This Wednesday we have three raffles ending on the main Raffle.it site, all of which sure to be big hits with children this Christmas!! Let’s take a look at these prizes and say a quick word of thanks to the very kind people who have sponsored them.

Predicted to be another smash Christmas hit and sure to sell out in the shops soon, the Doggie Doo game is reported as having educational benefits. We’re struggling to appreciate what they are, other than if you’re going to poop on the carpet, remember to clean up after yourself! This prize has been generously donated on behalf of Nelson – the pub dog at The Spotted Cow in Farnham – and tickets are just 50 pence each. For every ticket you buy 44p goes to your chosen cause. The remaining 6p helps cover merchant fees, VAT, hosting, development, marketing and admin. This raffle ends at 1530 on Wednesday 14th December.

Shortly before that, we have Moshling Tree House – kindly sponsored by Surrey DJ hire company Farnham Sound & Light – ending at 1500 on the same day. The Mini Moshling Treehouse opens up to reveal a place to play with and also store your moshlings. This fun Moshi Monsters tree house set also has a working basket lift for your moshlings to play on. Also included is an exclusive Roxy Moshling! You can discover more at MoshiMonsters. Again, 44p from every 50p ticket is donated to your charity, so get playing now!

The other raffle we have ending this Wednesday is for this awesome Ninjago Fire Temple Lego set, donated to us by our web development friends Kyan. The battle for control of the 4 Spinjitzu weapons has begun! Help Sensei Wu, Zane and Nya to stop Lord Garmadon and his evil skeleton army from taking the ultimate Spinjitzu weapon– the dragon sword of fire. Split the temple in half to release the Fire Dragon! Use the Fire Dragon to protect the sword by spitting fire balls at Lord Garmadon! Also includes Samukai, Kruncha, 4 golden weapons and 14 assorted weapons. Tickets for this raffle are £1, with 88p going to your chosen cause, and the remaining 12p covering all other costs. This raffle will end no later than 1400 in Wednesday 14th December.

For your chance to win any of these prizes this week, please visit the Raffle.it site, where you can play, give and WIN!!

We need to say a few ’thank you’s before the week is over, so here’s a quick blog to show our appreciation to one of our prize sponsors.

You may have noticed that we are raffling a fabulous Ninja Fire Temple LEGO set due to  end on Wednesday December 14th. This was very kindly donated by Kyan, a Guildford based web design company.

Kyan have been our web development partner for over 4 years! They design and develop websites and web applications and are passionate about good design, Web Standards, usability and accessibility. They have worked hard to achieve a good reputation, and whether they’re working for small start-ups or large blue-chip corporations, they apply the same levels of thought, care and attention to detail.

We’re most grateful to our friends from Kyan for donating this prize to Raffle.it. If you’d like to make their bequest worthwhile, then you can enter this raffle for £1 per ticket. Because this prize has been donated by Kyan, 88p of each ticket sold will go to your chosen charity.

Hope for Children was founded in by Dr Robert Parsons MBE, who had a vision to help needy children and families in the UK and developing countries that fell through the gaps of support by the larger charities.  He also wanted to set up an organisation of low-cost in order that as much as possible of donors contributions could go to the beneficiaries.  From a modest start of £5,000, a bequest from Jim Ward, they now have a turnover of over £1 million.

Hope for Children works in Africa, Asia and Europe and has representatives in Ghana, India, Sri Lanka, The Philippines, Uganda, UK and Zimbabwe. They have a dedicated network of international staff and volunteers working in challenging conditions around the world making sure the grants they receive and programmes they undertake are effectively managed and delivered. There are too many projects to list on this blog, but we can take a look at one of them.

The Tumaini Stepping Stone project in Nakuru, Kenya, aims to give children the opportunity to access primary education – a basic human right. The project works to ensure that the transition from their previous environment into the classroom environment is smooth, comfortable and successful. Children who benefit from this project are those who have been recently rehabilitated from a life living on the streets, and those who are within or have been recently released from the juvenile prison in Nakuru.

If you would like to help Hope For Children continue to run projects such as Tumaini Stepping Stone, then you can assist their fundraising efforts by playing in any of the raffles on the Hope For Children Raffle.it Page. For every ticket you buy, up to 88% of the money will go to Hope For Children.

