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SIGHT SAVERS REACHES GIFT LIST MILESTONE
Added: (Thu Apr 28 2005)
SIGHT SAVERS REACHES GIFT LIST MILESTONE
Sight Savers International is the first charity to raise £10,000 through Give It; the not-for-profit company that offers gift lists which change lives. The money has been raised by people who have given life transforming gifts such as sight, mobility training for someone who is blind or protection from river blindness, instead of conventional wedding, birthday, anniversary or Christmas presents.
Established in 2004, Give It runs three gift lists - the Alternative Wedding List, the Alternative Gift List and the Alternative Christmas List. People wishing to celebrate their special occasion in this unique way can select a group of charities from the 15 - including Barnardo’s, FARM Africa and Marie Curie Cancer Care - who are registered with Give It. A list is then automatically created with a selection of differently priced gifts from this group of charities. Friends and family simply log on to the website and chose what they would like to give.
Malcolm Dent, Sight Savers’ Corporate Partnerships Executive says, “Give it is an unusual fundraising proposition because Sight Savers sits alongside other well-known charities. We were initially concerned that this would put us in competition; however it has become clear that this approach is very attractive to marrying couples and others wanting to make a charitable difference on their big day. It provides their friends and family with a great choice of where their cash goes and is presented in a simple yet interesting and efficient way. We’re delighted with the results so far.”
Andy Hickey, from Give It adds, “It’s great that we’re beginning to generate funds in what is still only our first full year. Although our focus is on the total generated, rather than the sums donated to an individual charity, it is interesting that Sight Savers have reached this milestone first. They, along with the four other launch charities, were quick to recognise the opportunity and to sign up to the service. With a total of 15 charities now involved, and more in the process of being identified and added, we’re looking forward to more of these milestones!”
For further information about Give It, contact Andy Hickey - andy@giveit.co.uk / 07974088938 / www.giveit.co.uk. For further information about Sight Savers International, contact Annie Watson – awatson@sightsavers.org / 01444 446656 / 07766 051 291 / www.sightsavers.org.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
§ Most of the £10,000 donated to Sight Savers has come from The Alternative Wedding List which is already gaining good recognition in the UK’s £5 billion per annum wedding market. Sight Savers and Give It are now looking forward to increased take-up of the more generic The Alternative Gift List, and later in the year, The Alternative Christmas List.
Sight Savers International
§ Sight Savers International restores sight, prevents blindness and creates training and education opportunities for those who will never see. Interventions are often very simple and cost-effective.
§ Since it was established, Sight Savers has restored sight to 5.2 million people and treated over 70 million for potentially blinding conditions.
§ Sight Savers International is a UK based charity that works in 32 countries across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.
§ There are 37 million blind people worldwide and 124 million people with low vision. 90% of this is in the developing world and 75% of all global blindness could be prevented or cured.
Give It
§ Give It, a not-for-profit company, operate The Alternative Wedding List, The Alternative Gift List and The Alternative Christmas List,
§ Give It can be found at giveit.co.uk, where individuals, couples and groups of people can sign-up to one of a number of ready-made gift lists that contain donations to various charities, including Barnardo’s, FARM-Africa, Help the Aged, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Samaritans, Save the Children, Shelter, Sight Savers International and many more.
§ Users select a group of charities and each guest then selects a donation to the charity of their choice.