It’s cold, it’s dark, it’s wet and Spring can’t come quickly enough. For most of us there is shelter and respite waiting at the end of a day, but not everyone is so lucky. Thousands of people across the UK do not have secure housing, forcing people to sleep rough on the streets or in overcrowded bed and breakfasts or squats. It is hard to quantify the amount of people affected by homelessness - a term which does not just apply to those who sleep rough. Many people sleep on the sofas of friends or family. This means they are not counted in official numbers, making it harder to campaign for policy changes. Some people are more susceptible to homelessness. Those that struggle with mental health issues, drugs or alcohol abuse, bereavement or criminal offenders can find that, after a breakdown of a relationship or family ties, they are without solid accomodation. The knock-on effect is that other aspects of life can easily spiral out of control resulting in lost jobs and decreased health, making it harder and harder to support oneself. Whatever the situation, there are hundreds of local voluntary organisations that are there to offer support and help people get back on their feet - offering shelter or hot food, skill development to support employment and building confidence for those who have hit rock bottom. Here is a list of Localgiving members who are doing just that: St Petroc’s Society, Cornwall - Provides safe environments for 50 individuals to have a place they can call home, as well as offering individuals access to a variety of accommodation and specialist support services Sussex Night Stop, Sussex - Find a temporary safe place for young people to stay, usually host families from other members of the community, while working to find permanent housing Street Football Wales, Swansea - Aims to help end homelessness and poverty by facilitating the integration of socially excluded people back into their community Ipswich Housing Action Group, Suffolk - Relieves need, hardship and distress amongst the homeless by providing accommodation and associated amenities Calderdale Smartmove, West Yorkshire - Provides accommodation for local vulnerable people as well as many different courses such as healthy lifestyles, growing your own fruit & veg, IT skills, help with reading and writing, managing money and training to become a volunteer Launchpad Reading, Berkshire - Helps disadvantaged people in Reading turn things around by providing a home, education, training and employment skills to help them move on in life and provides substance misuse support Action Foundation, Newcastle - Provides support and opportunities to help overcome exclusion, especially working with asylum seekers and refugees The Choir with No Name, London -  Helps marginalised people find their confidence and skills, make friends, and move forward in their lives through the joy of singing together in a choir YMCA Scotland, Edinburgh - Is committed to youth empowerment, supporting young people to achieve their full potential in life. One25, Bristol - 80% of the women selling sex on Bristol's streets are homeless. One25 reaches out to women trapped in/or vulnerable to street sex-work, supporting them to break free and build new lives away from violence, poverty and addiction. Big Breakfast +, Swindon - Provides the homeless of Swindon with a hot breakfast and access to outreach workers. These are just a few examples of the wide range of services and support available. Have a look and see what's happening in your local areas here.  Date for your diary: Bristol Homelessness Awareness Week, February 20th to 26th, has been set up to raise awareness of homelessness.https://www.bristol.gov.uk/homeless-awareness-week       Found this blog post useful? You may also like:    5 free tools to share your organisation's story by Nisha Kotecha The Refugee Crisis: make a difference on your doorstep by Lewis GarlandThe Sky is the limit for daring Granny WendyDawn rises over Mount Kilimanjaro    

Heavy rain and gale-force winds are expected again today to hit parts of North and West Yorkshire, including the Calder Valley, which experienced severe flooding on Boxing Day. While the community gather to begin the clean up, others are bracing for more damage from Storm Frank.  In West Yorkshire, thousands of homes were affected after the Calder river banks burst, with more than 550 homes still without power. Many bussinesses have also been affected having to throw away spoiled stock and expensive equipment.  Residents, unable to return to their homes need emergency accommodation. To help fund the flood relief, Community Foundation for Calderdale have set up an appeal. Over £180,000 has already been generously donated to help with the costs of cleaning up after the flood water falls. The money raised will also be given out as small grants to help people in West Yorkshire rebuild their homes and businesses.  Steve Duncan, Chief Executive of Community Foundation for Calderdale today said, “The Community response to the flooding has been phenomenal, we have had volunteers from across the UK helping us to clean up and prepare for Storm Frank. People have lost so much, at least 2000 homes have been flooded in Calderdale many of whom could not get flood insurance. We started our Localgiving appeal page on the afternoon of the flooding to enable us to help people with immediate effect. It is this flexibility that allows Community Foundation to respond so quickly and make a substantial impact when it is most needed. We have been overwhelmed by the response and have already raised £181,000, however we know we need a lot more to be able to help those who have been affected.” Please give generously to the Calderdale Flood Relief Appeal ---- More appeals: Tadcaster Albion Amateur Football Club are appealing for donations to help them repair damage made to the pitch and clubhouse. Click here to listen to the owner James Gore talk about the impact of the floods. Wales Community Foundation have also set up a Flood Recovery Fund for those affected to help local people with recovery, rebuilding, and community initiatives. A warehouse used by Bike Rescue Project in York was flooded, damaging many essential tools for recycling bikes. This has also affected their training and outreach programmes.  If your charity has also been affected, please get in touch via our help desk.        