You can learn more about the work carried out by this charity on the Hope For Children website, as well as ‘Liking’ their Facebook Page and following them on Twitter.

We have plenty of prizes up on the Raffle.it site, so let’s see what up for grabs next week!

Ending no later than 4pm on Wednesday 7th December 2011 is this BlackRapid RS-7 R-Strap Camera Strap. Kindly donated by BlackRapid, the RS-7 comes highly recommended by Raffle.it’s keen photographers.

It features attachment points so you can customise your strap with your choice of storage and other features. It’s constructed of ballistic nylon for extreme durability. With the RS-7, ergonomics are key. It’s designed and shaped to fit perfectly around your shoulder. The weight of your camera is evenly distributed for the ultimate in comfort. Built for speed, for when timing is everything. Find out more and watch an in-depth instruction video here.

Enough reading though – here’s how cool BlackRapid’s customers become when they purchase a strap from them…

If you’d like to be in with a chance of winning this fantastic prize, then visit Raffle.it to enter the raffle. For every 50p ticket you buy 44p goes to your chosen cause, and the remaining 6p helps cover merchant fees, VAT, hosting, development, marketing and admin.

If you aren’t already, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and ‘Like’ our Facebook Page. Thank you, and good luck in all of the raffles!

Today’s Fundraising Friday blog comes from the York area, where people are constantly taking on challenges, and making personal sacrifices, to raise funds for charities and good causes.

Pupils at All Saints RC School in York have taken part in a sponsored spinathon to remember a teacher who died recently. Stephen Brian, 46, died in October when he came off his bike in Acomb, near his home.

All of the money raised from the charity cycling event will be put towards buying bikes which will be used for making medical deliveries in Africa.

Dave Gibson, the school’s head of physical education, said: “Stephen would have loved to see the pupils taking part in any event involving bicycles. He was an avid cyclist and would have been the first up on stage trying to do as many miles as possible… So far we have raised about £110. Pupils have been queuing out of the door to have a go on the bikes and they have each been paying a little contribution.”

Special thanks were made to Fulford Cycles and Fitness First, for providing the equipment to make the event a possibility.

Although it is sad that a life has been lost, it is warming to see that Stephen Brian was remembered by those who knew him in a manner befitting his interests. His love of cycling was mentioned at his funeral at St Chad’s Church, Knavesmire, last month, which was attended by former pupils and colleagues as well as friends and relatives.

Today is Charity Tuesday, and we’re going to look at some of the work carried out by Special Effect, as well and find out about their recent attempt at a Guinness World Record!

For young people with disabilities, the majority of computer games are simply too quick or too difficult to play. Special Effect can help them and their parents to find out which games they can play, and how to adapt those games that they can’t.

There are many other ways in which Special Effect also help, such as supporting hospitals, hospices, special schools, etc in finding the right leisure technology for those young people who need it most, when they need it most, through their Roadshows. By loaning and supporting gaze-controlled computers to people who have been paralysed due to a sudden injury or illness through their StarGaze Project, Special Effect really can make a difference to anyone, whatever their condition.

Our team of specialist professionals have many years of experience in designing and adapting technology to help young people with physical and learning difficulties. Success with using this technology can lead to huge gains in self-confidence and motivation, and can provide a way for young people with disabilities to compete with others on a level playing field.

Visitors to this year’s Eurogamer Expo were invited to set a new Guinness World Record for the fastest time lap time in a racing game using only eye-movement sensing controllers. By participating, all guests will also became part of SpecialEffect’s second record attempt; the greatest number of people competing in a video games tournament using only eye control technology.

Here is Nick Streeter, Founder and Director of Special Effect, speaking at the Eurogamer Expo this year:

He has told me that they did indeed succeed in setting a Guinness World Record, and once I have the actual specifics of the numbers involved, I shall update this blog accordingly.

If you’d like to help Nick and his colleagues change the lives of young people with disabilities, you can enter any of the raffles on the Special Effect Raffle.it Page. Up to 88% of the value of each ticket you purchase will go to Special Effect, and there are some great prizes coming up. You can also take a look at their Facebook Page and follow them on Twitter.

Up for grabs in next week’s charity raffle is a prize that’s ideal for new or expecting parents.

