Cardboard Citizens changes the lives of homeless and displaced people through theatre and the performing arts.

Mission:
- Present plays performed by homeless and displaced people, to share experiences and problem-solve together.

- Work in partnership to widen the reach of the company’s work and underpin its support for participants.

- Make theatre for general audiences so a wider public can share in the company’s learning and understanding of the issues faced by homeless people.

- Enable excluded people to develop skills and confidence through projects and workshops.

- Meet the practical needs of homeless and displaced people, supporting them in matters of housing, education, employment, health, career and personal development.

Vision:
- Cardboard Citizens strives to be a world leader in its field, creating great theatre that makes a real and positive difference to our society and those living on its margins.

- They know that theatre can be a catalyst for change, growth and learning for participants and audiences.

- They are working to further develop theatre projects in and out of hostels for a wide range of audiences, focussed on the lives of homeless and displaced people.

- They will be supporting people in diverse ways, helping homeless people to play their part in the world, and society to understand how life is lived on the margins.

- Their ambition is to enable every hostel resident in London to be able to access the company’s work, as audience or participant.

- And to offer all homeless or displace people who become involved with the company individual help and support.

- They will produce theatre-based and site-specific productions on a regular and sustainable basis, telling stories of the excluded.

- Every audience member at a Cardboard Citizens show will learn about issues affecting the displaced and homeless people they work with.

- The company will be fully engaged in national and international networks, where appropriate joining in alliances and campaigns to bring unheard voices to the fore. 

- All their partners, peers and friends will have the opportunity to share best practice, knowledge, skills and expertise, and to travel further with us on Cardboard Citizens’ future journey.

http://cardboardcitizens.org.uk/p1.html

FareShare has been operating since 2004 and today has 12 locations around the UK. Established in 1994 as a project within the homelessness charity Crisis, FareShare aims to help vulnerable groups, whether they are homeless, elderly, children, or other groups in food poverty within our communities.

FareShare helps to improve lives:

In 2008/09, the food redistributed by FareShare contributed towards more than 7.4 million meals.
The FareShare Community Food Network has over 530 Community Members across the UK receiving food, training and advice.
Every day an average of 29,000 people benefit from the service FareShare provides.
As well as redistributing food, FareShare provides a programme of education and vocational training opportunities – the Eat Well Live Well programme.

FareShare Helps The Environment:

The redistribution of food by FareShare minimises surplus food going to landfill.
This redistribution of food helped businesses reduce CO2 emissions by 13,950 tonnes in 2008/09.

FareShare’s New Vision:

Open a further 18 depots, bringing the total number to 30.
Provide nutritious food to 2,500 community organisations and charities.
Redistribute 20,000 tonnes of food per year.
Everyday support 100,000 vulnerable people through food provision; as well as provide training and education through our Eat Well Live Well programme.
Offer 6,000 volunteer opportunities.

http://www.fareshare.org.uk/

On an annual basis, Macmillan Cancer Support hosts the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning inviting people globally to participate by getting together with friends and family having coffee, cake and anything else that encourages others to raise money for the work Macmillan carries out. With over £6.5million raised in 2009 to help the charity’s work, 2010’s coffee morning looks set to be even bigger. Macmillan have tapped into an idea that globally, everyone can relate to (drinking coffee) to raise money and raise their profile. A day of tea drinking throughout the UK for instance, could be another idea which has scope to reach everyone, if another charity was to implement it. You can check out the Flickr group of Macmillan’s coffee morning here and be sure to check out the rest of the information on Macmillan’s website here.

Take The Walk is about giving people simple tangible ways to take action against the HIV/AIDS pandemic and poverty in Africa. A small donation, the purchase of a pair of shoes, the download of a song or simply taking a one-mile walk.

The initial launch of the Take The Walk campaign began with one mile barefoot walks staged across America and Canada to help inspire individuals to make an impact through simple actions. Thousands of individuals participated in these walks, lead by the band Hanson in partnership with Toms Shoes, providing thousands of shoes to impoverished children in South Africa.

Now, through TakeTheWalk.net, you can join a walk on Hanson’s The Walk Around The World Tour, a walk hosted by another individual or host a walk in your town. Every mile walked will raise funds to support one of five real causes that will make a difference, with one dollar donated by the Take The Walk campaign for each walker.  You can support: access to medical care, medical treatment, shoes, clean water and education.

The goal of Take The Walk was to walk around the world – 24,902 miles. They currently stand at 28,201.

http://www.takethewalk.net

Buy Once Give Twice was founded in 2007 by Mia Woodford and Emma Leschallas. They felt that there was a need for a trustworthy and enjoyable auction site which was rooted in philanthropy. They work innovatively and pro-actively with all the charities they partner with to help raise more funds for them, as well as having some really lovely things for everyone to buy. Mia’s background is in advertising and marketing (first with Saatchi & Saatchi and subsequently running her own agency). She has extensive charity experience, as a volunteer and auction organiser, and latterly as a JDRF Trustee. Emma has worked in the auction and fine art trade, both in a Bond Street Gallery and provincial auction houses. She has owned and run her own Cotswolds-based antiques business for the past ten years.

Buy Once Give Twice is a network through which people can buy things and benefit charity at the same time. It’s a win-win situation. Charities and bona fide good causes can auction lots on the site. Charity supporters (individual people or companies) can also auction items through Buy One Give Twice – a great way of donating to charity without actually writing a cheque. Buyers can bag themselves items which range from the everyday to the once-in-a-lifetime experiences. And it feels good to be giving, by buying.

Everything from concert tickets to signed celebrity items, all donated by charities or their supporters, with all the proceeds going to the charity nominated by the donor of the item. Have a look at the lots now.

You can see all the charities Buy Once Give Twice helps here. Another site to note is The Giving Machine which uses online retailers to help donate charities. It can be found here.

http://www.buyoncegivetwice.co.uk/