The winter may be coming, but there’s still something growing – your tenners! Grow Your Tenner, our annual match fund campaign, starts next week and we’re excited to help double donations to local charities and community groups across the UK. How does it work Single donations are matched pound-for-pound up to £10, and monthly donations up to £10 per month for 3 months. All charities with active Localgiving memberships are eligible to receive up to a maximum of £10,000 of match funding.  The campaign will run across the whole of the UK. With Gift Aid, a one-time donation of £10 made through Localgiving.com during Grow Your Tenner will generate £21.67. This means that when someone sets up a monthly donation for your cause this  would result in £65.31 (including Gift Aid) after the three months of matching, and will continue to bring in £11.77 a month until it is stopped. Just think about what 5 Direct Debits set up could bring in for your charity after 12 months! £856.20 to be exact. Read our FAQs and terms and conditions for more information. It starts with £10 Part of the mission of Grow Your Tenner is to help local voluntary organisations engage new supporters for their cause. £10 is a great starting point for many people who haven’t donated to a charity or community group before. During the campaign, a charity receives over double from a donation that is eligible for Gift Aid made by a new supporter. But that’s not all, for any supporter that opts-in to communications, a charity can collect their contact information and keep these new supporters engaged with their work. 81% of donors say it is important that they receive some form of communication from a charity after making a donation. While a personal thank you is great, donors also care about the impact their donations have made - why not update them about the difference their money has made after the campaign, too? Keeping supporters engaged with the projects your charity is working on increases the likelihood that they will donate to a cause again (and again, and again) and less likely that they will cancel a monthly donation they’ve set up. How we can help make it a success We’ve been busy at Localgiving HQ making resources to help give you the best chance of a successful campaign. Check out our resources for Grow Your Tenner. These includes tips for social media, story-telling and encouraging monthly donations, as well as templates to help you get started with emails and contacting the press. For some inspiration - see the award winners and runners up of last year’s campaign and see how they fundraised here. Still time to join in Not yet a member of Localgiving? Don't worry, there is no time limit for inclusion. If you're a local voluntary organisation then sign up and be included in the campaign straight away! Click here to join us. Happy fundraising!

Thinking of what you can do to fundraise for charity can sometimes be harder than the challenge itself! To help get those ideas flowing we've created an A - Z of fun activities you can do that'll be sure to get your friends and family to support you and your chosen charity. Think outside the box Running a marathon is an amazing achievement, but if running isn't for you there are loads of other ways you can raise money for a local charity. On Localgiving we've had all sorts of wacky ideas including eating 3 whole chickens in an hour and sitting in a baked bean bath while having your head shaved plus some creative ideas such as a vote on which songs a choir will sing at an event. Think local! Once you've come up with your idea all that's left is finding an amazing local charity or community group to fundraise for - and that's where we come in. We've got thousands of local voluntary groups that would love your support! Find one in your area by simply entering your postcode into our search and scrolling through the groups closest to you.                       

