Aggregated External News

Brazilian model Isabeli Fontana has joined the growing roster of public figures and celebrities participating in Rotary's “This Close” public awareness campaign for polio eradication.

Isabelli Fontana signs on as Rotary celebrity ambassador for polio eradication

Star of many advertising campaigns, high fashion reference, Victoria Secret angel, and new face of L’Oreal for Latin America, Fontana has also an important role as mother of Zion, 10, and Lucas, 7. Attuned to the importance of vaccination, she supported the national immunization campaign in Brazil for the first time when she took her youngest son to get the oral polio vaccine drops directly from the Brazilian Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha at an event launching the 2011 national immunization campaign. Her interest in impacting the world and lives of children has continued to grow.

More: http://www.looktothestars.org/news/10607-isabeli-fontana-joins-rotary-polio-eradication-campaign

The Charity SORP, or 'statement of recommended practice', plays a crucial role in underpinning the charity sector and engaging supporters

July 2013 has been a special month. Forget the sudden appearance of a long forgotten English summer and the end of a mere 77 year wait; and with apologies to the royalists among us, it's not the birth of baby George that's got us excited here at CFG. No, even all this fades into the background when compared to another delivery, that of a brand new and transformed Charity SORP.

Don't be fooled by the dull title, the SORP, 'Statement of Recommended Practice' charity accounting framework, underpins the charity sector in a very important way; like Andy Murray and Ivan Lendl, for every blossoming, innovative, creative champion in our sector, there's a hard edged, reserved taskmaster keeping it in check.

It may be stretching it a bit far to liken the SORP to a tennis coach (and a bit unfair on the Wimbledon champion), but the important message is that this is, or should be, a big deal. We are biased here at Charity Finance Group, but without this document there is little to give those with or without financial background, standards and expectations by which they run and report on their charity. The SORP enables accountability, it sets a standard and it forces inward reflection more so than any other piece of guidance. Or at least that's the idea.

There are of course some elements of the SORP which are not of interest to your average charity enthusiast. The debate this week at our Technical Accounting Forum, on at what point we recognise a legacy (it's not just when you read the will; who knew), is not going to set the world alight. Nor does it need to, that's what technical forums are for. Shift this however, on to 'support costs', 'costs to raise money', or 'staff remuneration' and ears prick up.

So with all this excitement, why is there also the slight anxiety for some of us in entering into this consultation phase? Never before has the public's trust in charities been so important, and being able to use the financial information we produce to build the public view of the sector is critical. Last week we saw Oxfam publish its annual figures not with a quiet email to the Charity Commission, but with a big, and unusual, splash into the public sphere. A press release shared with us their struggle for income to match expenditure in a difficult year, called on the public to give more in this context, and included quotes from two of the likely most senior figures in the sector. This is not a criticism; it is due applaud of their use of the retrospective financial information.

Organisations like Oxfam are social impact businesses – they run to achieve something and sometimes it's hard to keep up with demand. Transparency about salaries and support costs may be seen as important (and are part of the SORP debate), but so are the overarching ins and outs of the business, the bits that enable the money to impact on the child we see on the TV screen. Talking to the public directly through these eyes and opening up to critique and understanding in a business context is something which can surely be good for trust. But how do we get the SORP ready for this?

The pressure is on; we have less than four months to give feedback on something which needs to provide the right support to charities to not only account for their finances appropriately, but also to be able to build their trust relationship with the public. In this context, do the technical details matter? Yes. Without getting these things right, concepts such as legacy and other income recognition in the sector are inconsistent – figures look distorted, and understanding fades. So, long may the debate continue … and with it, a headache.

Katherine Smithson is a policy officer at Charity Finance Group

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On the first day of FC Barcelona's trip to Thailand, internationally acclaimed players Lionel Messi and Jose Manuel Pinto spent the morning sharing football skills with children who have intellectual disabilities.

Lionel Messi and Jose Manuel Pinto
Credit/Copyright: UNICEF

The players and participants represented a unified group of young people with and without disabilities participating in sport and promoting team-work and partnership.

More: http://www.looktothestars.org/news/10606-fc-barcelona-stars-visit-thailand-with-unicef

American Family Housing (AFH) is hosting their 2nd annual Pigs, Ribs and Watermelon Professional BBQ competition and Beer festival at the Huntington State Beach parking area of Pacific Coast Hwy and Beach Blvd.

