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Generate free funds for Children of Colombia this Cyber Monday with every online purchase if you sign up to Give As You LIve

Raise free funds with your Cyber Monday Shopping

It’s Cyber Monday and many of us will be looking for online shopping bargains.  Lots of people – and especially charities – are feeling the pinch as a result of Covid-19 restrictions so getting a good deal is even more important this year.  And with Give As You Live you can make the most of the bargains and help Children of Colombia at no cost to you.

Hundreds of top brands, supermarkets and High Street stores including Boots, John Lewis, Asos, Argos and many more have signed up to the scheme.   They will donate between 1 and 4 per cent (and sometimes more) of every online purchase you make to Children of Colombia – so easy and completely free to you!

With many shops still closed in the current Covid-19 lockdown and Christmas just a few weeks away it’s easy to surf the web for gifts for family and friends, great offers for the home, a wardrobe update or decorations to make this Christmas as special as possible to make up for having to celebrate with limited numbers this year.  And you can have double satisfaction of getting a great deal on your shopping and helping vulnerable children at the same time

Please click https://www.giveasyoulive.com/join/childrenofcolombia? now – select Children of Colombia as your chosen charity and opt for a reminder every time you visit an online shopping site so you never miss a chance to raise free funds and know you are doing something to help others every time you buy.

What better way to make Christmas a little better for the children and young adults we support in Bogota and the Amazon, Colombia, South America.

Thank You!

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Get free donations with every online purchase this Black Friday with Give As you LIve

Free Charity Donations with Online Purchases this Black Friday!

Did you know that major supermarkets, High Street brands and even comparison sites will donate between 1%-4% (and sometimes more) of your online spend to Children of Colombia with no cost to you if you sign up to Give As You Live? It’s such an easy but little known way to generate free funds – something we can all do with minimum effort once we know about it! 

Lots of us have turned to online shopping during the current pandemic. With shop closures and social distancing restrictions, it has proved a lifeline to have home deliveries of essential items and still buy gifts for friends and family for important occasions like birthdays and anniversaries.

“I’ve raised over £100 for Children of Colombia since signing up with Give As You Live – mostly from doing my mum’s weekly grocery shop online when she was living at home and couldn’t get to the shops herself,” writes Children of Colombia Secretary Gwyneth Simmons.  “If I buy clothes or gifts online for birthdays or Christmas each purchase generates a percentage which goes straight to the charity with no admin or fuss on my part. It’s really easy. And in these difficult times, when the charity needs all the support it can get to help children and young adults who are vulnerable or suffering, it’s hard to find a reason not to raise free funds when you can.”

Just click on the link below to sign up:

https://www.giveasyoulive.com/join/childrenofcolombia?

Amazon also gives a percentage of every purchase to Children of Colombia if you sign up to Amazon Smile. https://www.amazon.co.uk/amazon smileOnce signed up, just sign in to your Amazon Smile as you would to Amazon and carry on with your shopping as usual. 

Online purchases are likely to peak this weekend when prices are slashed and pre-Christmas sale events are scheduled for what has become known as Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday. So please consider signing up to Amazon Smile and Give As You Live today and know you are helping Children of Colombia with every online Christmas present or grocery order.

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Christmas Bed Appeal – Let’s Make it 3!

Wow – we are overwhelmed by your kindness and generosity.  Our £725 target – enough to buy one hospital-grade bed for Luz y Vida’s new special care unit – was smashed on Day 1 of our Appeal.

So we are raising our goal to THREE beds to improve the comfort and care of children or adolescents with serious health conditions at the Luz y Vida residential care home in Bogota, Colombia.  The unit has the capacity for 40 beds and three would get them off to a great start.

Read all the details on our Just Giving campaign page and our Blog.

Or click Donate to contribute directly to the appeal right now.

A huge Thank You to everyone for every donation small or large.  Every little helps to improve the quality of life and care of the much loved but very seriously ill children at the inspirational Luz y Vida home.  Children of Colombia is raising funds to buy specialist electric hospital beds to give better care and comfort to very sick children at the Luz y Vida residential home, Bogota, Colombia

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Children of Colombia is raising funds to buy specialist electric hospital beds to give better care and comfort to very sick children at the Luz y Vida residential home, Bogota, Colombia

Children of Colombia Christmas Bed Appeal

Please help our new Christmas Bed Appeal raise £725 to buy a SPECIALIST HOSPITAL GRADE BED to improve the care and comfort of a young person with serious medical problems.

Donate Now

The Bed Appeal – Children of Colombia’s Christmas Campaign – starts today 20 November and will run over Christmas until 31 December 2020.

All money raised will go to purchase an adjustable, electrically operated hospital-grade bed for the new Special Care unit at the Luz y Vida residential home in Bogotá, Colombia which cares for 230 children and young adults with serious mental and physical health problems.  Entertaining children with serious health conditions at Luz y Vida residential care home Bogota Colombia

Luz y Vida Director Hermana Valeriana Martín explains:

“Our new Special Unit is being developed to care for children with more serious disabilities and illnesses.  The health of these children can suffer significantly without specialist care.  The new unit will provide them with a more suitable space where they can benefit from equipment that is specially designed to make them more comfortable and make it easier to deliver the care they need.”

Hogares Luz y Vida is currently caring for children and young adults suffering from Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, crystal skin (Epidermolysis Bullosa), hearing loss, blindness, mental and developmental delay, chronic and acute malnutrition, gastrostomy (gastric tube feeding), quadriplegia and cancer.

The beds they need are electrically operated and adjustable to five different positions to raise the patient’s back or legs or the mattress height and make it easier for carers to attend to the child’s needs.  They have IV (Intravenous Therapy) stands and custom-built mattresses to help prevent bedsores and improve patient comfort.  They are on wheels with brakes so are very stable but can be easily moved when necessary.  They are sourced from Biosmedic, a reputable medical equipment supplier in Bogotá and you can read a full product description here.

