CHARITY - WATER FOR KIDS & ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

Wello Lovely World

Having a glass of water or simply being able to write your name is taken for granted, please help those to experience what you automatically do every day. On behalf of Brainwave, Water for Kids & me, may you all be blessed abundantly & know that your monies do make a difference.

Being a Bio Science and Technology Student studying and researching Environmental and Public Health at Middlesex University http://www.mdx.ac.uk/ and being a member of the World Famous Charted Institute of Environmental Health - CIEH, http://www.cieh.org/ - I was in attendance at the World Health Environmental Day and as I was looking for an additional Charity to raise funds for, it seemed as if the gods came together and boom the rest as they say is history.  I enjoy raising funds for smaller lesser known charities, as often they have to work harder and fight harder for grants and or help; and because I am a keen foodie and environmentalist, it seems the most perfect solution to add Water for Kids to my fundraising challenge.  

Please visit their website; they are truly a remarkable charity who changes people’s lives for the better. 

http://waterforkids.org.uk/index.htm

 How Water for Kids Began

 Water for Kids was set up as a charity in 1996 after two Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) visited Peru as part of a scheme to help eradicate cholera. They were concerned that people in small and less formal settlements needed environmental health services in general and safe water in particular. They looked for a charity which was addressing these issues, but they could not find one. So they set up Water for Kids as a UK charity, rooted in environmental health.

The name 'Water for Kids' was chosen because it is a good description of what the charity does and if the kids have water, so do all the members of the community. The emphasis on kids also suggests an investment in the future. Water for Kids today is still run mainly by EHOs and public health practitioners. It has developed into a successful charity and the trustees like to think that it does things just that little bit differently.

WfK is a small charity, set up by Environmental Health Officers, which provides safe water, sanitation and health education for children and communities in developing countries. Find out more about how we work and the history of WfK.  We are currently working on water and sanitation projects in Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Sierre Leone and Rwanda. In the past we have also provided clean water in Peru, The Gambia, and India. These projects improve peoples' health and well-being and save lives.

Take a minute to imagine your life without a constant supply of clean water. Imagine spending six hours of your already busy day fetching the water you and your family need for drinking, cooking and washing. Now take a moment to honour the four children whose lives were cut short as this minute passed due to preventable water-related diseases.

The statistics are grim, incomprehensible even, but the reality is that safe and readily available water, a right we so often take for granted, is merely a dream for over 13 per cent of the world’s population.

In fact, 884 million people throughout the world do not have access to safe water and 2.5 billion people have no access to basic sanitation, according to the UK government. Diarrhoeal diseases such as cholera, dysentery and typhoid kill thousands of children every day. (Developments Journal, November 2009).

The charity's mission

Water for Kids aims to preserve and protect the good health of children and communities in the developing world by assisting in the provision of safe drinking water, good sanitation and other public health related measures.

The way we work

Water for Kids aims for a holistic approach to the prevention of waterborne disease and, in terms of its ethos, the charity adopts what we call the 'three legged stool'. The first leg is the provision of safe water, the second is ensuring there is improved sanitation and the third is hygiene education.

Projects in Uganda and Zambia are managed on behalf of Water for Kids by local environmental health professionals. We also fund projects which are managed by other organisations, which we know and trust, they are also encouraged to involve health professionals.

Water for Kids considers sustainability to be the essence of its projects, there is no point in bothering unless it’s going to last. So we aim to involve the local community from the start. Later we discuss how they will maintain the installation in the future and make arrangements for them to take over the new system on completion. We will, wherever we can, use local labour and materials.

An evaluation was carried out on our projects in Uganda in 2009 by Kate Rogers. This year three major projects in Zambia are being evaluated.

How funds are raised

From the start, the charity adopted the approach that fundraising should be fun. 5-a-side football matches, South American drinks evenings, and donations instead of Christmas cards have all helped raise the money to work on projects over the years. These days, the most fruitful fundraising is achieved through individuals doing sponsored activities and raising funds at seminars and conferences. The charity has also received larger sums from three charitable trusts, but there is always the potential for more.