Pigs, Ribs and Watermelon Professional BBQ Competition and Beer Festival
Credit/Copyright: Misty Schwartz PR

This is a Kansas City BBQ Society sanctioned event and competing for the $10,000.00 purse will be 50 of the top west coast and some nationally ranked BBQ teams including teams from the TLC reality television show on BBQ Pitmasters. The 2nd Annual Pigs, Ribs and Watermelon Professional BBQ will provide beach goers the opportunity to revel in enjoyment of professionally prepared BBQ treats, craft beers and ice-cold watermelon in Huntington Beach.

More: http://www.looktothestars.org/news/10605-pro-bbq-competition-beer-and-watermelon-festival-to-raise-awareness-of-homelessness-in-orange-county

Speaking to an audience about his bipolar disorder and attempt to commit suicide last year, actor Stephen Fry had some commonsensical things to say.

The president of Mind since 2011, a charity that provides information and support to those experiencing mental health problems, Fry is committed to openly discussing mental illness, including his own.

“I am the victim of my own moods,” says Fry, “more than most people are perhaps, in as much as I have a condition which requires me to take medication so that I don’t get either too hyper or too depressed to the point of suicide.”

More: http://www.looktothestars.org/news/10604-stephen-fry-speaks-about-mental-illness

As risqué as some of Courtney Stodden's wardrobe choices have been, she’s never hit the streets wearing nothing but fresh produce—but all that changed earlier this week when the vegetarian PETA supporter and new “Lettuce Lady” wore only strategically placed lettuce leaves as she served passersby free delicious, humane, and healthy veggie dogs from Hollywood’s legendary hot-dog stand Pink’s.

Courtney Stodden Hits Hollywood In Lettuce Leaf Bikini
Credit/Copyright: PETA

The event took place at Hollywood & Highland Center’s grand staircase on Hollywood Boulevard.

More: http://www.looktothestars.org/news/10603-courtney-stodden-eats-vege-dogs-in-a-lettuce-bikini

Bruce Dickinson, the Iron Maiden frontman who used to be a commercial airline pilot, is teaching UK residents with disabilities to fly.

Dickinson is working with The Royal International Air Tattoo Flying Scholarships for Disabled People (FSDP), a charity created in the memory of flying ace Douglas Bader, a pilot who lost his legs in an aeroplane accident yet continued as a fighter pilot in World War II.

Each year, FSDP provides scholarships to selected applicants with varying disabilities as a way to challenge and inspire them, to focus attention on their abilities rather than everything that they cannot do. The results show improvement in self confidence, outlook and future aspirations.

More: http://www.looktothestars.org/news/10602-iron-maiden-singer-teaches-the-disabled-to-fly

As top health officials are told to get stuck in, England's chief nurse volunteers at a summer camp for sick children

Not all her forerunners as England's chief nursing officer would have been quite so willing to muck in with the maggots. But Jane Cummings has no squeamishness when it comes to dealing with the live bait for the fishing activity at a summer camp for children and teenagers living with serious illnesses.

Or at least she says she has none. When Society Guardian visits the camp, she is busy handing out the fishing poles and administering sun cream. She insists that earlier in the day she did her share of baiting the hooks (and then thoroughly cleansing her hands, of course).

Cummings is serving a week as a volunteer nurse at the camp, which is run by the Over The Wall (OTW) charity, part of the international SeriousFun Children's Network. SeriousFun is modelled on the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp started in the US by actor Paul Newman, who described such camps as places where "kids can kick back, relax and raise a little hell".

Which is certainly what's going on at Bryanston school, in Dorset, where more than 40 young people are taking full advantage of the lavish facilities on the 400-acre site near Blandford Forum. Annual fees at this independent boarding school are £31,000, but OTW fundraises throughout the year to ensure that the week's stay here, as at its other camps, is entirely free for campers.

Daily pressures

And Cummings is plainly happy to help raise a little hell herself. Like all other senior NHS England and Department of Health officials, she is required under new rules to spend a total of a month a year on the care frontline – whether in NHS settings, social care, or related services such as OTW. The directive is a response to the Francis inquiry's finding that, to avoid any repeat of the mid-Staffordshire hospitals scandal, health department civil servants must have a better understanding of the daily pressures faced by care workers, patients and service users.

