Your UNICEF - Autumn 2013

Fundraising news Autumn 2013

08 H ealth: How you’re helping to protect Syria’s children as winter approaches

Welcome Hello and welcome to Your UNICEF, which this issue features the inspiring stories of amazing supporters like you and shows how your hard work for UNICEF helps vulnerable children around the world.

We update you on the success of our Live Below the Line campaign and let you know how you can get involved in this year’s Jar of Grace appeal.

EMERGE

NCY As Your UNICEF ALERT went to print Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, causing widespread devastation.

UNICEF is already on the ground providing aid, including medicine and clean water.

We need your support to help us be there for the children and families affected.

To find out more about UNICEF’s We also focus on vaccinations and the emergency response and how impact they have on children all over you can help, visit unicef.org.uk/ the world. We specifically address the emergencyfundraising emergency situation in Syria and how, as a harsh winter approaches, you can help us reach more Syrian children with emergency aid.

Plus, we’ve got the the inside scoop on what’s coming up and how you can get involved. We hope you enjoy the magazine. If you have any ideas for future issues, or questions about fundraising, please email us at fundraisinghelp@unicef.org.uk or call 0844 801 2414.

Cover image © UNICEF/Jordan13-01270/Malkawi

Thank you for your continued support.

Public Fundraising Team, UNICEF UK

Contents 03 No child should die from a preventable disease 04 ‘We all need to share a little bit more’

02 Welcome

05 Help us to reach every child 06 Protecting Syria’s children 08 ‘We can give these children their childhood back’

10 Team UNICEF gears up for a big year of sport 12 Getting active to save and change lives 14 Inside UNICEF UK 15 Fundraisers in action

© UNICEF/HQ06-1800/Estey

No child should die from a preventable disease A toddler from Flores Island, Indonesia, gets his measles vaccine.

Do you remember the last time you had a vaccine? How did it make you feel? Safe? Immune? Protected?

We often think that getting immunisations is a normal part of life.

At birth in the UK, we are routinely vaccinated. Our parents made sure we had all the vaccinations we needed before starting school.

When planning a holiday, we can check which immunisations are recommended and access them easily. But vaccines are not available to everyone.

More than 4,000 children die every day from vaccine-preventable diseases.

No child should die like this. Yet about one in five children globally are not getting life-saving vaccines.

This means nearly 22 million children under the age of one are not immunised. UNICEF is working hard to reach more children around the world with vaccines so that no child dies from a preventable disease.

Turn to page 6 to find out how, thanks to your support, UNICEF is immunising children affected by the crisis in Syria.

• In 2012, UNICEF procured close to 2 billion doses of vaccine and more than 500 million syringes – reaching 36 per cent of the world’s children.

DID YOU KNOW ?

• Thanks to vaccines, smallpox has been eradicated and we are close to ridding the world of polio forever.

• It costs just £19 to provide measles vaccines for 50 children.

Welcome 03

‘We all need to share a little bit more’ Live Below the Line participants survive on just £1 a day – below the poverty line – for five days.

Katie Cox, one of hundreds of UNICEF supporters to take part last year, describes her experience © UNICEF/HQ12-0543/Asselin

When you’re hungry, it’s the only thing you think about. I didn’t realise how much of an impact it would have, but it affects everything you do and changes your priorities dramatically.

Living on so little money really brought home for me that we all need to share a little bit more. If there’s enough food for everyone, people shouldn’t be spending their whole lives living below the poverty line.

Taking on the challenge is definitely worth it. A total of 1,269 people took part last year, and together we raised £153,170 for UNICEF’s work for children. My team at the University of Nottingham managed to raise £1,155, which is a great motivation for living below the line again next year.

Katie Cox is an Assistant in the Public Fundraising Team at UNICEF UK and a former On Campus Regional Co-ordinator.

04 Update: Live below the line

Jenneh Johnson feeds her daughter Jusu at their home in Bomi County, Liberia. More than 80 per cent of Liberians live below the international poverty line of US$1.25.

Find out more For more inform ation on Live Below the Line visit unicef.org .uk/ livebelowthel ine

Help us to reach every child Jar of Grace is a simple way for churches to raise money to support UNICEF’s work for children.

Here’s how your congregation can get involved

© UNICEF/HQ12-1667/Noorani

Each year, more than 2 million children’s lives are saved thanks to vaccinations. Vaccines are one of the most successful and cost-effective ways to fight life-threatening diseases such as measles, whooping cough, tetanus and diphtheria.

But for every four children immunised, one child is left at risk.

Jar of Grace is a simple way for your church to make a difference and help us to reach every child.

