It is uplifting to note the support of our likeable princes William and Harry for the eradication of the killing of elephant, rhino and tiger for their tusks, horn and body parts, highly prized for trinkets and quack medicine in Asian markets.

The foul and incredibly profitable £6 billion trade has seen the number of elephants decline from 1.3 million to 400,000 in the last 35 years, (with 30,000 a year currently being slaughtered) the number of rhino, killed for the supposed aphrodisiac qualities of their horn, down to 29,000 and the number of tiger down to just 3,500. The profits attract those raising funds for terrorism, so it’s more than overdue for smashing. Continue reading →

As readers will know it will be illegal for supermarkets to give away plastic carrier bags from October 2015, from when they have to charge 5 pence per bag.

Our government’s idea is designed to raise money for Customs and Excise on the back of forcing a charitable donation, and cutting damage to the environment, no doubt all worthy causes. According to Dan Rogerson, an environment minister, the wheeze will generate £95 million in carrier bag sales of which £6 million will go to admin costs, £19 million to the popular VAT and £70 million to “charitable causes” as yet unspecified. Continue reading →

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has fronted a successful operation against cockfighting in New York.

One of the largest of its kind, “Operation Angry Birds” targeted multiple secret locations in Brooklyn and Queens and resulted in nine arrests and more than 3,000 birds rescued. There are large sums of money involved in the illegal and cruel activity with spectators being charged for entry, more if they want a seat, and bets of up to £6,000 being placed on which bird will kill the other.

The state Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman commented “Cockfighting is a cruel, abusive and barbaric practice that tortures animals, endangers the health and safety of the public and is known to facilitate other crimes”.

Animal welfare charities are calling for London food emporium Fortnum and Mason to be stripped of its Royal Warrant, for continuing to sell foie gras.

The expensive and highly profitable delicacy is made from the livers of ducks and geese, grossly enlarged to eight or nine times their normal size by force-feeding the birds huge quantities of grain before slaughter, a process many feel is cruel.

There are now other goose and duck liver products available in the UK that don’t rely on force-feeding. (See letters section of Event Organisers Update, February, for more information).

Never-seen film footage has been released of the Feb 8th night-time bombing raid carried out on a Limoges aero-engine factory in 1944.

A Lancaster bomber flown by Group Captain Leonard Cheshire made three dangerously low-level passes over the factory in a French valley, dropping marker flares rather than bombs, to give the factory workers a chance to escape before the factory was destroyed. All did, save for one man who went back for his bike.

Cheshire, the most decorated pilot in Britain’s Bomber Command, received the Victoria Cross in 1944, and founded the Leonard Cheshire Disability charity in 1948 when he offered his own home for disabled people. He died in 1992, age 74.

The generosity and help of the Seaman’s Mission charity, which supports the families of fishermen through difficult times has spurred the formation of the Fishwives Choir, which now raises money for the charity.

When Jane Dolby from Leigh-on-Sea in Essex lost her fisherman husband in a storm in 2008 she was grateful for the support she received from the Mission and formed the choir with other women who had lost their partners to what is the most dangerous peacetime occupation.

The choir has recorded a fusion of two relevant songs, “When the Boat Comes in” and “Eternal Father” with a poignant video featuring watercolours of some of the men the choir members have lost at sea.

Readers of Charity Matters are offered a free subscription to the long-established London Datebook magazine, aimed at charities and published three times a year, Summer, Autumn and Mid-Winter.

The offer is limited to the first 500 applicants.

email [email protected]  www.thedatebook.co.uk

For the April/May issue of Charity Matters the publisher is starting a new directory, listing those event venues and other suppliers that offer discounts to charities using them, and published at the end of the newsletter.

For the suppliers this will be a low-cost proposition of a total £50 for up to 100 words of text published in six issues over twelve months, which can include details of the venue/product, the charity discount offered and contact details. Suppliers that are also charities can have this flagged up and can book for £40.

Click here for more details.