The WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals) has a vision for a world where animal welfare matters and animal cruelty has ended. They campaign to combat the world’s most intense and large-scale animal welfare issues and bring lasting change by:

• helping people understand the critical importance of good animal welfare
• encouraging nations to commit to animal-friendly practices
• building the scientific case for the better treatment of animals.

So why not support their work by volunteering, donating, or promoting them on Facebook today? The fact that you’ll get some cool Blue Dots is just an extra bonus to say thank you for getting involved!

For more information visit the WSPA’s Website

Click Here to go to Barnardo’s Facebook page, and simply by “Liking” their page you will be helping to promote all their initiatives to help and protect vulnerable children and young people. You will also earn some Blue Dots next time you scan your profile for goodness (you can do this by clicking on the “Promote” button on our homepage).

But why stop there? Click on the “Donate” button and give any amount to Barnado’s (or any other charity) through JustGiving and you can do even more good – and of course, earn even more dots!

Barnardo’s Work

Barnardo’s transforms the lives of vulnerable children across the UK through the work of its projects, campaigning and research expertise.

They believe they can bring out the best in every child whether the issue is child poverty, sexual exploitation, disability and domestic violence.

From: BBC News

Ex-forces staff to mentor pupils in England

Work has begun to train 100 former members of the armed forces to become mentors in schools in England.

The government is investing £1.5m in the scheme, which builds on programmes already being run by the education charity, SkillForce.

The instructors go into schools to inspire pupils and challenge problems with their behaviour.

After 22 years serving as a soldier on the front line, Andy Butcher now finds himself in classrooms trying to prevent teenagers from making the mistakes he made at that age.

“I have been where these kids are,” he says.

“I left school with no qualifications.”

Staff at Goole High School in East Yorkshire have already had success in improving both attitudes and results.

To add to those efforts SkillForce instructors have started working with pupils in the school’s high support unit.

Classroom confrontation

Jessica Edwards, who is a year 11 pupil, accepts that she can clash with teachers.

“If they confront me about something that I have done wrong, then I will confront them back,” she admits.

The SkillForce classes are very different to the traditional lessons that they will replace one day a week for the next year. They include quizzes and practical tasks.

However it is still difficult keeping all of the students engaged.

During the session some begin writing on their arms with marker pens and one pupil puts his head on the table and starts to fall asleep.

When he is told off and asked to wait outside the classroom, he just goes home.

Despite their forces background, the instructors will have to work hard to ensure that all the pupils show them respect.

Danuta Tomasz, the head teacher of Goole High, said: “They might expect a certain thing of them in terms of discipline… but the bottom line is that these kids will respond to whoever shows an interest in them.

“The ‘wow factor’ will only have an impact for so long.”

Chairs thrown

The idea of troops as teachers is not new and has proved successful in some US schools.

The SkillForce scheme is slightly different. The mentors work side by side with teachers in the classroom and in some cases directly with individual teenagers.

The mentors say in other schools the problems are more serious.

“A few pupils have thrown chairs and started fights in classrooms,” reveals Gemma Duncan who is one of the instructors.

“We get a lot of backchat… you just have to ignore it.”

Chief executive of SkillForce Peter Cross said the charity’s work had the backing of the education secretary.

“Michael Gove is supportive of the idea of putting people who have been in the military into schools in various different roles.”

Previous work by SkillForce indicates students who have taken part in the programme are much more likely to go on to further education.

Judging whether the programme is a success in Goole High School will take time.

But there was an achievement right at the start of the scheme.

For one pupil it marked his first full day of school attendance for months.

From: The Daily Mail

A lottery game that starts next week gives too little to charity, it was claimed last night.

The Health Lottery has been set up as a rival to the National Lottery with cash also going to good causes.

Tickets will cost £1, of which 20.3p will go toward projects that tackle health inequalities.

It will operate as a series of 51 lotteries, each representing a local authority area. Each will take it in turn to be the beneficiary of the draw.