Every meal time, as you say grace, take a moment to think about the vulnerable children around the world who so desperately need our help. Put a few coins in a jar to help save and change their lives and encourage members of your congregation to do the same.

Will your church register for Jar of Grace?

You can hold your Jar of Grace collection at whatever time fits best with your church calendar.

Many churches collect all year round but you can choose to hold the appeal around special dates such as Advent, Lent or Harvest.

A girl presses cotton wool to her arm following a measles and rubella vaccination at an immunisation site in Nepal.

Register your church today at jarofgrace.org.uk and order leaflets with jar labels, collection envelopes, posters and a full Leader’s booklet to support your fundraising.

For more information email kerrym@unicef.org.uk Jar of Grace raises money for all areas of UNICEF’s vital work for children.

Update: Jar of Grace 05

Protecting Syria’s children as winter approaches UNICEF’s vaccination programme inside Syria and in surrounding refugee camps will help to save and protect children throughout the harsh winter ahead As the crisis in Syria moves into its third year, its people continue to face devastating upheaval and horrific violence. Four million Syrian children are now in need of humanitarian aid as a result of this terrible conflict.

© UNICEF/HQ2012-1628/Halabi

Many Syrian children and their families have fled to neighbouring countries. They now face the challenges of life as refugees. The camps are often overcrowded, with poor hygiene and sanitation, limited clean water and a high risk of disease. The Za’atari camp in the Jordanian desert, for example, is now home to more than 120,000 refugees. It is the second biggest refugee camp in the world.

For the millions more children who are still living in Syria, the situation is increasingly dire. Many families have lost their homes and are now living in makeshift shelters and camps.

Children inside Syria also face severe human rights violations, including the ever-present threat of death, sexual violence, torture, recruitment by armed forces and exposure to explosive remnants of war.

The children of Syria have lost their homes, their schools, their families and their friends.

They have lost their childhoods because of the horrors of this conflict. They are at risk of losing their futures too.

A girl is given an oral polio vaccine at a health centre in Damascus, Syria’s capital, during UNICEF’s vaccination campaign.

06 Health – Syria vaccinations

Bushra’s story

© UNICEF/HQ2012-1628/Halabi

Find out more About UN ICEF’s w ork in Syria a nd how y o u can help unicef.org at .uk/syria

Bushra, aged 11, has lived in a cramped tent at Za’atari Camp in Jordan with her parents, brothers and sisters since fleeing Syria in September 2012.

Her home city of Diraa was under siege for months; she would wake up at night, terrified by the noises of the bombs.

Bushra still cries when she hears a plane.

“I want to be able to go to school,” she says.

“That’s how I’m going to change my life.”

The threat of winter Now there is a new threat to these children’s lives – the freezing winter is fast approaching. They desperately need warm clothes and blankets to protect them from the extreme cold.

Under these challenging conditions, UNICEF is working tirelessly to protect children. We are one of very few children’s organisations still working in Syria. Millions of children are counting on us to provide emergency food, medicine and clean water, as well as safe places to go to school and psychological support.

We are also providing blankets to keep out the bitter cold.

One of our focuses is on emergency immunisation against measles and polio. As the recent

outbreak of polio in Syria shows, these diseases are highly infectious and can spread easily, particularly in times of conflict and displacement.

In the face of limited access, continuing insecurity and damage to infrastructure more than 100 mobile teams have been set up to ensure we reach children from displaced families living in temporary shelters.

So far UNICEF has vaccinated more than 1 million children inside Syria and 1.3 million in the surrounding countries against measles. This lifesaving work will help protect Syria’s children throughout winter, but there is still a long way to go. In the coming months, one of our biggest priorities is to reach as many children as we can in Syria and the surrounding countries with supplementary vaccinations.

Health – Syria vaccinations 07

‘We can give these children their childhood back’ The violence in Syria is devastating, but there are lots of ways we can help. Christina Haddad describes the experience that motivated her to get active for the children of Syria Not long ago, I was on holiday in Lebanon. Like any sunny afternoon, the old streets of the city of Jbeil were buzzing with traffic and I was one of the few pedestrians around.

I heard a voice: “Please, she’s hungry Just something for her… anything.”

Under the blistering Mediterranean sun, a woman sat on the pavement, cradling a little girl. Those few words were heartbreaking. This woman could not satisfy her child’s most basic needs, and she is just one of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees in such a situation.

Coming across UNICEF UK’s Children of Syria appeal was a harsh reminder of that little girl. I decided to run the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon to raise money for the appeal.

