In Australia approximately 44,000 babies each year require the help of a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit or Special Care Nursery. For families, the experience of having a baby come into the world not as expected or planned is life changing. Without support, this overwhelming experience can have lifelong effects on the emotional well-being of these miracle families. Miracle Babies Foundation is Australia’s leading organisation supporting premature and sick newborns, their families and the hospitals that care for them.
We have some miracle babies in our family, so this cause is one that is very close to my heart, and I’m so happy to be donating 10% of all The Silver Forge proceeds this month in support.
Please do visit my online shop and see if you can find something you love and help this worthy cause today!
The Endeavour Foundation is one of Queensland’s oldest charities, founded in 1951. It is one of the largest non-government disability service providers in Australia. They support more than 3,400 people with a disability, from 230 locations in Queensland and New South Wales. This year, the Endeavour Foundation are holding their Melbourne Cup Day Fundraising Luncheon on 4th November, and they contacted me to see if I would assist with a donation for this fundraising effort.
I’m really pleased to be supporting the Endeavour Foundation again, as I have done before (see here and here).
It is good to know that in our wide and varied community, those who face the challenges in their daily lives that living with a disability presents are able to be supported and nurtured; advocated for and given opportunities to learn and grow and have their varying needs met. I have donated a raffle prize to assist with Endeavour’s fundraising effort, and I look forward to seeing what the prize winner chooses from The Silver Forge shop!
SIDS and Kids is dedicated to saving the lives of babies and children during pregnancy, birth, infancy and childhood; and supporting bereaved families. They deliver on their vision through world class research; evidence based education and bereavement support; and advocacy.
In Australia each year over 3,500 families experience the sudden and unexpected death of a baby or child, either through stillbirth or during the first month of life, from sudden unexpected death in infancy (SIDS or fatal sleeping accidents), SUDC (sudden unexpected death in childhood) or accident.
Sadly, for many of these deaths there is no known cause. For example, more than half the deaths of unborn babies during the last 8 weeks of pregnancy each year are unexplained.
SIDS and Kids works to find answers for parents by funding and supporting vital research into stillbirth, SIDS and safe sleeping practices. Through evidence based community education we aim to prevent these deaths and we advocate for and support bereaved families.
I’ll be donating 10% of all The Silver Forge proceeds to this very worthy cause this month, so if you can help out, do pop into The Silver Forge shop and get yourself a little something at the same time!
White Ribbon is Australia’s only national, male led campaign to end men’s violence against women. The White Ribbon vision is to have all women live in safety free from all forms of men’s violence. Their mission is making women’s safety a man’s issue too.
The campaign works through primary prevention initiatives involving awareness raising and education, and programs with youth, schools, workplaces and across the broader community.
White Ribbon’s website says “Intimate partner violence is the most common type of violence against women, affecting 30 per cent of women worldwide, according to the 2013 World Health Organization report ‘Global and regional estimates of violence against women: Prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence’.
Violence against women is a serious problem in Australia, where:
Over 12 months, on average, one woman is killed every week as a result of intimate partner violence.
A woman is most likely to be killed by her male partner in her home.
Domestic and family violence is the principle cause of homelessness for women and their children.
Intimate partner violence is the leading contributor to death, disability and ill-health in Australian women aged 15-44.
One in three women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence perpetrated by someone known to them.
One in four children are exposed to domestic violence, which is a recognised form of child abuse.
The cost of violence against women to the Australian economy is estimated to rise to $15.6 billion per annum.
One in five women experience harassment within the workplace.
One in five women over 18 has been stalked during her lifetime.”
I’ll be donating 10% of all The Silver Forge sales for September to this very worthy cause, so if you’d like to help out, head over and and get yourself or a woman you love a little something from The Silver Forge shop, knowing that you’ll be making a difference.
Koalas are in danger. Koalas in the wild face a series of threats to their continued survival mostly stemming from destruction of their habitat for human uses and associated threats like cars, dogs and disease.
The mission of the Australian Koala Foundation is to diminish the threat to the survival of koalas and to increase global consciousness and to reverse the rapid degeneration of all the world’s flora and fauna.
I’ll be donating 10% of all The Silver Forge sales for August to this worthy cause, so if you can, get behind it and treat yourself to something lovely from my shop at the same time!
UNICEF is the United Nations Children’s Fund. UNICEF’s vision is of a world where the basic rights of every child will be met.
UNICEF works in over 190 countries to promote and protect the rights of children. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, clean water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and HIV.
