It’s Giving Week 2015! Click here to raise money for MNers’ favourite charities

[JustineMumsnet]

Hi all,

Well we’re delighted to say that today marks the start of Mumsnet Giving Week 2015 in partnership with Just Giving, when we ask you to donate as much as you can to five charities nominated by MNers - and MNHQ matchfunds the total (up to a maximum of £25k, just in case one of you turns out to be a billionaire).

We asked you to nominate on this thread (a rather tear-inducing read in itself tbh) and we’ve whittled it down to these five causes:

Abortion Support Network
Count the Kicks
SWAN UK
Rape Crisis England and Wales
IPSEA

You can find out more about what they do here.

So - what we need you to do now (please) is:

Donate! Remember - only donations via the dedicated pages on JustGiving listed above will be included in Giving Week totals and match funded by MNHQ.
Tell ALL your family and friends - donations don’t have to be from MNers, it all counts! (So long as it’s via the JustGiving pages).
Shout about Giving Week on Twitter and Facebook - hashtag #MNGiving; if you follow us on Twitter @MumsnetTowers and like us on Facebook, you can RT or share our posts there.

If you need further motivation, there’s this from Knotty and Pistey from Woolly Hugs, which was one of last year’s organisations:

‘We received £2391.18 - an extraordinary amount for us. If someone donates £1 we are thrilled, so it was a real game-changer. It has helped to secure our position, which feels FABULOUS. We have been given time, freedom and space to think about taking Woolly Hugs forward, rather than thinking about where the next fiver will come from. We’ve always been ambitious for Woolly Hugs in our hearts, but the funds are helping us to BE ambitious.’

We raised around £23k last year - let’s smash that total this year, eh? We don’t want to have to spend our £25k on biscuits and gin...

[cozietoesie]

That's a good thought, Say.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

I use Desktop and mobile versions. I did get a slider about it earlier, after posting on this thread, but I have developed a mental filter whereby I don't generally look at them, same as adverts. I have also remembered that there was an email from MN in my spam filter when I emptied it earlier, but can't check it now. I'm not being very helpful am I?

[SouthWestmom]

Good choices but I'm disappointed not to see The Samaritans as they were directly approached by mumsnet for advice and now people are directed there.
However, nice varied choices and yes I will donate

[cozietoesie]

I think we all may well have charities close to our hearts, Noeuf, which were either not nominated or didn't make the cut for some reason. There will be other opportunities for MNers including opportunities to volunteer their services if they can't afford to donate at this moment.

[BIWI]

Noeuf - the Samaritans wouldn't have qualified though. This is one of the criteria for selection, from Justine's original post:

A few principles: ideally the organisations chosen won’t be huge, national charities that already get a lot of coverage and fund-raising welly

[SouthWestmom]

Thanks BIWI that makes sense then. Cozie - it was because Mumsnet had asked advice from them following some long running discussions not out of my own personal bias that I felt they could have been included.

[cozietoesie]

I appreciate that, Noeuf - and that's a fair point for future consideration of general MN support I think.

For my own part, I have got some personal bias towards certain causes but as those are biases, I find it useful - as always - to have my horizons widened and the final cut was certainly well worth supporting. I wouldn't have fancied the task of choosing from the very many worthy causes nominated though.

[SouthWestmom]

Cozie true - if you don't know what's out there you can't support it

[timetosmile]

pjsaunders.blogspot.com

There's on interesting post here about potentially illegal activity by the Abortion Support Network, worth a read I think.

The moral or other arguments surrounding abortion/pro-life/pro-choice aside, is anyone from MNHQ around to discuss the points being made here and elsewhere in the media today?

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

Just a quick one to point out that there are a few inaccuracies in that blog post. The Abortion Support Network didn't write our quote for the Telegraph - we did; and we didn't write their JustGiving page (or delete anything from it) - they did.

[ouryve]

I use mobile and desktop, Rowan, depending on which device I'm using. I've had sliders for other stuff, this week, but not this.

[HermioneWeasley]

Bloody hell, I'm shocked by how low the donations to rape crisis are - £721 when I logged on.

[RowanMumsnet]

Please do spread the word Hermione - would be great to get them up to their target, if not beyond

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

I wonder if that's because Rape Crisis is a relatively well known charity compared to the others. Clearly it still met the criteria, but the others are more niche so maybe people are choosing those as probably being more in need.

[JustineMumsnet]

@timetosmile

pjsaunders.blogspot.com

There's on interesting post here about potentially illegal activity by the Abortion Support Network, worth a read I think.

The moral or other arguments surrounding abortion/pro-life/pro-choice aside, is anyone from MNHQ around to discuss the points being made here and elsewhere in the media today?

Here's an update we've posted in response to the Telegraph's reporting of our backing of this charity fyi.

[Justforblogprofileadmin]

I'm guessing that ASN's information-giving in relation to drugs-by-post is carefully shaped to remain within the law and to remain ethical, and that the deleted text stated their practice in too shorthand and casual a manner to convey the care that they take. Which was probably why it was deleted.

"Illegal pills" is a sloppy phrase. What, if anything, is illegal? Selling? Buying? Taking? Whichever, it isn't likely to be illegal to point someone in the right direction to make an order.

And now I've read MN's update it looks like there isn't any illegality in the actual supply of the meds, either.

They are a registered charity and it is unlikely that they would fail to be rigorous about remaining within the law, since illegality would violate their charitable status, on top of any other penalties it might attract.


I hadn't donated, but I will now because the thought of the grief ASN might be getting for this is infuriating.

[ASNMara]

Thanks so much to everyone who has been supporting not only Abortion Support Network but the other charities as well. And to #MNGivingWeek for choosing us!

[HapShawl]

Folks who are concerned about the "medication by post" should watch the documentary Vessel vesselthefilm.com about the organisation Women on Waves/Web to get a full understanding of what happens

[cozietoesie]

Hermione and WhoKnows

I actually wondered whether it was something as simple as their positioning in the list in Justine's OP - ie people starting off with a mind to donate 'so much' and then running out of steam by the time they got to the fourth or fiifth charity? It was an idle and passing thought though.

[HermioneWeasley]

Justinemn the link about ASN just takes me to the giving week page?

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

Well, for me there is one that I have had a great deal of help from in recent years and have been meaning to donate to anyway, so I just went to that one and didn't even consider the others, but I may not be typical in that.

[cozietoesie]

It takes me to the ASN background and donation page on JG.

[cozietoesie]

Who can tell, WhoKnows? I have no particular knowledge of any of the charities in Justine's OP so I just had to respect the views of fellow MumsNetters. I guess we'll all be coming from many different places.

[Heckler]

Great stuff that ASN has been chosen. Thank you MNHQ.

[EcclefechanTart]

Couldn't this go on Discussions of the Day? I've inly just found it and I'm sure lots of other people haven't seen it either. It's especially hard on the phone.