Our members consistently tell us that lack of time and resource is a major barrier to fundraising, as the provision of core services and other aspects involved in running a charity take priority. This is a feeling that is also felt by other small charities in the sector, as reported in The FSI’s ‘UK Small Charity Sector Skills Survey’ last month. Our aim is to help members engage with fundraising in a way that doesn’t detract from the important services they deliver to their communities. In order to do this, we have developed a calendar of ready-made fundraising campaigns, designed to provide an easy way for even the smallest organisations to start building connections with supporters and raising money. We’re happy to say that many groups have reported success through engaging with our campaigns in this way. However, there are some groups that have taken things to the next level, building upon the concept of a campaign to make it their own  – with inspiring results. To explain further what I mean, I’m going to use an example from our recent campaign, #LocalHero, and the activities of a community group in Wiltshire, HEALS of Malmesbury, with the help of Alison Cross-Jones, the group's volunteer general manager. The campaign - #LocalHero We wanted to run a new style of campaign which would benefit our members and incentivise giving in a new way. The concept of “fundraisers competing for prizes” was something we hadn’t tried before, but we felt it had the potential to appeal to all our users, as well as the wider public. For supporters who wanted to fundraise, it would be a compelling opportunity to  provide extra support to a local cause. Charity and community group members would benefit from the money and awareness raised and the campaign would provide a  platform for us to deliver advice about how to secure and support fundraisers – a vital income channel for many charities. The group - HEALS of Malmesbury HEALS of Malmesbury is a community group dedicated to helping local people. As a community organisation (not a registered charity), they have been unable to make use of other online fundraising tools – making engaging with fundraisers difficult. #LocalHero appealed to the group because they felt the ethos resonated with their own mission. “We saw the #LocalHero campaign as a great way of inspiring and enabling people in the community to do brave things, to help us help each other is the spirit of the #LocalHero campaign and our group.” The group organised a skydive and asked their supporters to sign up - committing to raising a minimum of £350 to ensure costs were covered and a 50% donation level achieved. 13 people signed up, including 3 volunteer firefighters from the local fire station (“Real life heroes” as Alison referred to them), a Town Councillor, plus more doing other fundraising events. The group heavily promoted each hero through their social media accounts and encouraged the "Heroes" to do the same. This created a buzz giving the local press something to write about, while also opening the campaign to a wider audience. “There is a real mix of people and it’s great that the communities of Malmesbury and the surrounding villages have come out to support us. Through this campaign we’ve already had more people wanting to fundraise for us. The ability to have a fundraising page through Localgiving and the additional materials offered, will go a long way in helping us in the future.” “We’re encouraging them to tell their stories and in doing so they are helping us to tell ours. We’ve designed posters and leaflets, we’ve used lots of the resources available from Localgiving. The local press have covered various aspects of the campaign, which has meant a number of press releases.” To support their fundraisers, the group set up a page on their website showcasing each #LocalHero and directing sponsors to their pages. Click below to see it.  Although our #LocalHero campaign only included online donations, HEALS of Malmesbury didn’t have the same conditions. After publicity from the press, they contacted local businesses, too - 40 of which pledged to either make a donation or have a collection pot. The group ran a Quiz Night and the three firefighters taking part in the skydive also organised two charity car washes. These initiatives enabled everyone in the community to take part in the fundraising initiative – not just those interested in throwing themselves out of a plane! The group set themselves a target of £3,000 and have almost doubled that, raising over an incredible £5,000 in total! HEALS run a high street drop-in support, advice and information centre (run by volunteers) which costs £7,500 a year to run, plus a programme of events and support making their annual budget over £19,000. The success of this campaign will be able to fund the centre for the rest of 2015 and covered more than 25% of the total cost. It has also helped the group build a wider supporter base to ensure its future funding. “Sustaining our centre is key to our work because this is the main way we engage with people.” Use the fundraising calendar and do the same! What we love about the HEALS of Malmesbury is that it built a campaign on top of ours. They used our materials and platform as a stepping stone to reach their own fundraising objectives - and it’s definitely paid off! Firstly, they recognised an avenue they hadn’t yet explored with their supporters and wanted to give it a try. Secondly, they piggy-backed on a campaign we laid out for them, maximising the press opportunities and gaining support from their local community. And finally, they helped to promote the fundraisers taking part, ensuring the campaign was a success! We’ve just released a fundraising calendar which gives dates and details of the next three campaigns we’re running. If you’re inspired by HEALS of Malmesbury, why not check it out and see whether you can create a plan to build more connections with supporters and reach your targets too! Click here to see details of upcoming campaigns on our fundraising calendar!      

