to get the word out that in Scotland, the money has to go to the SSPCA.  If you can help and would like to carry a post with the information, please feel free to get in touch with me via my contact page or on Twitter as @scottish_mum and I will link you up to this blog post and give you a lovely link for helping to spread the word.

If you can spare another few pounds to help out the animals in need, go to the SSPCA Website.  You can join for as little as £4 a month, or simply make a one off donation.   If you join, it’s £1 a week to help relieve the suffering of an animal, many of whom have been abused, neglected or lived lives of misery.  The SSPCA can give those animals care, hope and a new life.

We pay our £1 a week, and my kids love that we can afford to do something little to help.

There are lots of other ways to help.

  • Volunteering
  • Fundraising (packs available)
  • Wedding Favours
  • Collection Boxes
  • Recycle
  • Petplan
  • Donate Food
  • Join or Donate
  • Sponsor a Space

If you can help, please do, even if it’s just to do your own post for it.

 

 

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Tesco Charitable Mum of the Year 2013 – Ann Maxwell

Ann-Maxwell-Blog-hero-
Photo Credit “Tesco Magazine”.

As a parent of special needs children, I know just how tiring and demanding filling the needs of our children, earning some money, and doing a spot of volunteering here and there can be.

Ann Maxwell took that to an entirely new level.

Ann’s son, Muir, was diagnosed with Dravet Syndrome which is a very rare form of epilepsy that causes profound learning difficulties, behaviour problems and severe developmental delay.

Muir was 10 before he was fully diagnosed and in special needs terms, that is late.  I can empathise with the difficulties of late diagnosis on the potential outcomes for children, but there is usually very little that we can do about it.

Instead of focussing on her own situation, Ann got out there and decided that she was going to help other families get the diagnosis and help that they needed.

Nothing was going to stop Ann, and she set up the Muir Maxwell Trust in 2003.   By using DNA testing with results run by the NHS, children are tested and diagnosed in 40 days.  No more waiting for years to get treatment.

Ann did all of this while also being diagnosed with bone cancer in her skull in 2006.  After several operations, she kept going with her work and up to now, the trust has raised an amazing £7 million.

I’ll let her describe what she’s done in her own words:

‘Every project that we’ve launched has been based on the experience of raising Muir. We’ve recognised where there is a need and launched a project to meet that need. Then we find someone to continue with the project so that it has a permanent place in terms of delivery but is not one that we have to fund indefinitely. We’ve found all sorts of partners, from the NHS and government to other charities. The point of the trust is to provide practical support to try and make the lives of families dealing with epilepsy better.’

I can understand how Ann feels when she talks about waving a magic wand that would allow Muir to be a normal child.  I think it’s something that most special needs parents wish and why we often go looking for ways we can make a difference to their lives.

The Tesco Mum of the Year awards celebrate women who have made a real difference to the lives of others.  As the winner or Charitable Mum of the Year 2013, Anne’s sheer determination to improve lives of other children in the UK while dealing with her own family issues is an inspiration, and makes her a very deserving winner for the official ceremony in March..

Find out more about Ann on the website, and make a note to nominate an extraordinary mum next year.

This year, for the first time, the Tesco Mum of the Year Awards Ceremony will be broadcast on Channel 5.   The Mum of the Year winners will be at the Savoy in London on the 3rd of March with many celebrity guests.  On Mother’s day, Sunday the 10th of March, we can all tune in to watch their stories.

Being asked to be an official blogger for the Tesco Mum of the Year Awards 2013 has been an honour and I hope they all have a wonderful time at the Awards Ceremony.  

 

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8×8 Project – A crafty piece of art to improve a child’s life after a brain tumour.

Charity seems to be the order of the week this week.  Following on from the bloggers visiting Ghana, I am asking if you could you do a small thing to support the recovery of Children with Brain Tumours.

eightAs part of the work done by Camilles Appeal, they have launched a Call to Artists programme to help donate a little to help a lot. The appeal works to support children aged 0-5 with brain tumours and their families.  In the UK, these children will have multiple treatments including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation which can make their lives very difficult.  The appeal aims to help those families live as close to a normal life as possible.

Rather than asking for your cash, project 8×8 is looking for a little of your time and creativity.  And if you can’t give that, what about your own blog post to help send it round the blogosphere.

How you can help:8x8

If you are a crafter, you are likely to make some fantastic pieces of handmade art which could be mounted on an 8″ x 8″ mount.   Suggestions and possibilities could be handmade dolls, papercraft, jewellery and much more.

Social Media
Spread the word and encourage submissions from artists to the project, give this post a tweet or a like, and pass it on.

Buy an 8 x 8 Picture
Get a fabulous work in return for supporting the project.

Donate a Piece of Art
As a group, we can always achieve more than people on their own.   You don’t have to be a formally recognised artist to take part.

The official CALL TO ARTISTS is as follows:

The eightbyeight Project are inviting donations of 8×8” sized work (or small 3D creations) to take pride of place in our exhibition in support of Camille’s Appeal, the children’s brain tumour charity.

We are seeking diverse and exciting donations from professional, non-professional and student artists, painters, printmakers, illustrators, photographers, digital artists, paper crafters, those working with yarn and textiles, ceramics, glass, jewellery, small sculpture, etc inspired by the exhibition theme, ‘Childhood Explored’.

Through coming together as creatives, we hope to raise the profile, and improve the lives of young children with brain tumours and their families.

If you’re creative, why not “create and donate to 8 by 8.”

If you’re not, like me, give it a share so that artists can find it.

You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.