Charitable thinking and my #LittleVoice....

I have spent this week mostly on my sofa having a cold and have had to think of posts that are a little more interesting than cold remedies....apologies if I am being a little boring! Possibly I should just wait until I am back in the world of the living before I post another entry. I know my aim of this site was to make a daily entry regardless but I am starting to hope people do read my posts, if only casually, because I am finding I have some important things to say.

I have always felt very strongly about children's rights, animal rights and the environment. From my escapades on Twitter, I have found some inspiring charities that are doing so much for all these things. I have put some of these on my Favourite Charities page and a few links in my side bar but I wanted to explain a little about why I have done this and why I feel it is important to raise awareness.

The actress Sophia Bush inspired me with her #LittleVoices campaign on Twitter. She has used social media to raise awareness of issues close to her heart. By using our little voice we can generate positive and proactive messages. Of course she has many more followers than little old me but that doesn't mean I can't be just a proactive in raising awareness for the causes I believe in; retweeting tweets from my favourite charities or blogging about the latest campaign. Even if I reach one person I would take that as a victory.

I have always made an effort to donate to charities. Children in Need and Comic Relief are some of my favourite days. Incidentally, Children in Need 2011 is on  Friday 18th November and I'm thinking of organising a bake sale at work. Anyway, why should any of us wait for these special days or events to do something worthwhile? Especially when the information is right at our fingertips on the internet?? Go on any charity website and you will find their current campaigns and how you can get involved by donating money, signing petitions, fundraising, the possibilities are almost endless.

My top charities (of course there are many more great charities out there but these are my favourites):

UNICEF

Plan

OXFAM

GREENPEACE

RSPCA


NSPCC

I have signed up for campaigns newsletters and information for all of the above. If you are reading this, please consider doing the same. Oxfam and UNICEF are currently working on the emergency situation in East Africa. Plan UK have today launched their 2011 Because I am A Girl Report which looks at the lives of girls around the world and gender inequality issues. They also work with children in disaster areas. The NSPCC are continuing their amazing work preventing cruelty to children in the UK and the RSPCA are doing the same for animals. For more on what they do, please check out their websites.