We’d like to try a Mumsnet Giving week - tell us your thoughts/ which projects you'd like to support

[JustineMumsnet]

Now then: without wanting to gush, one of the great pleasures of toiling at Mumsnet is watching how much you all give to one another - in terms of advice, humour and friendship, obviously, but very often in material ways, too.

Over the years, we've made a few ad hoc donations to causes and charities close to Mumsnetters' hearts, but I've been pondering how we might formalise the goodwill and try to do a bit more. And I thought it might be an idea to give a Mumsnet Giving Week a go.

Here's how it could work... (and do bear in mind that this is a first pass and we're very much open to suggestions on how to improve/refine the idea; if it works well, we'd like to make it an annual event). Together, we settle on some deserving causes that could do with our collective support: maybe you're trying to bring a community garden back into bloom, for example, or want to start a support group for parents of children with SEN, or are trying to raise funds to buy a piece of vital equipment for a good cause. Or there might simply be a deserving small charity that you want to support.

Once we've agreed who we'd like to back, we'll then have a week in which we promote and highlight them, and in which Mumsnetters can donate as much or as little as they choose, via a Yimby crowdfunding page (here's a bit more about Yimby.com, a new crowdfunding community for social good).

At the end of the week, MNHQ will match your donations (although I think we'll have to set a £25k limit for match funding, just in case one of you turns out to be Bill Gates and drops a million - which of course would be marvellous, but would also leave us struggling to meet the payroll).

If this all sounds ok to you, we'd like your suggestions for projects we should support on this thread. They don't have to be registered charities; indeed, our feeling is that national charities don't tend to struggle for exposure and are probably not in most need of our support. Instead, we'd love to use this as an opportunity to give smaller organisations and community projects some airtime. And because we also want to make sure that the causes are ones that existing Mumsnetters have settled on, we're only going to shortlist projects suggested by members who are registered as of now. (Apologies to newbies who join after this point, but there's always next year.)

After this thread's been up for a bit, we'll go through it, pick a shortlist of five and ask the Mumsnetters who submitted the ideas to start a Yimby crowdfunding page in support of them. We'll then - with much fanfare - announce the start of the Giving Week, during which we'll encourage everyone to donate. And at the end of the week, we'll match what's raised.

Do hope you think this is a good idea - please shout if you think it's lousy or we've missed a trick... Otherwise, please submit your nominations for deserving projects below.

Hi I would like to nominate a small local charity (LB Richmond Upon Thames) called Twenty One and Co www.21andco.org.uk They are committed to enhancing the lives of children with Down Syndrome and their families.
They provide help and support to new parents, baby groups, children's groups, teenagers discos and much more. It is run by parents for parents and all are welcome.

I would like to nominate Towards Tomorrow Together. They are a small charity which offer support to bereaved families at the worst time in their lives. This involved educating health professionals, offering memory boxes for bereaved parents to take home from hospital and also running services which enable bereaved parents to talk about their experiences in a safe space. It's work truly is invaluable and the charity was developed by a bereaved mother after losing her son in 2009.

www.towards-tomorrow.com/

I think this is a great idea. Smaller charities need so much help. I'd like to nominate the charity that I run, Towards Tomorrow Together (1151022). 4 years ago my son Finley died during labour and I started to help others in the same situation.

We have been registered a year now.

We supply resources to hospitals, to support parents at the time of their loss, and support directly to parents. We supply cold cot systems, which help to allow extra time with their angel babies. They cost £1800 to supply.

We also supply Butterfly Memory Boxes (as shown in the photo if it attaches). These contain lots of different items to help parents make memories with their babies. They cost £38 to supply each one. We supply approximately 100 every 3 months to hospitals in the UK

We run peer support groups for parents, fund days out for families that have lost a baby and have other young children.

We have several project in planning which we cannot afford to start yet, so the help from Mumsnet would be amazing. We can then help parents pregnant after a loss, and provide specific resources to parents who have a miscarriage.

my e mail is [email protected] if anyone needs more information.

website is www.towards-tomorrow.com

Hi, I popped on to say it is great to support smaller charities, they do great work. It's a pretty impossible task to choose between one life changing organisation and another.

And I wanted to mention that some charities that may appear big actually aren't. For example, every CAB is an independent, individual charity that has to source it's own funding.

I would like to actually nominate my non profit organisation Precious Memories. It was set up by myself in 2012, following the loss of my little boy at 20 weeks gestation. Precious memories provides baby loss memory boxes to my local hospital and to those that request them. www.precious-memories.org is our website.
Thanks

I would like to nominate my friend's amazing charity Little Fingers which supports bereaved parents following stillbirth miscarriage and neo-natal death. My friend established the charity last year after receiving very little information and support following her own stillbirth back in 2012. Little Fingers has initially produced a book which is being made available to families across a number of hospitals in the midlands and beyond thanks to lots of hard work fundraising and charitable donations. This is just the start for Little Fingers. The charity wants to reach out further, provide the books as widely as possible and build on the work that it's started. Please support Little Fingers! www.littlefingers.org.uk/

I second the nomination for Women's Aid.

I'd also like to suggest PANDAS Foundation which supports women with ante and postnatal depression, although few know about it www.pandasfoundation.org.uk and the Antenatal Results and Choices charity www.arc-uk.org which helps parents and HCPs.

Great idea. I would like to nominate the charity 2 Wish Upon A Star www.2wishuponastar.org/, a charity established to raise funds to improve bereavement services initially in South Wales.

The charity's emphasis is on bereavement support for parents after losing their child suddenly and traumatically. Its aims include: ensuring every A & E Department in South Wales has a suitable bereavement suites for bereaved relatives, bereavement boxes are available for parents at each of these hospitals, immediate bereavement support is available for parents and siblings and to provide a professional counselling service for bereaved parents.

