Green day for kids in NSPCC fundraiser

Seventeen schools in Swindon participated in NSPCC's 'Green Day' last week with the charity raising an estimated £10,000 from the initiative.

Pupils from participating schools paid £1 each to wear a green 'non-uniform' for the day which raises money for NSPCC's local services in Swindon.

It's a vast improvement upon last year where the charity raised £3,500 from 6 participating schools and a very encouraging sign for 'Green Gear' in 2012 to mark the 25th anniversary of Childline.

This is an interesting and unique way for a charity to not only raise money but engage with their market and encourage people to get involved with the brand. Maybe GOSH could run something similar around local schools in London....

V.I.P Fundraiser Sees Star's Memorabilia hit eBay

Paul Weller, Ronnie Wood, Coldplay, Mark Ronson, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode & Toploader are among a number of artists auctioning off their guitar plectrums for charity.

The V.I.P (Very Important Plectrum) fundraiser is for the Trekstock cancer charity and LifEbeat Hiv organisation. 

Each lot includes a signed card to verify the plectrum's authenticity and each plectrum is mounted in a special frame (like the above). The eBay.co.uk auction kicked off on Sunday (29May11) and will run until 19 June (11).

This initiative is very similar to the response by punk-rock outfit Blink 182 who auctioned off memorabilia in the wake of the Japanese disaster earlier in the year. Certain lots from bassist Mark Hoppus sold for upwards of $17,000 so it will be interesting to see how much the VIP can raise. 

Watch this space and we'll report back after the auction closes...

Princess Beatrice's hat sells on Ebay for £81,000

The Philip Treacy hat worn by Princess Beatrice at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton has sold on ebay for £81,000. The money was donated to Unicef and Children in Crisis.

Undoubtedly a princely sum for a hat that has been almost universally panned by the fashion critics, the sale will have boosted Unicef's funds as well as their public profile.

Innocent Smoothies hold onto money pledged to charitable foundation

It has been revealed this week that Innocent, the UK's largest manufacturer of smoothies, has been holding onto cash pledged to its charitable foundation. Totaling just over £500,000, Innocent raise the money by pledging 10% of takings to the foundation which helps build community projects in the countries where Innocent source their fruit. However, in analysis of documents filed at Companies House and the Charity Commission, it has been revealed that no money has been donated since 2008. A spokesperson for the company remarked that the company's commitment to charity was "true and decent". She said the foundation benefited by allowing Innocent to look after its money, explaining that Innocent's bank account accrued more interest than that of the charity.

She expressed regret that an "oversight" had led to no interest being paid to the foundation in 2008, and said the charity would be invoicing Innocent for the £5,000, which would have been accrued were interest charged at 2%.

Innocent have also pledged a one-off donation of £250,000 to the foundation for 2011.

Read the full story here

Source: The Guardian

SmokeFree South West create ads encouraging people to only smoke outside

Smokefree South West, an organisation funded by 14 local PCTs, has launched an ad encouraging people to take their smoking habits outdoors by highlighting the risks that smoking inside has on children. An education piece, the ad will run across the South West area in conjunction with National Family Week and National Child Safety week (w/c 23rd May).

Watch the ad here.

Source: Brand Republic