How your money is spent

As Water for Kids is a relatively small charity, it has very low overhead costs relative to larger charities. WfK does employ a part time administrator but does not pay the expenses of people travelling overseas.

Our grant application form must be filled and approved by the board of trustees for each new project. To ensure accountability, the applicant must agree to our terms and conditions of grant before they receive the money. Water for Kids is only able to give grants to organisations which are recommended by personal contacts. This is so that the trustees can verify that the organisation is able to work in accordance with our terms and conditions. This is to ensure the money is spent on the project, as agreed.

Money raised from individual and corporate membership fees is used for essential administration, which keeps the charity going.

Partnerships

We work closely with our partners overseas and with the local people to ensure our projects are sustainable.

Our Supporters

Much of our work has been achieved with the generous support of our sponsors. We would like to thank the following corporate members for their help in saving people's lives.

The following organisations provide on-going support to Water for Kids, which is much appreciated:

·       Civica and the JUSACA and SE Franklin Charitable Trusts make regular donations.

·       9thPlanet Design keeps our website up to date, free of charge.

·       Environmental Health News regularly updates the environmental health world on our activities.  http://www.ehn-online.com/

·       The Killgerm Group produces publicity materials and makes regular donations.

If at any chance, you have spare few days and time to spare and fancy a safari, and a trip to Africa, India, Peru, to help those less fortunate, please contact Peter and or Carey for more information. 

Carey Minhinnett

12 Forest Rise,
Kirby Muxloe,
Leicester.
LE9 2HQ
0116 2393061
administrator@waterforkids.org        

May you all be blessed and know that others right now and at this very moment do not have any water, the most essential element of life, let alone sanitation facilities; take a moment to reflect.

With love and #blisterfreewishes

 Jani #UltraMarathonVirgin

 

 

 

CHARITY BRAINWAVE & BASTIAN

Wello World

Feeling slightly under the weather...... I feel a slight cold coming on, first cold I have had in 2 years, training went slightly skew today as well..... priorities of priorities took precedence.

However Its time to tell you about the Charity Brainwave, who there are and what they do and how they have helped my son Bastian.

Having a glass of water or simply being able to write your name is taken for granted, please help those to experience what you automatically do every day. On behalf of Brainwave, Water for Kids & me, may you all be blessed abundantly & know that your monies do make a difference.

http://www.brainwave.org.uk/

After 4 years of research and struggling for information after being told by leading consultants and therapists that my son would not amount to anything, one day in the early hours of the morning I stumbled upon Brainwave's website, shortly after 2am in the dark and still of the night/morning and unable to sleep and armed with only key words that I thought describe my son, boom there it was, Brainwave, finally what I read before my eyes, seemed to all make sense, FINALLY, suddenly I felt overwhelmed yet relief all at the same time.  Brainwave work with children like Basti and with new and emerging conditions all the time. 

I am glad to say, that last year early November, I got a call from Bastian's geneticist with the most amazing news ever; as Basti is part of the world wide data base and also part of the CAMBRIDGE AND OXFORD MEDICAL RESEARCH TEAMS AND PROGRAMMES, they have finally found the defective gene and or complication.  Basti is now 1 in 4 in the world (all boys) with this syndrome.  The research is due to be published in the BMJ and World Wide Research Medical Journals in the next few months, we are just awaiting ethics and formalities to be processed.  I cant wait to meet the other children and am looking forward to seeing what the outcome is.

