What / Which is your favourite charity and why?

Resurge Africa. Incredibly small charity.

I've always worked for charities - local hospice, Macmillan, Age Uk and CAB. I continue to support the hospice as they do such good work and you never know when you'll need them. Their is a charity called something like smile which funds surgery for children with cleft palate. I keep meaning to give to that as it's something which can make a massive difference to a child's life.

Locally a charity called Jump Space in Stockport who provide rebound therapy for people with disabilities and South Manchester Down Syndrome Support Group. Both charities have provided lots of support for my family.

Nationally MENCAP and Down syndrome association

Another good one is Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY).

They screen anyone aged 14 and up for ‘hidden’ heart conditions. Unfortunately some young people (a very small number) have abnormalities that remain largely hidden yet which put them at risk of sudden death.

Both my children have been done because one of my classmates died from a sudden cardiac event aged 17. Devestating for his family and friends.

Compton Hospice - local hospice to me and a friends husband was in there care and she always talks so highly of them.

Severn Hospice - I did a sky dive for them years ago with my work friends as a nephew of one of my colleagues went there for rest-bite as he was disabled. Lovely charity and they do so much for children with disabilities.

My local Independent school.

The charity I donate most to is our local hospice.

it’s pretty awful though, how dependent hospices are on charitable donations. What kind of civilised country doesn’t fund decent end of life care out of taxes :( ?

I will never forget a lovely friend of mine (and particularly his family) who couldn’t get a hospice place when they really needed it. They had to do the bulk of care at home for weeks and it was brutal and horrendous.

Shelter, Citizen’s Advice and Coram are all excellent charities, as is Contact (for disabled children and families). IPSEA (for special educational needs) is a classy, well-run outfit and helps kids get their legal entitlement.

Thelnebriati · Today 21:11
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Action for Young Carers, who support children who have caring responsibilities.

There shouldn’t be a need for such charities. No children ought to have caring responsibilities. Breaks my bloody heart that they do.

Royal British Legion.
CRUK
National Deaf children Society.

Although I'm a volunteer and trustee for a small local charity, the one I respect and support most financially, is Medicine Sans Frontiers. They're is no-one else doing what they do, and the respect that I have for their doctors, working in such extreme and distressing conditions, is unbounded.

I also like the charities who deliver cataract or cleft operations in the poorest of countries. It's absolutely life changing stuff.

RNLI. Selfless volunteers putting themselves at risk for others.

Air Ambulance and Mountain Rescue for similar reasons.

Women's Aid because they're signposted to daily on MN.

Dementia UK because I've lost someone I adored to this condition.

Mencap because they help vulnerable people who are often forgotten or ignored.

Lend With Care because they invest in entrepreneurs in disadvantaged countries, enabling them to build a better life for themselves and their community.

Medecins Sans Frontiers and the Red Cross. Both manage to get into war torn areas of the world that seem out of reach to other charities. They do amazing work.

Shelter no one should be homeless.

Blue cross they care more than the RSPCA.

I have a monthly direct debit to Dogs4Rescue, based in Manchester. They do amazing work with dogs that often would be pts otherwise. Watching how they bring the animals on is astonishing, and they have a number of dogs living well with significant disabilities.

More locally I have a DD to our city branch of Cats Protection - we had to let our beautiful girl cat go earlier this year after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and then adopted a wee boy through them. He rescued me when my heart was broken, so I am happy to give something back.

My DP had meningitis as a child and has a monthly DD to a charity linked to that, but I can’t remember the name of it.

Ronald mcdonald houses

My Remembrance Day donations will be to Combat Stress and Refugee Action

I like Acts 435 (even though I am an atheist!) because you can choose actual people or families to support and your money goes directly to them.

I also do a monthly donation to Women's Aid (as a result of the stories I have read on the Relationships board here)

Samaritans
Air Ambulance
Wateraid
Red Cross
Sightsavers

Small animal shelters who are struggling to survive financially, and yet work tirelessly to rescue all the animals which the RSPCA refuse to help.

I give only to animal charities.

Why? Because animals don't have a voice, and we treat them so badly.

Apparently, donations to charity in wills are 90% to human charities and only 10% to animal ones.

Womens Aid, DV charities, grief charity for children

or your local school? Im on a pta and we would like to fundraise for playground equipment which is £££. A donation to your local school (all donations raised go directly to the school) might enable them to purchase something like this

Air ambulance - always assumed they got funding - they don’t
local hospice
local children’s hospice
macmillan - I’ve done several of their organised charity fundraisers

Children's Hospice - having a child with a life limiting condition would surely be every parent's worst nightmare
Water Aid - I can't imagine living without fresh water
Crisis - well, if we can't help people when they are in crisis.....
Toilet Twinning - I can't imagine living without a toilet and proper sanitation.
Shelter - housing is such a basic human need, and there are so many people who are in inadequate housing (or none at all)
Homestart - if we can support young families to get off on a sound footing, life will become so much better for the whole family.

Then I think there are so many charities doing such fab work - MIND, National Autistic Society, Scope, British Heart Foundation, Stroke Association, Downs syndrome Association, Dementia UK, MND Association, and all the smaller, lesser known charities that support people with specific medical conditions, and fund research to try to cure, or better still, prevent.

Young Minds.

Invest in mental health as young as you need to, don't let it fester.

Another vote for your local Citizens Advice! The advice they give can be literally life saving, and they do so much to help people who have no where else to turn. They also lobby and campaign to tackle the root cause of the problems people come to them with and are not afraid to speak truth to power.