Supporters of Bath Abbey have a huge task ahead. They are currently trying to raise £4.5 million for their Footprint project, a development programme to repair Bath Abbey's collapsing floor, install an Eco-friendly heating system using Bath's hot springs and create additional space and improved facilities for the half a million people who use the Abbey every year. One fundraising activity that took place was a 140 mile walk from Bath Abbey to Lambeth Palace, The Footprint Walk. The team set off on Sunday the 5th July and arrived in London 6 days later. Katie McGill, Development Officer from Bath Abbey explained that the #LocalHero campaign came at the right time to help promote their sponsored walk.   "#LocalHero seemed like a great way to encourage people to support the walk. It was nice that it didn’t matter how much people gave, just that the more supporters, the better chance we had of winning one of the prizes on offer. It was also perfect timing as the walk was due to start five days after the end of the #Localhero campaign. We had a rush of donations in the last days of the #Localhero competition as people really wanted their donation to count towards our score. It was very exciting to keep checking where we were on the leaderboard, wondering if we would make it into the top 5! It was also inspiring to see all the other brilliant fundraisers raising money for charities all across the country too." Strolling into 2nd Place The team, including the Rector, Edward Mason, Footprint Project Director Charles Curnock, Footprint Appeal Director Laura Brown & Churchwarden Emeritus Jeremy Key-Pugh managed to receive 103 points in the #LocalHero campaign landing them in 2nd place and winning them a £500 prize.  Currently, the team have raised over triple their original target and the total currently stands at £16,537.75, including offline donations, Gift Aid and their prize money. What's the secret to their success? Local support! "We’ve been spreading the word about the walk on our website, chatting to people about it on Twitter and Facebook using our hashtag #footprintwalk and via local media. The team of walkers were interviewed on BBC Radio Bristol, appeared in the local paper (twice!), in local magazines and blogs. We’ve also had lots of encouragement from local businesses, and the walkers friends, family and colleagues." See the team's fundraising page here or find out more about The Footprint Project.

A group of 6 employees from De La Rue, Basingstoke are taking on the National Three Peak Challenge this weekend. Currently in the number 2 spot on the #LocalHero leaderboard, can they stay there until the 30th June to win some extra money for Basingstoke Young Carers? This isn't the first time employees from De La Rue have attempted the Three Peak Challenge. The company actively encourage it and allow team members to raise money for charities close to their hearts. Andrea Gibson from the team explains why they chose Basingstoke Young Carers to support. "As a group we were keen to support both a children’s charity and a local charity so we all agreed that this was the group that we wanted to support. For me personally, I undertook a care role for a parent throughout my teens at a time when support groups such as this weren’t in existence, so I am delighted to be supporting the work of this critical charity who offer such amazing support to the many young people who face such difficult circumstances in their day to day lives." Meet the team  I wondered why the group had chosen a Where's Wally theme for the event. They told me, "we considered a number of fancy dress options just for added interest, and thought that there might be some good photo opportunities for “Where’s Wally” and “Where’s Wenda” photos at various points along the route!" The Challenge In the National Three Peaks Challenge, the team will need to climb the three highest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales (plus the travel inbetween) within 24 hours. The peaks are: Snowdon, in Wales (1085m) Scafell Pike, in England (978m) Ben Nevis, in Scotland (1344m) "A couple of team members have done the event before and so know what they are letting themselves in for! However, for us newbies, we are not entirely sure what to expect. Apparently it is the minibus rides between the mountains that are the killers, the inevitable blisters and then the unpredictability of the weather (a couple of years ago the teams had to wade through 3 feet of water just to get back to the minibus having abandoned Scafell Pike)." Are they ready? The group have been preparing by running, walking and the occasional training session up 'Cardiac Hill' in Kingsclere. Trying to fit in training around a busy home life has resulted in some innovative techniques - speed marching with a weighted backpack and step-ups at bus stops. Every little helps! "Whatever preparation we make, I think it is still going to be a challenge, however I am assured that it is a fantastic experience and that walking up Scafell Pike in the moonlight is something not to be missed" --------------------------------------------------------  Top of the peaks!  Well done to the team who managed to reach the top of the three peaks successfully but sadly not under 24 hours due to traffic and a double tyre blowout! "Nonetheless it was an absolutely brilliant experience and memories for life. We encountered all kinds of weather (rain, lightening, horizontal hail and a lot of snow on Ben Nevis) but it was the relentless battering of the wind which made it the most tough." Now you can help Where's Wallys Waifs 3 Peaks Challenge win some extra money for Basingstoke Young Carers and keep them on the #LocalHero Leaderboard! Your donation will help them reach their £1,000 target, plus each new donor = another point in the competition!