From: BBC News

Dumfries and Galloway expands vulnerable children help scheme

An “early intervention” scheme to help tackle potential social problems in vulnerable children is to be expanded in Dumfries and Galloway.

It comes after the charity Aberlour secured a funding award of £400,000 from Inspiring Scotland.

It will help increase the delivery of the Born to Learn programme already being run by NHS Dumfries and Galloway.

Their work supports vulnerable young children to develop language, problem-solving and social and physical skills.

The project is being delivered in partnership with another charity, Quarriers, with support from Dumfries and Galloway Council and local health services.

Steve McCreadie, Aberlour’s director of business development, said: “This money will prove invaluable in helping us continue to tackle pressing social issues among our young people from the earliest time in their lives and divert them away from the possibility of becoming involved in problems later in life.

“This will be of significant value to these vulnerable children and we welcome this award wholeheartedly.

“The success of our bid to Inspiring Scotland is a great example of how different organisations can work together to bring about great results for those who need help most.”

Inspiring Scotland is a group of investors and supporters who aim to provide funding and skills to improve the lives of some of Scotland’s most vulnerable people.

A staggering 1 in 3 people will develop cancer in their lifetimes, so it is not difficult to see how the work of Cancer Research UK is important for everybody, as we all know someone who has been affected by this terrible disease.

Helping the cause couldn’t be easier, and you can earn yourself some Blue Dots in the process. Just use the buttons on the homepage to navigate to the way of getting involved that suits you best. Whether it is through volunteering, donating or simply promoting charities on your social networks such as Facebook, we make it even more rewarding to do good.

By clicking on the “Donate” button, for example, you can search for CRUK and give any amount securely through justgiving.com. The Blue Dots you earn can then be redeemed against any offer on the site, and we’re adding more new and exciting ones all the time!

For more information visit the Cancer Research UK website

The Guardian launched its Autumn books season by gathering around 15,000 books and distributing them around the country for free. The initiative is part of its Book Swap initiative, where readers are invited to give away their own favourite titles.

The Saturday and Sunday editions of the Guardian and the Observer feature bookplate stickers (which can also be downloaded online) to be inserted in the front of the book, inviting the giver to write a message for the finder. This is then left somewhere to be picked up by a new owner. The details of where books are left can be entered on the Guardian’s website and divulged on Twitter. Those who find the books are invited to upload pictures of the books, where they found them, and review them.

Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw says that “In deciding what to read, serendipity is something we need more of. The Book Swap is a fascinating idea because you might get a book placed in your hands invisibly, out of nowhere. I’ve chosen Tolstoy’s novella Hadji Murad partly because it is a work of authentic genius, and it’s relatively short. I envy the person who finds it and reads it for the first time.”

Mass Mobilization site Avaaz has gathered massive support for its call to save Brazil’s precious forests by vetoing the changes to the forest law. The petition also asks the current government of the country to increase law enforcement against illegal loggers to prevent further murders of environmental activists and workers.

The original target was 1 million, but the cause has attracted so many supporters that this has now been revised to 1,500,000

“Unless we act now,” the site claims “vast tracts of our planet’s lungs could be opened up to clear-cutting devastation.”

Importantly, however, this is not something that the international community is seeking to impose upon an unwilling Brazilian population. 79% of Brazilians support a veto of the forest law changes and this internal pressure is leading some in Dilma’s administration to back it as well. Avaaz hopes that this vast show of support from the international community will add to the considerable internal momentum building up against the proposed laws.

Following the recent death of acclaimed musician Amy Winehouse, her family have now setup a charity in her honour. Launched on the singer’s birthday – the 14th September – The Amy Winehouse Foundation aims to provide help for young people in need, specially ‘by reason of ill health, disability, financial disadvantage or addiction.’

The singer had struggled with her own addiction in the spotlight for years, and was found dead in July this year. According to her father Mitch, setting up the foundation is a way of turning the family’s grief into positive action. His hope is that its achievements will help people remember Amy positively as well at helping people who badly need it.