The charity was established by an amazing woman following the sudden loss of her son and the loss of her husband 5 days later.

Popped on again to say that Women's Aid is one of those charities that people think is massively well resourced but isn't. As others have said, not a day goes by without it being recommended on MN, and I'd love to see MN give something back.

The same goes for CAB, as I mentioned.

I like it can we please support Christian around Britain he got no help and had to sleep in people's garages and sheds because he'd made a pledge to sleep outside while he did it

Failing that we are setting up a local mums n tots music group to help isolated mums we live rurally we could use some help with instruments and cd's

I'd like to nominate Haven House Children's Hospice. www.havenhouse.org.uk

They help families with children who have complicated and often rare medical conditions which means they are unlikely to live to adulthood. The nurse led service, run from a locally, listed, 5 bedroom former family home, offers respite and day care to children aged 0-19 and practical and emotional support services for mum, dad, brothers and sisters.

They are also there when the worst possible news is given and helps families prepare themselves for life after their child has died.

Whether you have children, grandchildren or are an auntie, you will know how precious a child's life is. Haven House offers holistic care to families, to ensure that every day in their short lives is treasured.

Thank you

I would like to nominate the NCCA UK Oscar Knox Appeal
www.justgiving.com/oscarappeal

This beautiful wee boy had a long and brave battle against Neuroblastoma childrens cancer. The family had to travel from Northern Ireland to London to get specialist treatment, and then on to the USA for treatment. The appeal was initially set up to help pay for the expensive treatment in America.

At this moment in time, there are no treatment options in the UK which would give Oscar access to the immunotherapy that he desperately needs to give him the best chance of life. Parents have been waiting since March 2010 for a new immunotherapy trial to open that all UK children with neuroblastoma can take part in. However, they are still waiting.

Oscar passed away yesterday afternoon.
www.facebook.com/OscarKnoxAppeal?fref=nf

Although local to Northern Ireland, this appeal aims to get the UK trial up and running and to help other children in the same circumstance.

Instead of one particular charity could it suggest the money raised is given to a neuroblastoma appeal, to be split between a number of individual appeals?

Great idea! (The giving week - not my idea!)

I would like to nominate Elliot's Footprint, a new charity, launched in March this year to provide families with support, information and counselling after the loss of a child. My friend Andrea lost her sweet and lively little boy, Elliot, totally unexpectedly at the age of 2, in March last year, and found that their grief and devastation was compounded by the lack of support available to parents and siblings finding themselves in their position. Andrea blogged about her experience here recently and is working hard to help families get better support and care in future: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/guest_posts/a2031013-Guest-post-When-my-little-boy-died-I-was-given-a-leaflet-Where-is-the-support-for-bereaved-parents
Please consider supporting this cause! Thanks.

Winston's Wish - have done incredible things to help bereaved families. Also, Changing Faces that do so much good work for children's self esteem when they are born with, or end up with facial disfigurements. Both brilliant charities.

I would like to nominate my friend Robbie

Robbie was in a car accident last September and has suffered permanent and life-changing damage to his spine. He will never walk again and is confine to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

The NHS have given him an amount of money towards a wheelchair but not enough for him to be comfortable and to have the independence to live a full and happy life. We have collected a small team of people to fundraise for Robbie, he is really down and out at the moment, living in a temporary bungalow 45 miles from his friends and family while the council sort him out somewhere to live so I have taken the bulk of the charity organising to try and get him some help from anywhere. I met with the local Lions today who said they would be able to offer some help and every other day I haul my rather large backside around the town because Robbie and I are planning to run a half marathon together in October to fundraise for him.

I know we aren't 'a charity' we are just a group of people devastated by the change in our friends circumstances but it is a worthy cause and it is little things like this that often get overlooked and are hard to fundraise for.

We would love to be considered for any help from kind Mumsnetters, after all it was only through Mumsnet that I got some help finding out who to contact RE funding assistance.

We are doing everything we can our end, I've spoken to the local paper who will support us and even contacted the local parish to see if they can help. Any support at all, would be a huge boost for us and help us see some light at the end of the tunnel. We aim to have Robbie his wheelchair by the end of the year if at all possible.

Great that you guys are doing this, I hope our pledge doesn't seem too selfish next to such worth, general charities.

I would like to nominate a pregnancy charity called Count The Kicks (www.countthekicks.org.uk)

Count The Kicks educate mums-to-be on the importance of monitoring baby movements, and provide the latest guidelines on how to do so. This knowledge empowers mums to report any change in movement to their midwives and, ultimately, saves lives of babies which may otherwise be lost.

I am a volunteer for the charity and receive messages of thanks from mothers daily, as they followed our message and their baby was delivered in time. I also get messages from parents who weren't so lucky, and who wish they had known about us sooner.

Count The Kicks is a really relevant charity for the users of Mumsnet :)

I would like to nominate 'Count The Kicks' Charity, a completely relevant and vital charity aiming to support and give knowledge to moms-to-be in an attempt to prevent stillborn births.

Three in a row support for that one - "Count the kicks" as sadly I know several people who have suffered the still birth of their baby, and I feel that as a society more could be done to prevent this tragedy - though sadly not always of course (so if you look at and compare national stats on still-birth and neo-natal death some countries are doing better than UK)

I'd like to nominate a charity very close to me , Haven House Childrens Hospice in woodford green. It provides respite, end of life and bereavement care for children with life threatening and life limiting conditions aged 0-19 and does an amazing job.

At the risk of outing myself mrsdevere I work there, but don't live local x