Donating to The Ben Kinsella Trust - February

Hello Everyone!

So as you may know from my last post, this month I donated to The Ben Kinsella Trust which works which you raise awareness for knife crime, and holds events of exhibitions in order to educate young individuals about the effects of street violence.

By donating to The Ben Kinsella Trust, events such as exhibitions and community days are able to take place in order for the effects of knife crime, and the consequences of street violence to be conveyed to young people, hopefully deterring them to be involved in any of these situations. Within the exhibitions held by the trust, young people are able to hear Ben Kinsella's story, as well as hearing from his family, and the experiences of other people in their position. They are also able to equate themselves on the facts and figures of street violence, as well as hear the realities of the law. Through the exhibitions, young people are able to learn how to make the right decisions and choices which allows them to steer clear of knife crime and street violence, and therefore helping to prevent individual's lives being put in danger. By the end of the exhibition, individuals are educated in where they can turn to for help around this subject, and what to do if they every feel that the experiences shared within the exhibition are relevant to themselves.

The trust also holds Community Open Days delivering tours to groups of young people within half terms and school holidays, in order to educate them about these very real subjects. The trust also advertises for local young people to take part as actors within their exhibitions, promoting young people to use their time to act on their talents, putting their energy into positive, and valuable use.

From the research I have done, The Ben Kinsella Trust is a positive organisation that educates young people on the realities of street violence such as knife crime, ensuring that the lives of young people being put in danger is avoided due to the work they carry out, and the people they work with. If you wish to donate to the trust, you can find the information to do this in my previous post!

Thank you all for your continuous support, and I will see you all again in early March to let you know my 'good deed' of the month!

Be Good!

Kizzy :)

February - Donating to The Ben Kinsella Trust

Hello Everyone! 

I hope that 2015 has been treating you all well so far, and that the last of the winter isn't taking too much of a toll!

I think it is safe to say for many of us a new year comes with a new lease of hope and determination, to make this year better than any, the want to challenge yourself and reach new goals, and feeling safe and stable to do so. However, I think we take for granted just how lucky we are to feel so determined and comfortable by maybe our family or home situation, or the area in which we live, and forget that for some a stable family and home situation isn't granted, and the lack of security and safety you feel is just normality. I was touched by a real life story shared with me a couple of weeks ago about someone who had never had a comfortable and secure family lifestyle, and was simply left to make their own way in life, something that when I envisage for myself, absolutely terrifies me. Due to their circumstance, the route that this individual had taken was not always positive, and the decisions they had made failed to leave them behind, even if they had decided to leave them.

In respect of this 'story', and in memory of this individual, this month I will be donating to 'The Ben Kinsella Trust.'

This charity was created by an individual whose brother died due to knife crime carried out by a gang that was unknown to the victim prior to his attack. The charity aims to raise awareness of the effects of knife crime, and stop the amount of crime on our streets. By 10th January this year, there had been 19 counts of death due to violent attacks on our streets, which to anyone is shocking just days into a new year. The trust works to educate young people and teenagers of the consequences of knife crime and the effects it has on victim's families. Eventually, the family behind the trust hope to open youth centres in order to deter people from street and knife crime. The charity also puts on exhibitions across London, within which people can learn about their story, and the facts, figures, effects, consequences of knife crime.

By showing your support to 'The Ben Kinsella Trust', they will be able to continue their education of knife crime, and change the future of our streets. You can donate to the trust through their website: http://www.benkinsella.org.uk/get-involved or by texting 'benk27' with your desired donation amount to '70070' and of course by sharing this post and raising as much awareness as possible for the charity. Trusts such as these are so important in changing the place in which we live for the better, and in turn improving many individual's lives.

Once again, thank you all so much for your continued support of '12 Months of Giving', and I will see you again at the end of the month to let you know how donations from people such as yourselves benfefits the 'The Ben Kinsella Trust' and the work to raise awareness of there effects of knife crime.

Be Good! 

Kizzy :)

Donating to Multiple System Atrophy Trust!

Hello Everyone!

As you may know from my last post, I donated to Multiple System Atrophy Trust  as my January 'deed' to begin the new year. Donating to this charity, and using my blog to promote the disease and the work of the charity is extremely important to me, and is something I feel should be done more often, whichever the disease or supporting charity for many reasons.

With the money that we donate to Multiple System Atrophy Trust, they are able to employ a small team of staff and specialist nurses who provide a range of services to Multiple System Atrophy sufferers and carers across the UK.

The services that the trust are able to offer free-of-charge as a result of the public's support are as follows; 

• Telephone and email advice service offering support and information for people with MSA, carers, health and social care professionals
• Guides and fact sheets on a variety of aspects of living with MSA
• Regular magazine
• Regional and online support groups
• Comprehensive website
• Education sessions for healthcare professionals
• Latest MSA research updates
• Contact scheme for people with MSA and carers
• Campaigning and advocating on behalf of people affected by MSA
• Advice on organising or becoming involved in a fundraising event

Information on the trust can be found on their website, which you can access here: http://www.msatrust.org.uk/the-trust/

"Multiple System Atrophy Trust is the UK’s main support and information service for people who have multiple system atrophy (MSA) – a rare neurological disease with no known cause or cure.  As well as helping people who have MSA, we are also there to support families whose lives are affected by MSA as well as carers and health and care professionals who look after and treat people with the disease.