Today is World Environmental Day - a day for encouraging awareness and action for the enviroment. Sadly, people are consuming more resources than the planet can provide meaning before long we would need three planet Earth's to sustain the way we live. Even small changes in your community can have a large effect in reducing the threat of climate change on the World. Last year we spoke to community group Sustainable Hayfield, whose objective is to increase awareness of climate change issues in their local area. They kindly shared some everyday tips to help communities cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% before 2050, which is the UK government’s target. The tips are easily and cheaply executed in the home and also in an office – which will help you reduce your bills and your carbon footprint at the same time. Cath Moss, the groups manager explains, “We live in a lovely part of a fascinating planet, but we use too many resources. Change is inevitable, and the sooner we act the more choice we will have to shape our own future and lower the burden of change forced upon our children. Everybody can do their bit to help make a positive impact” 30% of our emissions result from heating and lighting in our homes Poorly insulated roofs and walls can account for 60% of heat loss in houses. Most households can get their lofts properly insulated for free by their energy provider. Fix radiator reflectors behind each radiator and add thermostatic valves – unobtrusive and cheap. Draughts account for 12% of all heat loss from dwellings. Draught excluders cost very little but are effective. Considering solar panels? A good source of advice is www.energysavingtrust.org.uk 40% of our emissions are generated by food production methods Avoid air-freighted products where possible. A tonne of Middle Eastern strawberries transported by air will account for 300 times more CO2 emissions than locally grown, seasonal strawberries, which also taste much better. Consider the balance in your diet between meat and non-meat foods. Animal foods are very energy intensive to produce, fruit and vegetables much less so. Reducing the proportion of meat/fish in your diet could reduce your food carbon footprint by up to 40%. Ensure you do not waste – or let your children waste – good food. Currently, over half the uneaten food disposed of by households is perfectly edible. Save waste/money by looking at 2 week menus, recipes, portion plans and more at Love Food Hate Waste (www.lovefoodhatewaste.com). Make your own lunch for work instead of buying over packaged food. Suggest introducing a ‘Bring your own lunch day’ to help get others involved. Growing your own fruit and vegetable reduces all the energy and waste which normally goes into commercially grown food Buy a couple of point-of-lay chickens (£4-£5 each). They need very little space, very low maintenance, and will happily feed on the food waste of an average family, supplemented by a bit of scatter corn. Do you have a garden shed which is not used very often? Cover up the window(s) and grow mushrooms where they won’t interfere with storage.   Want to learn more about what you can do to lower your carbon footprint? Visit Sustainable Hayfield’s Localgiving page.

To introduce the campaign we've got a very special video from Lord David Puttnam, who produced world famous films such as Chariots of Fire, Midnight Express and The Killing Fields. He also produced a wonderful film called Local Hero in 1983, which matches the name of our campaign. So, we asked whether he'd be willing to say a few words about it and we're thrilled to say he accepted! Watch the short video below to hear his introduction to the contest. How does #LocalHero work? This June, we're giving away £5,000 worth of prizes to the top 20 fundraisers. Participants will be ranked according to the number of unique online donors from whom they secure sponsorship throughout the month. To help you find a #LocalHero we've put together some handy resources such as an email template, social media banners and a PR template. Find them here. If you are struggling for inspiration then check out these examples of fantastic fundraisers to get those ideas flowing:      Do you want to be a #LocalHero? Sign up here!  

Melanie Jeffs knows first-hand how important Nottingham Women's Centre services are for women seeking a safe and supportive environment.  "As the Centre Manager, I see the impact that we make every day. Our strapline is 'Helping women achieve amazing things' and I truly believe that we do this - and I decided to do some amazing stuff myself to demonstrate it." Providing this support costs money but it really does change lives Nottingham’s Women Centre has been running for 41 years and offers services from child care to counselling, basic skills and person wellbeing courses to help women achieve their aims in life. However, providing this support comes at a price which is why fundraising is so important to keeping the charity running. “It’s an experience I’ll never forget” The adventure pushed Mel to her limits to support the centre’s services which she believes can change lives. In August, she trained for only 8 weeks before stepping into a boxing ring. She then faced her fear of heights by abseiling down a 80ft high bridge in October and to top it all off, in November she jumped out of a plane!  Mel raised a whopping £2,147.23 for the centre after her stunts, which exceeded her £2,000 target.  "The money has gone towards turning a store room into an additional office for our mental health project ‘Renew’ (previously we had 21 different staff and volunteers juggling two desks and computers!!!) and also a small hardship fund to enable women to access childcare and/or counselling either free of charge or at reduced rates." Click to see brave Mel's fundraising page - 'My Year of Adventure for Nottingham Women's Centre'