Every child deserves these basic provisions, and I’m proud to support UNICEF this month with 10% of all The Silver Forge sales.
Kelly got in touch with me again this year, as she is arranging another fundraiser, to be held on 5 July at Vani-T Emporium in Glenelg to raise much needed funds for HeartKids. HeartKids are dedicated to providing support, encouragement and hope to families of children with heart disease, while raising awareness and providing vital funding into researching the causes of this chronic disease.
I was happy to donate a gift certificate to this worthy cause, which I was also pleased to help out last year. Good luck, HeartKids, I hope this year’s fundraiser is another success!
Butterfly with Blue and Orange Wings Resting (photo credit Katherine Sevon)
The Endeavour Foundation is one of Queensland’s oldest charities, founded in 1951. It is one of the largest non-government disability service providers in Australia. They support more than 3,400 people with a disability, from 230 locations in Queensland and New South Wales.
This year, the Endeavour Foundation are holding their 63rd Anniversary Gala on 21st June, and I was contacted by them to see if I could assist with a donation for this fundraising effort.
I’m really pleased to be supporting the Endeavour Foundation again, as I did last year.
It is good to know that in our wide and varied community, those who face the challenges in their daily lives that living with a disability presents are able to be supported and nurtured; advocated for and given opportunities to learn and grow and have their varying needs met. I have donated a raffle prize to assist with Endeavour’s fundraising effort, and I look forward to seeing what the prize winner chooses from The Silver Forge shop!
It’s a very scary thought – since we humans started making plastic, millions of tons of it have entered our oceans. Plastic NEVER biodegrades, and so it simply bobs around in the sea. Due to the movement of the water around the world, this discarded rubbish concentrates in five rotating currents, called gyres. The Ocean Cleanup is developing world’s first feasible method to rid the oceans of plastic. The Ocean Cleanup’s goal is to extract, prevent, and intercept plastic pollution by initiating the largest cleanup in history.
At least one million seabirds and one hundred thousand marine mammals die each year due to plastic pollution. The survival of many species could be jeopardized by plastic debris. On top of that, plastic pollution is a carrier of invasive species, threatening native ecosystems, to say nothing of the economic and health effects this plastic waste has on human beings.
While diving in Greece, Boyan Slat became frustrated when coming across more plastic bags than fish, and wondered: “why can’t we clean this up?” He decided to dedicate half a year of research to understand plastic pollution and the problems associated with cleaning it up. This ultimately led to the passive cleanup concept, The Ocean Cleanup. A team of approximately 100 committed people, performing research in the fields of engineering, physical oceanography, ecology, finance, maritime law, processing and recycling, are all working to make this concept a reality.
An array of floating barriers and platforms are attached to the sea bed to concentrate the plastic before extracting it from the ocean – a collection process which is 100% driven by the natural winds and currents. Instead of nets, solid floating barriers make entanglement of wildlife impossible. Virtually all of the current flows underneath these booms, taking away all neutrally buoyant organisms, while the lighter-than-water plastic remains in front of the floating barrier, up to the microscopically sized particles. The scalable array of moorings and booms is designed for large-scale deployment, covering millions of square kilometers. Thanks to its projected high capture and field efficiency, a single gyre can be covered in just 5 years. The method is theoretically highly cost-effective.
What worthier cause than the health of our beautiful oceans? 10% of all The Silver Forge sales will be donated to The Ocean Cleanup this month. Head to my shop now to help out, won’t you? I love to support enterprising and hardworking people dedicating themselves to the future of our planet!
Steve Irwin – a man of passion and integrity, who did his utmost to change the way the world views wildlife. His tireless work for his worthy cause and his legendary enthusiasm have always captured my heart, and the hearts of millions of us all around the world.
I read ‘Steve and Me’ a while back, written by Steve’s wife Terri; as well as being a great and moving read it further increased my admiration for both Steve and Terri and their wonderful work, and inspired me to do something – however small – to help. Without wildlife, we are nothing, and the conservation of nature is incredibly important.
Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors are carrying on Steve’s legacy. Wildlife Warriors believe that people, wildlife and habitat should be able to survive and prosper without being detrimental to the existence of each other. Their objectives are:
To protect and enhance the natural environment
To provide information and education to the public and raise awareness of wildlife issues
To undertake biological research
To research, recommend and act in the protection of threatened or endangered species.
To enter into cooperative arrangements with like-minded organisations
I am proud to support Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors this month, by donating 10% of sales from The Silver Forge. Shop up and help save the planet!