Announcing the directive in May, health secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "For the department's leaders to hammer home the importance of putting patients first, they need to see for themselves what that actually means."

Some top officials have seized the opportunity with alacrity. Glen Mason, the health department's director of people, communities and local government, has already spent time at a care home in Herefordshire, with a homecare worker in Salford, and alongside a social worker in Brent, north London. "I've been incredibly inspired by these people," he says. "Real heroes of social care demonstrating fantastic value and brilliant practice."

Jon Rouse, director general for social care, local government and care partnerships, has been to a mental health day centre in Durham, a community services team for older people in Leeds, and dementia care services in Tower Hamlets, east London.

"It's all about keeping it real," says Rouse, who joined the health department from Croydon council earlier this year. "As chief executive officer of a local authority I was in and with the community much of the time. Now in Whitehall I am determined not to become isolated. These connecting experiences, roughly every fortnight on a Friday, are also a time for reflection and refreshment. They are becoming part of the rhythm of the role and they represent time well spent."

For Cummings, or "Nurse Jane" as she is known at Bryanston, the week with OTW represents an opportunity to get away from her Leeds office, slap on some facepaint and ground herself in hands-on care delivery. It is no easy number: the routine for the nurse-led medical team – five nurses and three doctors – starts at 6.30am with the preparation of the many drugs that the campers will need to get through the day. It ends late in the evening, after the last activity and "cabin chat" group reflection, although one team member remains on call through the night.

As well as the medical team, there are at least as many adult volunteers as young people. The latter, aged eight to 17, all have life-threatening or life-limiting conditions and need constant support – though the emphasis is very much on allowing them the freedom to be themselves, as Newman, who died in 2008, would have wished.

"They have the time of their lives and they grow in confidence before your eyes," says Cummings. "There's one child here who has never been away from their parents before. It's just brilliant to see, and there's all kinds of feedback from medical teams and hospitals about the difference it makes to their management of their condition, their frame of mind, their 'can-do' [attitude]."

Although OTW has a somewhat cheesy fundraising pitch – "Make a child with a serious illness smile!" – its ethos runs a little deeper than that of other charities that profess to "make a wish come true" for seriously ill or disabled children. As camp director Mark Dwyer explains, the stress of the camp's "therapeutic recreation" is very much on self-achievement and boosting self-worth.

"It's all about challenging the perception of what they can do, whether it's on the climbing wall, at the laser shooting or performing a song on talent night," says Dwyer. "Then we get them to talk about it at cabin chat. There's quite enough people talking for them outside camp."

Cummings, 52, who first got involved with OTW six years ago after she was widowed, says the medical team's approach is to "demedicalise" the camp and make it as normal an environment as possible. Although the youngsters may be very ill – she has met some who have subsequently died of their conditions – the striking thing is how matter-of-fact they are. "You see these tiny kids taking a handful of drugs and just knocking them back," she says. "They just do it. My brother won't take a paracetamol without breaking it up."

It can be quite an emotional experience, even for hardened nurses. One of Cummings's team members admits to keeping a pair of sunglasses perched constantly on top of her head so that they can be discreetly slipped down to conceal the occasional tear.

Do the other nurses and the doctors know that the chief nursing officer is among them? "I don't necessarily broadcast it, but I don't hide it either," says Cummings. "I sometimes will ask them what they think about everything that's going on in the NHS at the moment, but they don't try to bend my ear. And they certainly don't make any concessions to me."

Although it is impossible for her to switch off her phone, and the office does call and email intermittently, Cummings is adamant that nothing must stop her fulfilling her duties on the medical team rota and that, for this week at least, the campers come first.

Campers such as Tom, 17, who has a heart condition and has been coming to camp every summer since he was eight. This will be his last one, because of his age, but he plans to return as a volunteer in 2015 after gaining experience elsewhere next year. "There's really nothing like it," he says. "It's the closest thing to a family you can get."

