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Our 6 Chosen Charities...

Each year hundreds of charities apply to be sponsored by us, it is a very hard process to cut the applications down to just 6 but this year we felt the following 6 charities were the ones which could most benefit from our help. They are:

Sara’s Hope Foundation...

Sara’s Hope Foundation is inspired by the late Sara Hoburn, and runs a holiday retreat in Crete offering respite for children and young people with cancer and their families.

Sara was diagnosed with cancer as a young teenager and was treated at Newcastle RVI hospital in their teenage cancer unit. The below expert is taken from her journal my journey with cancer written when she was just 14:

“When I was first diagnosed with cancer I was very shocked as you never expect anything major to happen to yourself. You see issues very similar to your own and we feel sorry for people who are in ill health. The thing is we never think that anything serious can happen to ourselves. When I first found out that I had cancer I was really stunned and shocked but my first thought was I am going to get through this and prove not only to myself but also to the doctors and nurses I can. So will you, if you have a positive attitude all the way through your journey.”

“As well as being stunned and shocked I was happy not because I had cancer but it was me that had cancer and not my Mum, Dad or Mark”

Sara´s attitude amazed the medical staff in the Teenage Cancer Unit in the Royal Victoria Infirmary Hospital in Newcastle. Professor Pearson (Sara´s consultant) commented that Sara always smiled and thanked him no matter how serious or upsetting the news. Staff nicknamed her their “smiling star”.

Sara’s Hope Foundation’s mission is to give families from the UK, affected by the devastating impact of cancer, a much needed break from long hospital stays, traumatic medical procedures and cancer related treatments – so that they may spend quality time together recuperating and enjoying life as a ‘normal’ family – strengthening relationships and creating lasting happy memories.
They are dedicated to giving a personal service to each child/young person and their family, and in memory of Sara, giving them ‘smiles, hope and precious memorie

http://sarashopefoundation.co.uk/

Make a Wish Foundation...

The aims and objectives of the Make a Wish Foundation are simple: to grant wishes to children and young adults aged 3-17 who are fighting life threatening illnesses.

In the UK alone over 20,000 children are suffering from a life changing or threatening illness, out of those at least 1500 will turn to Make a Wish to ask for a special wish to be granted. Make a Wish try to grant at least 75 wishes a month and are hoping to increase this to 85 per moth by the end of 2012. However, in order to do this they must raise £8.5 million! Although our contributions will be only a drop in the ocean to realizing this goal, we can be happy in the knowledge that every penny we raise for this charity helps a child and their families have perhaps one of their last happy memories.

Make a Wish Foundation grants many wishes from a trip of a lifetime to meet Father Christmas to organising for a Young cancer sufferer to attend a dance class at the Royal Ballet. This is a really incredible charity and we are so excited to be able to play a small part in helping these children’s wishes come true.

http://www.make-a-wish.org.uk/

Breakthrough Breast Cancer...

Dedicated to saving lives by finding the causes of Breast Cancer, improving detection diagnosis, treatment and services.

Did you know:

• Nearly 48,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the UK.
• Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK.
• 1 in 8 women in the UK will develop breast cancer at some point in their lifetime.

• Around 1,000 women die of breast cancer every month in the UK.
• Around 300 men are diagnosed with breast cancer every year in the UK. Yes that’s right, Breast Cancer doesn’t just affect women.
These statistics may look scary and they are, however more women than ever in the UK are surviving breast cancer thanks to better awareness, better screening and better treatments.

We believe Breakthrough Breast Cancer is a great charity to support as sadly in our lifetime statistically we are likely to know more than one person who will suffer from breast cancer, and knowing the signs and ways of recognizing when something isn’t right with our body is our best defense against this disease.

Breakthrough Breast Cancer are an amazing charity as they lead campaigns, research and offer education into Breast cancer and how to check yourself for unusual lumps and bumps that could be the early signs of cancer. The research Breakthrough Breast Cancer have led has been groundbreaking, in the past year they have identified and discovered three new genes linked to breast Cancer and have also discovered new ways of killing cancer cells.

http://www.breakthrough.org.uk/

Centre Point North East: Giving Homeless Young people a future...