Each bed costs just over £725.  We hope to raise enough to buy at least one bed in our Christmas Bed Appeal.  To find out more or to donate now please visit our Just Giving campaign page 

Thank you!

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autumn leaves seen on Gwyneth's lockdown challenge to raise funds for Children of Colombia's Bed Appeal

Gwyneth’s Lockdown Fundraiser – Week 3

I was doing so well, encouraged by daughter Bryony who is in my “bubble” who joined me on some very damp and muddy walks.  But yesterday was so grey and miserable we opted to stay home and bake cake (and eat it!).  So I only managed eight hours again in week 2 of my Give As You Live “fundraise from home” challenge.  Another £10 for Children of Colombia – £5 for each hour below target.

https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/beat-the-lockdown-blues

All the money raised will go to Children of Colombia’s Bed Appeal – our exciting new Christmas Campaign which will be launched TOMORROW so watch this space…..

Meanwhile, here are some photos from our walks in the Coln Valley near Chedworth and Greystones Farm near Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire.

 

 

 

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Gwyneth’s Fundraiser – Week 2

Well I blame the weather – it has been very damp – but I only managed eight hours in week 1 of my Give As You Live “fundraise from home” challenge.  A bit of a failure for me but a win for Children of Colombia as I have put £10 in the pot: £5 for each hour below target.  But that’s probably what I saved on fuel over the week so not a great sacrifice and it will help the kids get through the Covid-19 crisis in Colombia.

Did you know that HMRC will increase donations from UK taxpayers who add Gift Aid by a massive 25% with no added cost to themselves?

And you can raise more free funds for Children of Colombia every time you shop online simply by registering with Give As You Live.  Leading supermarkets, travel companies and lots of big name High Street stores will donate a percentage of your spend with every transaction.  Such a painless and effective way to keep those donations coming in.

Well here’s to the start of Week 2 – and looking forward to some more walks in the lovely Gloucestershire countryside in the autumn sunshine (hopefully!).  Here are some pictures of my walk around the ancient Rollright Stones.

https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/beat-the-lockdown-blues

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Getting Outdoors in the Fundraising at Home Challenge

Beat the Lockdown Blues – Gwyneth’s Challenge!

Hello – I volunteer as secretary for Children of Colombia and help write this website blog.  With the sad prospect of no tennis or golf – my go to fixes for exercise, fun and catching up with friends several days a week – I decided to take my own advice  and set up a lockdown fundraising challenge from home with Give As You Live. My target is to spend 10 hours a week taking some form of exercise outdoors – walking, gardening or the occasional jog if I feel very enthusiastic – and raise money for Children of Colombia along the way.

This should get me out of the house and away from the computer screen to see other people (at a distance, but at least I’ll know they’re still out there and doing the same as I am!), enjoy the stunning autumn countryside on my doorstep and help my mental and physical wellbeing in this difficult time.

At this time of year, when it’s frosty in the morning and dark by 4 with the prospect of winter ahead it’s easy to feel down in this part of the world. With Covid-19 and lockdown increasing anxiety and isolation, even more important to try to maintain our mental and physical health. Exercise raises levels of endorphins – and seratonin and other feel good neurochemicals – which can lower symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress:

“While meditation, laughing, or eating chocolate do raise endorphin levels, they don’t raise them as much as exercising intensely for an hour or more.” —J. Kip Matthews, PhD

Though I’ll probably try the chocolate too, just for good measure!

So – while I’m helping myself, I can also do a small something to help Children of Colombia. The children and young people the charity helps are much more vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic than most of us and need extra care, love and support during this difficult time. I will give £5 a week when I achieve my 10 hour goal – and £5 for every hour below my target. A win win for Children of Colombia and hopefully for me too! It won’t raise a fortune, but a little goes a long way in Colombia and every little helps. Let’s get started while the sun’s shining!

https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/beat-the-lockdown-blues

Images from my first walk – found a new friend!

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Fundraise for Children of Colombia from home with Give as You LIve

Take a Lockdown Fundraising Challenge!

From today, everyone in England is facing the challenge of a new lockdown for the next four weeks in the battle to prevent the spread of Covid-19.  It’s not quite as strict as the first lockdown in March so some of us will have a daily routine and social contact in school and work.  But others will be stuck at home again with very limited leisure and social activities available to them.  We all need to find ways to occupy, entertain and keep us mentally and physically strong through the next four weeks.

A great way to help yourself and others is to set a fundraising project or goal at home. You can set yourself a challenge and at the same time know you are helping children in Colombia who desperately need support in these difficult times.

Luz y Vida cares for sick children in Bogota, Colombia who are especially vulnerable to the risk of Covid-19 There are over a million confirmed cases across Colombia.  Admissions to the Hogares Luz y Vida residential home in Bogotá increased by 10% to the end of June 2020.  They are now  caring for 230 children with severe mental and physical health conditions who need extra special care as they are particularly vulnerable to the risk of Covid-19.

Covid-19 has hit families especially hard in the Colombian Amazon where Natütama staff have been helping to distribute urgently needed food and medical supplies.  Fénix is working hard to provide psychological and educational support for young students experiencing lockdown in potentially abusive or dangerous conditions.

Do something to help them and yourself – keep your mind and body healthy with a fundraising challenge from the comfort of your own home! No matter what you do – cooking, exercising, healthy eating/lifestyle, home or garden projects – collect vital donations for us with a free fundraising page from @GiveasyouLive > https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/charity/childrenofcolombia?

Have fun, keep busy and let us know how you are getting on – we’d love to share your experiences!

 

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