[Mikester92]

UFP Poll Which Charity do you most prefer?
[#39] #153

Our fleet's 9th year anniversary marks a period of celebration, gaming, and unity. Unfortunately such a joyous moment can sometimes be clouded by all the despair around the world. So rather than standing by, the UFP has decided to take a more proactive stance this year, by hosting our first ever charity raffle.

It was decided that instead of preselecting a charity, we'd allow the membership to choose the charity they most prefer. We therefore need you, and the rest of the membership, to cast their votes in the poll above. If you would like more information about this charity raffle, and the potential charities involved, please click here.

Happy Voting!

[Christopher Halsey]

Hmm 15 voters but not that many donators...

[Stormy]

Despite the fact the prizes are great (5,000 Atari tokens = $62.50 USD or 38£ GBP) and raffles are fun, this is an opportunity to do something as a fleet beyond play the game. I have made a donation and challenge others to do so as well.

[Christopher Halsey]

Despite the fact the prizes are great (5,000 Atari tokens = $62.50 USD or 38£ GBP) and raffles are fun, this is an opportunity to do something as a fleet beyond play the game. I have made a donation and challenge others to do so as well.

^ What Stormy said really.

There are some great prizes up for grabs and its nice to have a fleet event that is a bit different from the norm.

Whatever someones reason for taking part, by taking part you are helping to make things better and you are putting yourself in with a good chance of winning some great prizes. It really is win win.

We've shown that we can get quite a bit of money raised during a short space of time, our monthly donations towards the running of the fleet have often exceeded £100, for charity, I challenge us to raise more.

[Grace Pryde]

I'll be donating either today or tomorrow.

[Christopher Halsey]

Here is the basic info on the charities again by the way so you don't need to flick between two threads.

Oxfam



Oxfam is an international confederation of 14 organisations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice. Oxfam works directly with communities and seeks to influence the powerful to ensure that poor people can improve their lives and livelihoods and have a say in decisions that affect them.

Though Oxfam's initial concern was the provision of food to relieve famine, over the years the organisation has developed strategies to combat the causes of famine. In addition to food and medicine, Oxfam also provides tools to enable people to become self-supporting and opens markets of international trade where crafts and produce from poorer regions of the world can be sold at a fair price to benefit the producer.

Oxfam's programme has three main points of focus: development work, which tries to lift communities out of poverty with long-term, sustainable solutions based on their needs; humanitarian work, assisting those immediately affected by conflict and natural disasters (which often leads in to longer-term development work), especially in the field of water and sanitation; and lobbyist, advocacy and popular campaigning, trying to affect policy decisions on the causes of conflict at local, national, and international levels.

Oxfam works on trade justice, fair trade, education, debt and aid, livelihoods, health, HIV/AIDS, gender equality, conflict (campaigning for an international arms trade treaty) and natural disasters, democracy and human rights, and climate change.

Red Cross



The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an international humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide which was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering, without any discrimination based on nationality, race, sex, religious beliefs, class or political opinions.

The movement consists of several distinct organizations that are legally independent from each other, but are united within the movement through common basic principles, objectives, symbols, statutes and governing organs. The movement's parts are:

• The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a private humanitarian institution founded in 1863 in Geneva, Switzerland, by Henry Dunant. Its 25-member committee has a unique authority under international humanitarian law to protect the life and dignity of the victims of international and internal armed conflicts. The ICRC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on three occasions (in 1917, 1944 and 1963).
  
  
• The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) was founded in 1919 and today it coordinates activities between the 186 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies within the Movement. On an international level, the Federation leads and organizes, in close cooperation with the National Societies, relief assistance missions responding to large-scale emergencies. The International Federation Secretariat is based in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1963, the Federation (then known as the League of Red Cross Societies) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the ICRC.
  
  
• National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies exist in nearly every country in the world. Currently 186 National Societies are recognized by the ICRC and admitted as full members of the Federation. Each entity works in its home country according to the principles of international humanitarian law and the statutes of the international Movement. Depending on their specific circumstances and capacities, National Societies can take on additional humanitarian tasks that are not directly defined by international humanitarian law or the mandates of the international Movement. In many countries, they are tightly linked to the respective national health care system by providing emergency medical services.

Unicef



United Nations Children's Fund (or UNICEF) was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II. In 1953, UNICEF became a permanent part of the United Nations System and its name was shortened from the original United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund but it has continued to be known by the popular acronym based on this old name.

Headquartered in New York City, UNICEF provides long-term humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing countries. There are National Committees in 36 industrialized countries worldwide, each established as an independent local non-governmental organization.

UNICEF relies on contributions from governments and private donors. Governments contribute two thirds of the organization's resources; private groups and some 6 million individuals contribute the rest through the National Committees.

UNICEF's programs emphasize developing community-level services to promote the health and well-being of children. UNICEF was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 and the Prince of Asturias Award of Concord in 2006.

Most of UNICEF's work is in the field, with staff in over 190 countries and territories. More than 200 country offices carry out UNICEF's mission through a program developed with host governments. Seven regional offices provide technical assistance to country offices as needed.

Water Aid



WaterAid is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to helping people escape the poverty and disease caused by living without safe water and sanitation. WaterAid is a founding member of the End Water Poverty campaign calling for water and sanitation for all.

WaterAid currently works in partnership with local organisations in 26 countries in Africa and Asia and pacific region to help poor communities establish sustainable water supplies and latrines, close to home. It also works to influence governments’ water and sanitation policies to serve the interests of vulnerable people and to ensure water and sanitation are prioritised in poverty reduction plans.

WaterAid enables the world's poorest people to gain access to safe water and sanitation. Together with improved hygiene, these basic human rights underpin health, education and livelihoods, forming the first essential step in overcoming poverty.

In 2003, WaterAid was named UK charity of the year at the Charity Times Awards. Also, in November 2006 WaterAid was named 'Britain's most Admired Charity 2006', as voted by its peers in the voluntary sector.

WWF



The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States. It is the world's largest independent conservation organization with over 5 million supporters worldwide, working in more than 90 countries, supporting around 1300 conservation and environmental projects around the world. It is a charity, with approximately 60% of its funding coming from voluntary donations by private individuals. 45% of the fund's income comes from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The group says its mission is "to halt and reverse the destruction of our environment". Currently, much of its work focuses on the conservation of three biomes that contain most of the world's biodiversity: forests, freshwater ecosystems, and oceans and coasts. Among other issues, it is also concerned with endangered species, pollution and climate change.

WWF's current strategy for achieving its mission specifically focuses on restoring populations of 36 species (species or species groups that are important for their ecosystem or to people, including elephants, tunas, whales, dolphins and porpoises, and bigleaf mahogany), conserving 35 globally important ecoregions around the world (including the Arctic, the Amazon rainforest, the Congo Basin and the Coral Triangle), and reducing people’s ecological footprint in 6 areas (carbon emissions, cropland, grazing land, fishing, forestry and water).

The organization also works on a number of global issues driving biodiversity loss and unsustainable use of natural resources, including finance, business practices, laws, and consumption choices.

[Christopher Halsey]

Looks like the Red Cross is going to be the members' choice. Deadline for donations is fast approaching! If you haven't taken part yet now is the time to do it! Big thanks to everyone that has taken part already.