Our vision is a World Free of MSA. We are committed to making this happen by funding research to find the cause of, and one day a cure for, MSA."

By donating and promoting this charity as much as possible, we are able to help the trust achieve their ethos and aims, and show support to sufferers of MSA and their carers throughout their experience of the disease.

Once again, thank you for your continued support of '12 Months of Giving', and I will see you in early February to tell you all about my 'good deed' for the month! 

Be Good!

Kizzy :)

January - Donating to Multiple System Atrophy Trust

Hello Everyone!

Welcome back to '12 Months of Giving.' I hope you all had a lovely christmas, and an amazing new year! 2015 will be filled with more 'good deeds', and more ways to do good!

When reflecting over the last year, I realised that for me, 2014 should be summed up with a positive perspective. I would like to think that 2014 for me, could be summed up with the optimistic phrase; "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!" The idea that after experiencing trials and tribulations, you can use the experiences to improve someone else's life and situation has always suggested some sort of strength to me. The opportunity to become stronger after an experience that should (could) make you feel weaker has always brought me comfort and some understanding in tough experiences. By taking this experience, and using it to better yourself you are refusing to be defeated by a situation, and although you sometimes need to have a 'meltdown moment' (...we all do), you can pack your suitcase back up, checkout out of 'head-mess hotel', and use your experiences to learn and take on new challenges.

With this in mind, this month I wanted to continue to donate to another charity that could provide support to individuals who find themselves experiencing challenges that have once been relevant to me, or to people within my life. In memory of a late family friend, for my January 'good deed' I have donated to the 'Multiple System Atrophy Trust.'

This charity works with Multiple System Atrophy sufferers in order to provide them with information about their diagnosis, teach them how to living with MSA, and how to spot signs for the early development of the disease. Multiple System Atrophy is a progressive disease, and therefore the symptoms that sufferers experience are likely to worsen over time. Therefore, the Multiple System Atrophy Trust is vital in informing sufferers and carers of how to live with the disease, and to cope with the progression of the disease's symptoms.

The Multiple System Atrophy Trust website, which you can find here: http://www.msatrust.org.uk/, is able to inform individuals of what MSA exactly is: "Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a progressive neurological disorder that affects adult men and women. It is caused by degeneration or atrophy of nerve cells in several (or multiple) areas of the brain which can result in problems with movement, balance and automatic functions of the body such as bladder and blood pressure control."

By using the trust's website to research the symptoms of the disease further, I have learnt that there are three groups of symptoms that reflect the three regions of the brain that may be involved in the disease: The Basal Ganglia causing problems with movement (Parkinsonism); The Cerebellum causing poor balance and co-ordination; and The Brain Stem causing autonomic problems such as poor bladder and blood pressure control.

Examples of symptoms with these three different groups are as follows;

Parkinsonism

• Feeling slow and stiff when moving
• Difficulty in starting to move
• Writing becoming small and spidery
• Difficulty turning in bed

Cerebellar

• Feeling clumsy, dropping things
• Finding it difficult to fasten buttons
• Feeling unsteady in crowds
• Unable to balance without support
• Difficulty writing
• Slurred speech

Autonomic

• For men, difficulty with erection
• Bladder problems
• Feeling dizzy or fainting (blood pressure problems)
• Pain around neck and shoulders (known as ‘coat hanger pain’)
• Constipation
• Cold hands and feet
• Problems with sweating control

Other problems

• Weakness of arms and legs
• Poorly controlled emotional response, laughing or crying
• Restless sleep
• Nightmares
• Noisy breathing during the day, snoring at night
• Unintentional sighing
• Weak, quiet voice
• Swallowing problems, difficulty chewing, choking episodes
• Eye muscle weakness which may cause blurred vision

By donating to this charity, you are helping to fund the work being carried out to give support to sufferers and carers experiencing this disease, allowing individuals diagnosed with the disease to be educated about how their disease may progress, and how to cope with the progression of Multiple System Atrophy.

Once again, thank you for your continued support of '12 Months of Giving.' I will see you again later this month to share with you the details of how the Multi System Atrophy Trust supports individuals experiencing the realities of this disease, and the resources they can access through this charity.

Be Good!

Kizzy :)

Donating to Crisis! - Donating to Crisis Charity for the Homeless!

Hello Everyone!

Firstly, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and that you created amazing memories with your loved ones! 

As many of you know, my 'good deed' for this month was donating to Crisis charity for the homeless, ensuring a homeless individual recieved this charity's amazing support this Christmas! 

Within my last post, I listed the services that are offered to individuals who attend Crisis at Christmas time, and will hopefully continue to use it throughout 2015. 