• NHS
• Health
• Children
• Young people
• Voluntary sector
• Charities
• Social care
• Health policy

David Brindle
theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

We need to take a sledgehammer to assumptions about 65- to 75-year-olds. A bit of voluntary work would go a long way

Now bear with me on this one. It may sound like a flashback to Screaming Lord Such, but it's not. I've spent much of the past four years researching and writing about the challenge of ageing societies, conducting interviews with elders and their relatives in 13 countries on five continents – and I've concluded that we need to radically redefine later life in Britain. First, here's why we need a revolution:

1. The agequake is coming

Between 2010 and 2030 the population over 65 is set to increase by 50%, the population over 85 is set to double. When I reach retirement, in roughly 2040, almost a third of the country will be over 60. Great news for individual life expectancy, but, potentially, social fabric-shredding stuff.

2. The current approach isn't working

The current policy response to this challenge is a miserable two words long: "delay retirement". The state pension age won't stop at 67, 68 or even 70, it'll climb and climb – fine if you love your work, merciless if you're trapped in drudgery, or young and loitering at the bottom of the ladder.

3. There's a broader problem

The place of the elders in British society – as energetic, enthusiastic contributors to our national life, not Martin Amis's "grey tsunami" of healthcare burdens, wealth-hoarders and pensions parasites – needs totally revisiting. It's bad enough that a cultural chasm exists between the generations today (over 3/4 of Britons over 65 agree with the statement "young and old people live in separate worlds nowadays") but it'll be catastrophic in the future.

So what do we do? We take a sledgehammer to the fundamental assumptions about later life in Britain. Because the fact is Shakespeare would have to redraft the Seven Ages of Man today, to accommodate statins, hip replacements and all the other marvels that have created a new age, the all-important "young old", people with the energy and manpower to revolutionise this country (they are already doing it). If you reach 65 in good nick today, you can expect an historically unimaginably 13 more years of disability-free "healthy life-expectancy". The young old represent a staggering civic opportunity for this country – or, if the policy wonks have their way, they are set to serve as just an extra decade of wage-slavery.

But here's my plan: the state pension age should revert to 65. And stay there.

But … you should only get it, automatically, once you hit 75, or if you get "signed off" as an invalid. The rest of us should earn it for a decade. Yup. How? Through our contribution to national life. Through caring, childcare, volunteering (a third of 64- to 75-year-olds already do that), visiting and meeting, teaching and guiding. By doing all the amazing things the "young old" are capable of – that huge swaths of them are doing already, largely unnoticed – and that (this is the nanny state bit) the science unequivocally proves older people should be doing, for their own health and wellbeing. (Social engagement being as powerful a predictor of healthy ageing as smoking or obesity.)

Let's say, 10 hours a week scores you the cheque? (You can tell yourself you've already earned your pension, no strings attached, through 45 years of hard work – but remember, that attitude just gets you 55 years of hard work.)

Financially, we'd lose the cost of supporting many rich, lazy retirees, who'd chose to forgo the state pension for a decade and just play golf, and of people who'd rather keep working. What would we gain? Well, volunteering by older people is already estimated to be worth £10bn a year to Britain, plus £7.3bn in grandparent childcare, so try doubling that. And what we'd gain most of all is a new social contract across the generations, based on an acknowledgement that the growing ranks of older people aren't going to hold Britain back – they're going to help it fly. It's an idea. Any in return?

• Older people
• Communities
• Volunteering
• Pensions
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Brian Schofield
theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

This week, Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project released their latest findings on social media adoption. Even if you’re a socially savvy fundraiser, you’ll find these stats interesting. If you’re still skeptical about social media, this is a wake-up call.

Think about this: Seventy-two percent of all adults online now use social networking sites. While it’s true that younger adults are the most likely social media users, it’s important to know that social media adoption for older Internet users has skyrocketed in the last few years. Some key stats:

• 6 out of 10 Internet users ages 50 to 64 are social media users
• 43% of Internet users 65 and older are social media users
• Social media adoption rates for those 65 and older have tripled in the past 4 years
• 54% of adults age 65+ and 77% of those ages 50 to 64 years old are online (Who’s Online, via Pew)

These trends are only going to grow as generations of netizens age and as technology becomes more ubiquitous and easy to use. As platforms emerge and evolve, the core principles of social activity online will remain very familiar. The time to figure it out is now. So, what does this mean for you?