Kindly donated by BabaSlings Ltd, theBabaSling baby carrier is a hammock style baby sling with exceptional versatility. Designed for babies and toddlers 0-2yrs+, parents and babies can choose between at least 5 carrying positions to suit their changing needs.

The Unique Adjustment System makes it easily fitted to any member of the family in seconds, and it’s also the only baby carrier on the market with a safety buckle for added piece of mind. The hammock style design puts no unnatural pressure on a baby’s developing spine, unlike most upright carriers, and is recommended by healthcare professionals.

And the generosity doesn’t stop at the prize donation. Every player in this raffle will receive a 10% discount voucher for use at theBabaSling.com!

For every ticket you buy 88p goes to your chosen cause. The remaining 12p helps cover merchant fees,VAT, hosting, development, marketing and admin. This raffle will end no later that 1pm on Wednesday 30th November, or whenever all tickets are sold.

More information about how to play can be found on the main Raffle.it site, where you can enter this charity raffle and also see what other great prizes we have coming up.

Many thanks, and good luck!

Crossroads Care Essex are the focus of today’s Charity Tuesday blog, and so we shall have a look at what they do as an organisation, and also at some of their upcoming events.

As Britain’s leading provider of support for carers and those who they care for, Crossroads Care work with over 35,000 individuals and their families, lending support to allow carers to make a life of their own outside caring. By providing the special quality and standard of care required, fulltime carers are given the peace of mind to let someone else take over from them and take a break.

There are around 6 million people in Britain that care for others and when they feel they need a break or some regular support, Crossroads Care is a national network of more than 5,000 trained professionals who they can turn to. As a charity, they are not for profit, so rely heavily on donations and fundraising activities.

In the build up to Christmas, there are several events taking place aimed at raising money for Crossroads Care Essex. On December 3rd there is the Christmas Party, which is open to all clients, carers, sponsors or anyone involved in the charity in any way, as well as a Quiz Night at the War Memorial Hall, Canvey Island, on December 10th. In addition to these events, Pinney Talfourd LLP solicitors are holding a carol service at the Queens Theatre Hornchurch on December 19th, having kindly made Crossroads Care Essex their charity of the year.

More information about these events can be found on the charity’s website. If you’re not based in the Essex area but would still like to help this great cause, you can play in any one of the raffles on the Crossroads Care Essex Raffle.it Page. For every £1 ticket you buy, up to 88p will go to the charity. There are some great prizes up on the site, like this iPad 2, so make sure you get your tickets fast!

Many thanks, and best of luck in the raffles.

The BBC Children in Need Appeal is returning to our television screens this evening, so it makes a rather appropriate topic for our Fundraising Friday blog. Occurring once a year in November the Appeal show is a whole evening of entertainment on BBC One with celebrities singing, dancing, and doing all sorts of crazy things to help raise money. There are also plenty of one-off specials of popular TV programmes, which in the past has included Doctor Who, Strictly Come Dancing, The One Show, EastEnders and much more. Last year the Children in Need Appeal raised upwards of £40,000,000. But what is this money used for?

The charity’s vision is that every child in the UK has a childhood which is safe, happy, secure and allows them the chance to reach their potential. They provide grants to projects in the UK which focus on disadvantaged children and young people. Children in Need is local to people in all corners of the UK and supports small and large organisations which empower children and extend their life choices. Their grant programmes are open all year round for applications, with a focus on allocating the money to deserving projects 4 times a year.

One organisation benefitting from the money raised by Children in Need is Dorton House Nursery. Over 25,000 children are visually impaired in the UK. This can mean that they have difficulties doing everyday activities such as seeing their parents, recognising objects or even playing with their friends. BBC Children in Need gave Dorton House Nursery, run by The Royal London Society for Blind People, £7,506 to buy sensory toys for a specialist equipment lending library. Children aged from two to seven attend the project and use the equipment to play safely and get help to improve their sight before it’s too late.

There are many more examples of how the money raised each year by Children in Need is put to use in improving the lives of disadvantaged children across the UK. For more information about these projects and the Pudsey Appeal in general, visit the BBC Children in Need site, or tune in to BBC1 this evening for an evening of entertainment and fundraising.