Posts Tagged ‘causes’

Posted on May 11, 2009 - by Andrew

Sea turtles invade Bournemouth beach with IFAW warnings

The International Fund for Animal Welfare today swarmed Bournemouth beach with 200 cardboard hawkbill turtles.

The arrival of the turtles is a publicity stunt co-ordinated by the IFAW and agency Rapp designed to raise awareness of the dangers that souvenir hunters are having on wildlife.

Each of the cardboard turtles has a message written under it explaining the dangers of poachers and the efforts of the IFAW to fight them. “Turning the turtle over is the first thing that hunters do”, reads one hard-hitting message.

Robbie Marsland, the UK director of the IFAW, said: “This turtle invasion may look out of place on an English beach but unfortunately many endangered species have their final resting place in this country as tokens of exotic holidays abroad.

“We hope this spectacle will highlight the truth behind this deadly business.”

In Pure Spirit

What do you think of the publicity stunt? Will it help and raise awareness of the issue?

Posted on May 5, 2009 - by Andrew

Oxtales at the Oxford Playhouse

Author of the acclaimed and controversial His Dark Materials trilogy Philip Pullman will visit volunteers at the Oxfam bookshop in St Giles, Oxford, during Bookfest. Oxfam Bookfest runs across the country from July 4-18th.

Last year a volunteer at the St Giles store spotted an early Graham Greene novel, Rumour at Nightfall, in a box of donated books. The first edition from 1931 was later sold at auction for £15,000 on behalf of Oxfam.

This year famous authors are contributing to Oxtales. Oxtales (Ox-tales)  is a series of readings focused around on the four elements. Earth stories talk about land rights and farming, air stories talk about combating climate change, fire about arms control and water represents the drive for essential services for all.

Oxtales will feature Mark Haddon, who wrote The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Joanna Trollope and Jeanette Winterson.

Tickets can be booked from the Oxford Playhouse website.

In Pure Spirit

Will you be getting involved in either Oxfam or Oxfam Bookfest this year?

Posted on May 3, 2009 - by Andrew

Extinction Sucks: Sea Turtles

There have been sea turtles on Earth for over 100 million years. In this week’s Extinction Sucks Aleisha Caruso and Ashleigh Young spring in to action to try and ensure we have sea turtles for many years to come.

There are seven species of sea turtles and all of them are under the threat of extinction. Problems range from turtle eggs being eaten by pigs, turtles choking on plastic bags mistaken for jellyfish and ghost nets.

Ghost nets are fishing nets either lost or abandoned which trap the sea turtle, keeping them below the surface until they suffer a horrible and slow death.

Aleisha and Ash arrange a ‘turtle tennis’ day (in keeping with the net theme) where they collect sponsorship money and sell their Extinction Sucks t-shirts in order to raise money. It’s worth checking out the Babblegum video to catch the snippet of the two girls playing tennis against a panda and a gorilla.

Money raised at the event is spent on a second hand quad bike that’ll become a hugely valuable asset in patrolling the beaches of Mapoon in the far north of Queensland. Mapoon is aboriginal land near Weipa but the Elders have given permission for the beaches to be checked for ghost nets and the turtles monitored.
Mapoon is an essential site for the ghost net project as all seven species of sea turtles can be found there. The vast beach, however, is extremely challenging to patrol on foot. Temperatures easily reach 40 degrees centigrade.   The quad bike allows more of the beach to be combed more quickly and more often.

Do check out the girls as they try and cross an ankle deep sea water inlet on the beach. What do you think of their ‘shark’?

In Pure Spirit

Some countries around the world have begun to introduce plastic bag taxes for supermarkets. Supermarkets, in turn, have started to charge consumers for the use of the bags. Do you think this is a good idea? Will initiatives like that really filter down to help the environment and animals like the sea turtles?

Posted on April 27, 2009 - by Andrew

Climate Rush protesters mark 100 year Suffragette anniversary by gluing themselves to a statue

A man and three women have glued themselves to the statue of Viscount Falkland outside the central lobby of the Houses of Parliament.

Exactly 100 years ago the Suffragette Margery Humes chained herself to the very same statue. She was removed by force as the police deployed chain clippers.

The 2009 April 27th group are believed to be climate protesters from Climate Rush. The protest is designed to be a wake-up call for the British government. Climate Rush are protesting against the government’s decision to allow a new evolution of coal power plants to be built in Britain.

The Climate Rush website promises a ‘year of protest’ and ‘deeds not words’. It is believed that the group is coordinating a Eurovision themed flash mob to strike Heathrow T1 on Saturday the 16th of May.

Police have sealed off the area which is otherwise normally available to members of the public who have been through the standard security checks.

In Pure Spirit

What do you think? Is this a good way to raise the profile of climate issues? Or is the group simply discrediting other environmental pressure groups?

The historic statue was slightly damaged when, 100 years ago, the police removed Margery Humes by force. Do you think Climate Rush cares if the statue is damaged this time around?

Posted on April 24, 2009 - by Andrew

Last chance to save Firsland Animal Sanctuary

An animal sanctuary on the outskirts of picterquese Torquay will close today unless a good Samaritan steps forward at the last minute.