Stop pretending your older donors aren’t online. Your 60+ donors are not only online, they’re adopting social media as a means of keeping up with the people, brands, and causes they love. More than half of 60+ donors are giving online. Remember: Whether or not your donors ultimately choose to give online, they’re using search, social media, and your website to learn more about you. How are you helping them make the decision to give? Are you making it easy for them to opt to give online?

Create a social media strategy that fits your audience and your mission. It’s not important for you to become a social media expert overnight or to have profiles on every social network. It is important for your nonprofit to have a social media presence on the platforms where your audience already gathers. Pinpoint where the richest conversations about your cause take place and start there.

Find ways to reinforce your message and be part of the conversation via social media. The first rule of social media is: Be present. You can’t just “set it and forget it”; embrace the opportunity to communicate directly with people who are passionate about your cause. Be responsive, ask questions, and provide value. Social media is not just another broadcast channel, it’s a crucial way to build relationships and be top of mind.

Do you have a social media strategy in place for your organization? How are you connecting with older donors online? Chime in with your tips in the comments below or post your social media questions for discussion.

The National Citizens Service is calling for applicants as it recruits for key roles in the UK

David Cameron's flagship volunteering programme for young people, the National Citizens Service (NCS), is starting to take shape and establishing itself as a long-term scheme. Eight months after Stephen Greene, co-founder and chief executive of RockCorps, was announced as head of the NCS's independent management body, the organisation is now in the process of recruiting for other key roles.

The opportunities currently available in marketing and public relations at the NCS trust are targeted at professionals with at least five years experience. A background in the voluntary sector is an advantage. Natasha Kizzie director of marketing and communications at the NCS trust says: "Each of the roles requires different levels of experience; voluntary sector experience is a bonus but not essential. I am looking for marketeers with integrated campaign experience. They must have worked with the youth demographic and be passionate and curious people with strong opinions on cutting edge youth marketing. It is vital that they have worked in multiple stakeholder environments."

The NCS's marketing and PR professionals will be expected to develop longstanding partnerships with the media, youth and "parent-focused" brands in order to sell the NCS message. Their mission is to make NCS "irresistible to young teens," says Kizzie. "I want young people to feel that they have missed out on something special if they have not taken part in the NCS."

The job description for the PR manager however explicitly calls for an individual with the skill to "create communications that depoliticises NSC and makes the programme part of British culture." The manager will however be expected to liaise with the Cabinet Office, which supports the programme.

Kizzie says: "Our key audience is 15- to 17-year-olds – we need to be relevant and engage them in a way that is inspiring and surprising. Sustainability is important for obvious reasons so we are not depoliticising the programme as such, if anything, we want to secure cross-party support."

Sarah Buckley is chair of the public affairs young professionals group of the professional organisation the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR).

Buckley says it is unusual for a PR job description to include the phrase "depoliticise" but adds: "I haven't seen that language before in that kind of public sector role description but I would say that it is borne out of an analysis of what their main reputational risk is which is that it [NSC] may be seen as a political tool as opposed to an excellent way of getting young people into volunteering."

Buckley, who is also the public affairs manager for the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, says the core skills of PR are the same whether working in the public or private sectors: you must be an excellent communicator with good analytical skills. "You need to understand your audience and what needs to be achieved. In PR you also need a really good sense around what the media wants and needs," she says.

Around 50,000 young people have been involved in the NCS since 2011 and the same number again are expected to take part this year. Last August Cameron said that he wanted to see 90,000 young people participate in the scheme by 2014. This year 120 organisations are delivering the programme – which includes residentials and the opportunity to participate in a local volunteering project - across the country.

In September the CIPR is running a NCS workshop in Kent talking to young people about the career options in public relations and the impact of PR. A spokeswoman for the CIPR says: "We want to talk to them about PR as a profession but we also want to explain to them what PR is, and how they are affected by it and make them realise that it is part of their every day [life]."

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Debbie Andalo
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Whenever I see ‘monthly giving’ in a article title, I jump on it, because there’s no more productive way to raise funds from existing donors and I’m always trolling for advice on how to do it better. So here’s 18 Tips to Create a Wildly Profitable Monthly Giving Program, from Gail Perry at Fired Up Fundraising. Gail’s tips range from having the necessary organizational commitment, to solicitation tactics, to how to treat the donors involved. I was struck by her comments about the special treatment these very special donors deserve. Here are three points she made: Give your monthly