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It starts with a smile and a promise. An offer of help to a struggling mum or show of affection to a neglected child. A golden opportunity to a hardworking girl who wants to free her family from poverty. But behind the human trafficker's apparent kindness is an industry that causes untold misery around the world.
As Christmas and the season of goodwill approaches (and because we wanted to shine a light on our wonderful child sponsors), we've released some exciting new figures showing the most generous cities in the UK, based on the number of children sponsored across Africa, Asia and South America. Read on to find out the results.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll agree that Tuesdays are often the worst day of the week. You’ve already filled all your colleagues in on your juicy gossip from last weekend, and next weekend is too far away to even think about. But this Tuesday is different. This week it’s #GivingTuesday; the day created to encourage people to do something good for a great cause. In 2015, £6,000 per minute was raised for charities in the UK, breaking the world record for the most amount of money donated online in 24 hours.
As I was eating lunch with my three-year-old over the weekend, I heard a radio interview with Jamal, who had lost 13 members of his family as they fled the conflict in Syria. They had drowned trying to reach the safety of Europe. My son, oblivious to the tragedy unfolding on air, chatted happily to me as he ate his sandwiches, excited about visiting his granny in the afternoon. As a child growing up in the UK with friends and family within walking distance of his home, his life is full of certainty and security.
At night, temperatures on the Greek island of Lesvos are falling to single digits. Refugee families are enduring winter temperatures in thin tents or temporary shelters, quickly constructed out of tarpaulin sheets and poles. Pregnant women and tiny babies are amongst the most vulnerable. They have survived long and dangerous journeys to get to Lesvos, but they are still struggling to keep warm this winter.
Like so many others, one of my new year’s resolutions is to do dry January. Today, new recommendations on reduced alcohol consumption will no doubt encourage more people to drink less. One of our supporters has set himself a sponsorship challenge to go six months without a drop of alcohol, which got me thinking: what could I do to make dry January a really positive experience?