The Firsland Animal Sanctuary is currently home to 150 abandoned animals including cats, guinea pigs, rabbits, ducks, chickens, geese, turkeys, Reppy the point, Barbie the sheep and some goats.

Founder Maxine Corbett is unable to look after the animals due to a leg ulcer which has left her in need of aid rather than able to dispense it.

Maxine, who also looks after nearly two dozen ill seagulls, pays about £200 a week in food and vet bills. Fundraising is now needed desperately to pay for temporary staffing while Maxine recoveries from the ulcer. Staffing costs are about £100 a week.

“The problem is I could be laid up for months and I know our budget just cannot take it.

“It is heartbreaking. These animals have come to me because they have nowhere else to go. They cannot be re-homed, but without the extra money I’m frightened I may have to close it down,” Maxine told local press.

In Pure Spirit

Should the government offer aid to micro-charities such as Firsland Animal Sanctuary? Even if Firsland isn’t a registered charity?

If you would like to help then you can contact Maxine on 01803 327 548.

Posted on April 6, 2009 - by Andrew

Extinction Sucks!

Extinction Sucks is a new online TV program from the WWF. Each episode is half an hour long and will feature on  Panda.org and  Babelgum over the next six weeks.

Extinction Sucks is designed to bring quality conversation and green issue programs to the digital audience.

Babelgum commissioned Off The Fence, award-winning filmmakers based in Amsterdam, to produce the series in association with the WWF.

“We believe online audiences deserve the same quality and viewing experience as traditional television has offered,” says Babelgum’s commissioning chief editor Claudio Scotto di Carlo.

“We also believe passionately in the power of the internet to help protect threatened species. WWF are the world’s leading conservation organisation so it made sense for us to partner with them to bring this exciting series to life.

“Extinction Sucks breaks the mould of traditional wildlife programmes – both with its fast-paced, humorous style and by being online – and will appeal to a wide range of audiences. It’s a wildlife series for the digital age.”

“It was a first for us,” says Off The Fence boss Ellen Windemuth, “but it proves you can make funny, engaging wildlife programmes with a serious message for online viewing. Working with WWF meant we could get access to great stories, great characters and great locations.”

In the series, Ashleigh Young and Aleisha Caruso, two Australians travel the world in an attempt to raise money for the WWF’s conversation projects.  The first episode of Extinction Sucks features the elephant conservation program being run by WWF India as they battle against the illegal ivory trade and poaching.

Wild elephants in the Mudumalai National Park have also killed by speeding motorists and in the first episode of Extinction Sucks Ashleigh and Aleisha have a go at traffic management.

In Pure Spirit

Will you be popping over to Bablegum to watch these awareness programs from the WWF? Or do you believe Extinction Sucks! is an ill advised venture and the WWF would have been better spending the same money directly on aid?

Posted on February 5, 2009 - by Andrew

Causes: Is the credit crunch squeezing the National Trust?

The National Trust is an important and valuable institution. It looks after sites of historic interest in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It rules on important decisions like the Druid Keiller battle.

The National Trust raises money in a few ways. It collects money directly at some locations. However, as the credit crunch bites people travel less and visit those protected and managed locations less. As a result the National Trust collects less donations.

Another key way the National Trust raises money to help protect some of the most important buildings and landscapes in the UK is through memberships.

There are a number of membership levels;

• Individual: Standard: £46.00 Direct Debit: £34.50
• Joint: Standard: £77.00 Direct Debit: £57.75 (That’s two adults living at the same address)
• Family Group: Standard: £82.00 Direct Debit: £61.50 (That’s two adults living at the same address with children under 18)
• Family One Adult: Standard £62.00 Direct Debit: £46.50 (One adult with children under 18)
• Young Person: Standard £21.00 Direct Debit £15.75 (aged 13 – 25)

You can sign up for any one of those levels online*.

If you re-read that list you might notice how generous and quirky the Young Person option is. It’s less than half the price of an Individual.

We might ask why a 24 year old should pay less than half the rate a 26 year old pays. We might also wonder why a 13 year old would be roaming around without an adult (and there’s an one adult and child pass). Children under 5 tend to go free.

Simply put – the Young Person pass seems to be a bit of an expensive loophole for the National Trust.

Until the credit crunch this might have been a quirk rather than a bother but this week The National Trust communicated to some of its partners that they no longer wished them to promote the Young Person pass.

Is this a sign that the National Trust would prefer people to offer a little more help in these tricky times by signing up for the full Individual Pass?

There are signs that the cheaper Young Person pass might soon be phased out entirely. The page that once described the Young Person pass in detail has been removed from the site. This is a recent change, it may be due to the planned removal of the pass or simply site maintaince.

The Young Person pass is still available online* at the time of this article being posted.

In Pure Spirit

Please be aware that In Pure Spirit works to promote the National Trust – one of the reasons we’re aware of the uncertain fate of the Young Person pass.

Do you think the National Trust is worth supporting? We do. It is a shame it is being hit by the economic downturn like this. We would like to see more people taking local holiday breaks, visiting the National Trust’s fantastic locations, saving money over an expensive holiday abroad and also helping to protect Britain’s unique history and culture.

Disclaimer: Links marked with stars* are revenue links.