Homelessness is a growing problem within young people today. Being homeless doesn’t necessarily mean ‘living rough’ it can also mean being In temporary hostel or bed and breakfast accommodation or 'Sofa surfing' (staying temporarily with lots of different people) or living In unsuitable or unsafe accommodation.

Young people sleeping on the streets are the most visible examples of youth homelessness, but Centrepoint supports all homeless young people, whatever their experience of homelessness.

Only some homeless people are legally entitled to be housed by their local authority. The people that local authorities prioritise for assistance are referred to as 'statutory homeless'. Many young people at Centrepoint are not statutory homeless but still receive housing support from their local council.

To be classed as statutory homeless you have to fulfill all five of the following conditions:

1. Have nowhere suitable to live
2. Be eligible for help - this is to make sure that you are able to receive help from a local council in this country and will consider things such as your immigration status and whether or not you normally live in the UK.
3. Be in priority need - this will determine whether or not you are in one of the pre-defined groups of people who are prioritised for assistance including pregnant women, those with dependent children, care leavers and young people aged 16-17.
4. Not be 'intentionally' homeless - you will be classed as intentionally homeless only if you deliberately did (or did not do) something which made you homeless without good reason.
5. Have a connection with the local

How many young people are homeless?

The government collects statistics on people who are statutory homeless, but this does not include everyone who we would normally think of as homeless.

In research commissioned by Centrepoint, the University of York produced a more accurate estimate of the number of young people who were homeless in the UK. They found that 78,000 – 80,000 young people experienced homelessness in a year. This is only an estimate, but it gives some idea of the scale of the problem of youth homelessness. If anything, it is likely to be an underestimate of the problem as it only counts young people who have been in contact with homelessness services. There may still be many who are 'hidden homeless' - sleeping on sofas or living in squats out of sight.

What Centrepoint do:

Centrepoint provide young people with more than just housing they also provide support making sure they are healthy, providing them with new skills and ultimaltely giving them the tools to be able to build a future.
Centrepoint raise awareness in many ways through various different events including a Big Sleep Out. Volunteers in London and the North East slept out for one night to raise funds for the charity. The dates for 2012 have yet to be announced but watch this space for future news and events to do with Centrepoint North east.

We felt this was an exceptional charity and once which provides a service that many could simply not live without. It is shocking to see how some young people live and really puts our own lives into perspective. It is great that we can help these homeless young people start a fresh and have a safe roof over their heads at night as this is something we so take for granted.

http://www.centrepoint.org.uk/

Papyrus...

The Key aim of Papyrus is prevention of Suicide in young people. Not only do they provide research into the causes if suicide in young people and work towards the prevention of Suicide in the young they also offer services to help those in need in the form of HOPELineUK 0800 068 41 41 a helpline open Monday – Friday from 10am – 5pm and 7pm – 10pm, and 2pm – 5pm on weekends. for if you are worried about yourself or someone you know. Are feeling depressed or not coping with life or are if you or a friend are hurting … or hurting yourself.

Papyrus believe that through their helpline and offering support and help for the vulnerable, suicide does not have to be an inevitable outcome for a distressed young person going through a difficult time.

http://www.papyrus-uk.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5eoDxOqSxI

SCAN...

SCAN stands for Student Community Action Newcastle and since the 1960's we've been based in the centre of Newcastle helping students and other young people access volunteering opportunities across the North East.

SCAN today is a vibrant and lively young person led charity based at Newcastle University that aims to provide a wide variety of quality volunteering opportunities, through running our own community projects and by working with other charitable/community organisations.

SCAN currently offers over 200 volunteering opportunities in the community as well as running a successful program of young person led projects, and one-off/taster volunteering opportunities. For more information head to http://www.nusu.co.uk/scan/