My Action For Children

NEW POLL REVEALS 80% OF PARENTS ARE CONCERNED AT LACK OF SUPPORT FOR LOCAL CHILDREN, BUT MOST DON’T KNOW HOW BEST TO HELP

In a first for a UK children’s charity, Action for Children today launches my.actionforchildren.org.uk, a new website that gives the choice of thousands of practical ways to help local children.

The launch coincides with the publication of a ComRes poll(1) commissioned by the charity (full regional breakdown available). It shows

• 77% of people who are concerned about children in their local community either don’t know how to help, or don’t have the time.
• 71% would like to have more information about how to help children in their area
• People from London are the most likely to be worried about children in their local area, with 72% saying they are concerned

They welcome a new way to help locally

• 89% prefer to donate money when they have a choice of what they are contributing to
• 86% want to know specifically what their donations buy
• Young adults, aged 18-24, are most willing (70%) to contribute to practical items to help children in their area
• In a surprise finding most people (68%) revealed that they don’t feel that they are involved in their local community at all.

Action for Children has designed a simple way for you to choose when, who and how you help. Log on to my.actionforchildren.org.uk, put in your postcode and decide where to help. You can contribute as little as £2 to football kit or dancing lessons for young carers, or more towards a minibus or washing machine to help disabled children.

Celebrity supporters such as Jessica Hynes, Dakota Blue Richards, Frank Lampard, Ozzy Osbourne, Vanilla Ice and Dame Judi Dench are lending their support to this new way to give children what they need.

Duncan Bannatyne who is fronting the my.actionforchildren.org advertising campaign “I’ve had some lucky breaks in my life. I look at my kids and think, thank goodness I’m in a position to help you. This isn’t the case for thousands of other bright, funny, ambitious children who need a leg up. I think that my.actionforchildren.org.uk is a great idea to help vulnerable children in our communities who really need it.”

Dame Clare Tickell, chief executive of Action for Children "Like most good ideas, my.actionforchildren.org.uk is very simple. Our staff work in 460 projects across the country and they know the specific things that will make a real difference locally. Anyone can log on and choose to give local children something that many, luckier, children take for granted.”

It is very simple

1. go to my.actionforchildren.org.uk, put in your post code, pick and click on a project near you, or that works with children you particularly want to help – disabled children, young carers, those in care, or who have been sexually abused.
2. Decide what to help pay for - a washing machine in a disability project or dancing lesson or football kit for a young carer.
3. Receive a thank you and update on when the item has been bought and the difference it has made.