On this note, I thought I would share with you this link of an Art student from Preston who raised money for a homeless individual this month: http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/dec/17/student-raises-thousands-of-pounds-for-homeless-man-who-offered-her-money

This story is something you have probably already seen, but something I feel cannot be shared and talked about enough. When reading this article, I was not only touched by the amount of money people had donated to this cause, but more by the intial act that triggered this fundraising. What I find amazing and so heart-warming about this story is the fact an individual who recieves so much prejudice and judgement offered money to another individual. Now the amount of my amazement may be considered shallow or judgemental of such a character, but nevertheless I love and respect the fact that this individuals situation had not succeeded in willing him to become bitter, something I think we would all somewhat expect and forgive him for. It is acts like these that speak volumes to society, and I respect this man for simply being gorgeously human. Learning about his kind character within this article, I am so thankful that he will now receive the support he deserves, along with a chance to rebuild his life.

Thank you all for your amazing support this year, and I plan to continue '12 Months of Giving' in 2015 with even more 'good deeds.' I hope your plans and goals for this new year are ambitious, and I will see you again in early January to let you know my 'good deed' for the month.

Be Good!

Kizzy :) 

December - Donating to Crisis Charity for the Homeless

Hello Everyone!

It is finally December, my favourite time of year!

Christmas for me, and I am sure many others, has always been about family and this year more than ever, I feel so grateful for the amazing support system that I am able to call my family. Since I was young, Christmas has been a day for showing appreciation for each other, creating memories, and sharing stories of "Do you remember when?"

However, at this time of year, it is also important to remember the individuals that do not have such luxuries this Christmas, and do not have people that they consider loved ones to share the day with. I aim to fully appreciate the presence of family this Christmas, and therefore wanted to help individuals who may not have theirs.

Therefore, for my 'good deed' for December, I have donated to the charity 'Crisis', reserving a place for a homeless individual to benefit from this charity's amazing work this Christmas.

Donating to Crisis in order to reserve a place for a homeless individual this Christmas not only means that they will receive a hot meal this Christmas, but also the offering of companionship, a full health check, specialist services (e.g. dental treatment), specialist advice (e.g. advice on detox services), and housing, as well as the chance to learn new skills through participating in workshops, and new hope for their future, through the help and support Crisis provides at Christmas, and aims to maintain throughout the year.

According to the information provided by Crisis, The number of people living on the streets across the country has risen by 37% in three years, with 77% more rough sleepers in London. Crisis aims to open 13 centres between 22nd and 30th December, offering homeless people companionship, care, hot food and warm clothing at a time of year that can be particularly lonely for those without a home or family.
Last year 4,191 people settled down to Christmas dinner at Crisis at Christmas. For many of them their lives had been shattered. They may have been the victim of domestic violence, been though a divorce, been made redundant or suffered ill health - something that could happen to any of us.

In order to reserve a place for a homeless individual to receive this support at a Crisis centre this Christmas, you can visit: www.crisis.org.uk/menu where you can donate different amounts in order to reserve one or more places for homeless individuals over this Christmas period. Alternatively, it would be great if you could visit the Crisis website: www.crisis.org.uk and learn more about the incredible work they do, in order to help those less fortune than us not just over Christmas, but all through the year.

Once again, thank you for all of your continued support of '12 Months of Giving', and I hope you all have a lovely Christmas. I will see you again before the new year to let you know what a difference the support that is given to Crisis makes this Christmas.

Be Good!

Kizzy :)

Promoting Anti-Bullying Week! - Creative Workshops for Anti-Bullying Week!

Hello Everyone!

So as you know from my last post, this month I delivered 3 workshops to different age groups at a local primary school, all subjected around Anti-Bullying Week! 

Within the workshops I delivered, the children I worked with were able to learn about all aspects of bullying, some of those being; what bullying is, the different types of bullying, the consequences of bullying, and the right thing to do if you experience bullying of any kind. In order to educate and promote the ideas of Anti-Bullying Week effectively to the children I worked with, I used my skills within Community Arts so that they could access the ideas of the workshop creatively, using role play, still images, and 'true or false' games. 

Delivering workshops subjected on a specific subject which a group feels needs discussing is always so rewarding and enriching. Throughout each of the three workshops I delivered, the answers and opinions the children were giving surrounding the subject of bullying were so satisfying to hear, and the results of the workshops were shown by the many smiling faces of the children leaving the school hall! However, two children in particular approached me at the end of my workshops, one expressing how she had been bullied and wondered whether she had handled the situation correctly, and the other thanking me personally for the workshop I had delivered as he felt his class needed to hear the information presented to them within the time I spent with them. It goes without saying that any praise or thanks I receive from delivering a workshop I appreciate and cherish, however these two individuals particular triggered the reinforcement of my love for Community Arts, and delivering creative workshops to individuals who both love and 'tolerate' theatre, in order to use one of my life-long passions for a good purpose, and to achieve a result that could change others lives indirectly as the participants of my workshops apply the knowledge they have received from the three workshops I have delivered. 

Educating children on the importance of Anti-Bullying, not just for a week within a month, but throughout their whole lives is so important, and I feel so lucky to have been given the opportunity to promote such a positive change using the skills I have for one of my passions.

Thank you all again for your amazing support, and I will see you soon for my post about my 'good deed' for December! 

Be good!

Kizzy :)