Celebrating International Day of Charity
Every year on September 5th, the world comes together to celebrate the International Day of Charity. This day, established by the United Nations in 2012, aims to raise awareness and provide a common platform for charity-related activities all over the world. Charity is more than just giving money; it’s about making a difference in the lives of others. It fosters a sense of community, promotes empathy, and can lead to significant social change.
How can you get involved?
- Volunteer Your Time: Many organisations are in constant need of volunteers. Whether it’s helping out at a local food bank, participating in environmental clean-up projects or providing a friendly ear to those in need, your time and effort can make a big difference.
- Organize Fundraising Events: Use your creativity and organisational skills to plan events that raise money for a good cause. This could be anything from a charity run, a bake sale, or a concert. Not only will you be raising funds, but you’ll also be raising awareness about important issues.
- Donate: If you have the means, consider making a financial contribution to a charity that resonates with you. Even small donations can have a big impact when combined with the efforts of others.
- Raise Awareness: Use your social media platforms to spread the word about causes that matter to you. Share information, start conversations, and encourage your peers to get involved.
- Join or Start a Charity Club: As a BPP student you’re able to start a club or society dedicated solely to charitable activities! This can be a great way for you to meet like-minded individuals and work together to make a difference.
The International Day of Charity is a reminder of the power of giving and the difference that each of us can make. Over the years BPP and BPP Students’ Association staff members have been involved in various charitable projects, have a look below to see some of the inspiring ways our staff members have raised money or awareness about charities.
Courtney Rolph-Mulvey
In 2016, my dad was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma which is a terminal cancer. Multiple Myeloma is a type of blood cancer that affects plasma cells in the bone marrow, leading to bone damage, infections, and organ complications. In 2022, I participated in Anthony Nolan's 310,000 steps in May challenge and raised £1,200. Anthony Nolan is a UK-based charity that supports people with blood cancer by recruiting donors to their stem cell register, helping patients find life-saving stem cell matches, and funding research into blood disorders. Without this charity my dad wouldn’t have received his life saving stem cell transplant which has granted us with a few more years extra with my lovely dad.
Falak Ali
Working in the Students' Association has provided the team and myself lots of oppurtunities to partake in charitable events. Some of the charities I have managed to fundraise for since working here has included: Bloody Good Period, Mind, Red Nose Day and London Legal Walk.
In August last year, I led a campaign to raise money for charity Bloody Good Period, a charity focussed on providing period products to those in need, alongside offering educational workshops to end the stigma around menstruating. For this fundraiser, we had multiple events taking place including an educational panel with some prolific panellists, a 10,000 steps London walk and a good old fashioned bake sale! We raised £489 for charity, absolutely smashing our previous set goal of £300. I hope in future to run such events again for charity and give back to such worthy causes.
Ed Farnsworth
The first big charity challenge I did was to raise money for Epilepsy Society whilst at Uni in 2016 to do the Inca Trail. I raised £3k in 9 months. There was 40 of us in total, so we raised over £120k collectively. This was through bucket collections at uni, in bars/clubs at 3am (whilst everyone was merry!), London tube station collections, raffles, sporting challenges (running a 10k) and other bits. Below you can see some of our photos, one of all of us in the purple tops with Machu Picchu in the background and then one of me climbing with of mountain in the background
In 2019, I was a team leader for quite a cool and different type of charity challenge. I led a team of around 40 people on a road trip through Europe, from Loughborough all the way to Dubrovnik (challenge was donned Dash2Dubrovnik). We had to buy banged up old cars, worth no more than 500 quid and see if we could make it across Europe in 7 days - against the clock! Some made it and some didn’t! But we raised money for Amnesty International, this time raising around £45k. Same as above, we did his through lots bucket collections, raffles etc. The below photos show the cars we used and and the other is photo of us in the middle of Switzerland somewhere!
With members of PLASHCH, we tackled the Yorkshire 3 peaks. I hadn’t organised any charity stuff in a few years and I wanted to get people in the department doing something different. I love hiking and I like raising money so it was a great opportunity to merge the two. It took a few people well outside of their comfort zone but they all smashed it. We’ve raised over £1.7k so far. Theres two photos below, one before we started where we are all happy and then one up on one of the peaks where we were less than happy...
Another charitable event at work included donning different football/sports shirts in the office to raise money for Coppafeel (breast cancer charity). This hits home with a couple of people in the office, either through losing a loved one or knowing someone who has battled. There's a good number of people in the office who love football, so we managed to raise £50 between us for the day.
Michael Rockson
Mandem Meetup was set up 5 years ago to support men through their mental health.
At Mandem, we have many different interactions that are part of our men’s community that include talking circles, physical activity including football, boxing, climbing, hiking and wild camping. We also have other groups within Mandem that includes photography club, breathwork sessions and chess club, all our activities are free and there is no expectation or judgement.
We want to bring men together and let them know its okay if they are not feeling at their best and that the Mandem are them to support them through both the good and bad moments in life. Another side of the Mandem is to support the homeless in and around the streets of Manchester. We do this with weekly outreach where we provide clothing and amenities to those that need them the most. We also do a yearly 24-hour sleepout where we raise awareness to what it is like to sleep on the streets. All money raised goes back into the Mandem, which allows us to continue to provide all the services we do. This year’s sleepout will be on the 30th November and there will be around 8 BPP colleagues joining.
Below is our Instagram, Website and Link should you wish to donate.
https://www.instagram.com/mandemmeetup/
https://www.mandemmeetup.org/
https://donorbox.org/mandem-meetup
In Summary
We hope this post has inspired you all, especially our BPP students, to use your energy and creativity to drive positive change. Whether it’s through volunteering, fundraising, or simply spreading the word, every action counts.
Let’s come together to celebrate the spirit of charity and make a lasting impact on our communities. Happy International Day of Charity! 🌍💖
Check out the links below to find out more about some of our favourite charities and see how you can get involved or donate!
Anthony Nolan
Macmillan
National Trust
Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)
Comic Relief
Bloody Good Period
Mind
Togetherall
Race Equality Foundation
Epilepsy Society
Amnesty International
Coppafeel