Brainwave is an amazing charity that specialises in Children with an un-diagnosed condition. Brainwave have not only helped my son but continue to help Basti who suffers from Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum (neuro damage).  They help him with muscular, neuro processing, speech and daily functioning developments with a personalised home and school programme. They continue to help and support children like Bastian enabling them to lead as ‘normal a life as possible’. 

http://www.brainwave.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Newsletter-No-27.pdf

Bastian was 7 when he first attended Brainwave’s South East Centre in September 2011. Bastian has a diagnosis of agenesis of the corpus callosum and developmental delay of unknown cause, defect genes, as well as other daily motor and sensory functioning. Bastian attends mainstream school however follows his own curricular, because of his agenesis, he is unable to read or write; I wanted  to help Bastian with his development, and to complement his current provision. At his initial assessment, it was noted that Bastian was able to comprehend tasks; however he did require additional time to process information. He was better at processing information if instructions were simple and not overloaded with detail. Bastian appeared to have some difficulties with sensory processing, which was affecting his general development. He seemed to be showing signs of sensory defensiveness with regards to tactile input. He was under-responsive to proprioceptive input and appeared to have some body awareness difficulties.

Bastian’s Challenge

Janet and Bastian went home with a programme of exercises to strengthen his core muscles, improve his extension against gravity, improve his motor planning and problem-solving skills and to improve his body awareness. His programme included a brushing technique and weight bearing activities (proprioception) to improve his processing of sensory input. Bastian attended for his first reassessment in May 2012 and showed improvements in his fine motor skills. His pencil grip continued to improve and he was more willing to engage in written work. He showed better concentration and attention since his previous visit and was more able to listen and follow instructions. He now needed support to increase his self esteem and confidence, as well as using everyday functional skills in a range of settings. Bastian continued to have some sensory processing difficulties with decreased awareness to proprioceptive and vestibular input. To help him cope, it was suggested that Bastian incorporates more proprioceptive activities throughout the day, such as weight bearing through the joints and pushing and pulling activities, known as ‘hard, heavy work’. Bastian and Janet then returned in January 2013 for his latest reassessment. Bastian was a lot more confident and was more willing to try activities than he had been in the past. Bastian had continued to make progress with his language skills, and it was recommended that he continued to develop these skills in his everyday settings. Bastian was provided with certain physical exercises to continue to develop his overall physical strength and stability, as this will support the development of his fine motor skills. He was also given activities to improve his concentration and alertness to help him focus at school. When asked to provide a quote for this case study Bastian dictated the following “Look at my muscles mommy, I am stronger now. Julie helped me get strong. If my teachers forget about my Programme I go and get my peanut ball straight away and I do my exercises myself, are you proud of me mommy?”

 

Brief History of Brainwave

Brainwave came into being when two people left the British Institute for Brain Injured Children (BIBIC) to set up their own charity. In October 1982, the Charity was incorporated under the name of the Kerland Foundation. It was not until 1995 that the Charity changed its name to Brainwave.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Brainwave’s scope was wider than it is now. It ran two trading companies: a Sports & Lifestyle Clinic and a mobile breast screening service. The latter was contracted with the local health authority and ran for nine years, finishing in 2000.

The Sports & Lifestyle Clinic achieved local recognition, acquiring Referral Centre status by the Somerset Physical Activity Group and was invited to tender for ‘further healthcare work’ in 1994. This resulted in winning a substantial GP referral contract the following year. The service was sold to Avalon Leisure in 2000.

During this time, Brainwave provided services for adults as well as children. These were mainly people with brain injury, particularly those who had had a stroke. In 1999, a service to provide rehabilitation and respite care was launched. In the 2000s, Brainwave refocused, dropping its adult provision. In 2008, it started to implement a pilot to support children with Autism. Today, Brainwave states that it aims to improve mobility, communication skills, and learning potential, through a range of educational and physical therapies.

Brainwave no longer concentrates exclusively on children with brain injuries but a whole range of conditions including Autism and genetic conditions such as Down’s Syndrome.

 

Monies raised through my run will be split 50/50. I cannot thank Brainwave enough for their support, my 'Guardian to Bastian' and all the girls who so warmly support Basti and myself all the time. Were it not for Brainwave I would still be trying find a solution for my son's future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With love and #blisterfreewishes

 

Jani

#UltraMarathonVirgin