If you’re reading this blog it probably means you’ve got kids. And that means you have all the usual parental worries. Those nagging feelings that you’re not quite doing the whole parenting thing well enough, that somehow the needs of your child (or children) aren’t being met.
Well imagine those feelings but your worries aren’t just about emotional needs, but more basic necessities like clean drinking water, ample food or medical care if your children fall ill. That’s what it’s like for millions of parents around the world in developing and third world nations, and that’s why Plan UK works so hard to help children in those countries.
Plan UK relies on child sponsorship to effect serious change, but we all know how strapped people are for cash at the moment and sometimes the thought of giving away just £15 a month to charity can seem daunting. That’s why they have launched a new initiative called Give Up To Give Back. The premise is simple. You give up something small in your life, something that would actually be good for you to go without or have less of and then you use the money you’ve saved to sponsor a child. You see the benefits and so does a child in desperate need. If you’re wondering what kinds of thing you can give up have a look at this infographic from Plan UK for a really simple change you could make today:
So do you think you could give up a single pint of beer a week? Or if you’re not a drinker how about forgoing that lunchtime choccy bar which is adding to your muffin top? Remember that sometimes making small changes can have real big impacts, you don’t have to starve yourself to lose weight, and you don’t have to go teetotal to improve your health. By doing something small you can have a big impact on your life and someone else’s.
The great thing about Plan UK’s work is that they don’t just provide emergency relief, as they did recently with the devastating typhoon in the Philippines, but they work to help build schools and hospitals as well as training staff for them. Their work doesn’t just make the lives of children better now, but for the future too. And what’s also great is that for each child directly sponsored another 55 benefit from the work that Plan does, so your £15 a month really does do something huge.
You can follow the campaign on social media with the #GiveUp2GiveBack and sign up here http://ow.ly/tdt2h
Just remember that the small things in life can be really important.
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine! Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time. KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10. It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania. Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on. Get in touch TODAY!