This was a huge personal challenge, but my motivation was clear. Being of Lebanese origin, I’ve spent a lot of time there and have witnessed first hand the scale of conflict and human tragedy in the Middle East. I find the conflict in Syria and the resulting refugee crisis absolutely devastating.

08 How you can help

I’ve seen the fleeing families living in cramped basements of elaborate apartment blocks and children in ripped clothes dashing between luxury cars at traffic lights, begging for loose change. The most tragic sight of all is the faces of these boys and girls. There’s no spark in their eyes, no smiles – just desperation.

The children of Syria have had their homes, schools, and loved ones taken from them. They are being robbed of their childhoods.

While world leaders look to end the violence, UNICEF looks to ease the plight of these children. UNICEF is doing incredible work to support Syria’s children on the ground, providing basic essentials, such as clean water, clothing and medical care, and working to enrol children in schools to restore a sense of normality.

As the violence in Syria rages on, UNICEF’s work will only become more crucial. These vulnerable children were born into a cruel world. We may not be able to bring back their homes or their loved ones, but we can work to give these children their childhood back.

© 2013/Leal-Olivas

Whatever you decide to do, remember to em at fundraising ail us help@ unicef.org.uk so can help you ra we ise much as poss as ible.

Syrian children gather around a small fire for warmth, in the Atmah refugee camp close to the Turkish border.

How you can help

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Sing for Syria with your group, church, school or friends. unicef.org.uk/singforsyria Get active by doing a run, cycle, skydive or other challenge. unicef.org.uk/getactive Set up an online sweepstake and get your friends guessing.

Check out unicef.org.uk/guess2give Host a quiz or a coffee morning.

Give something up and donate the money you would normally spend or ask people to sponsor you.

Host a dinner party and ask guests to make a donation.

Organise a gala, ball or special event to raise money and awareness.

A Syrian boy plays with a used bullet. UNICEF is one of very few children’s organisations still working in Syria to protect children.

The UK Government will match pound for pound the money you raise for Syrian children.

Your donations will be matched between 31 October 2013 and 31 January 2014.

Emergency fundraising 07

© DanielLeal-Olivas/Corbis/APImages

Christina chose to run a half marathon, but there are lots of other ways to help the children of Syria. Here are just a few ideas.

Team UNICEF gears up for a big year of sport Soccer Aid takes place next summer, and UNICEF is also official charity partner of the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

With two such big sporting occasions in the diary, set to be broadcast internationally, it’s time to get active for children The Commonwealth Games is an international, multisport event involving 71 teams of athletes from across the Commonwealth of Nations. It takes place every four years. In 2014 the Games will be held in Glasgow, from 23 July to 3 August, and will feature 17 sports.

UNICEF and the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games are working together to transform children’s lives in Scotland and throughout the Commonwealth. Using the power of sport, we will enable and inspire children to be the best they can be.

This includes life-saving work to reduce HIV infections, providing an education to give children a future, and using sport to help build self-confidence and keep children in school. By supporting UNICEF and Glasgow 2014, you will help make the Games live on through the lives of the children.

To celebrate this partnership and the opening ceremony, we’ll be encouraging you to get involved and fundraise by having parties, signing up for challenge events, and more.

To find out what you can do to support the Games visit unicef.org.uk/commonwealth

Anjani’s story Anjani Patel from Chhattisgarh, India, got polio at the age of three, losing the strength in her left leg. At the age of nine, she took to swimming in the village pond to improve her muscles and coordination and has been a dedicated swimmer ever since.

In 2010, Anjani finished in the top five for all her events at the

International Disabled Swimming Championships. Glasgow 2014 can provide more children and young people like Anjani with the opportunity to play sport.

“My first leap into the village pond has carried me far,” says Anjani.

“I hope that others like me swim to success.” © UNICEF/India/2010

10 A big year of sport

Soccer Aid is a biennial charity football match fronted by our ambassador, Robbie Williams. It has raised over £12 million for UNICEF since 2006. Two teams made up of celebrities and former professional players, one representing England and the other the Rest of the World, battle it out at Old Trafford stadium in Manchester for a chance to lift the Soccer Aid trophy. The match is broadcast on ITV and features short films showcasing UNICEF’s work

around the world. The show asks the public to donate to support UNICEF’s vital work for children.

The last Soccer Aid took place in May 2012. We’d like to say thank you to everyone who donated at home.

Your contribution will make a huge difference to children’s lives, and all donations were matched pound for pound by the UK government.

In total, we raised over £4.9 million for the world’s children. The money raised has helped us to provide life-saving food for malnourished children, vaccines, other essential drugs to treat diarrhoeal diseases and respiratory infections, and much more. In spring 2014 the fifth Soccer Aid will be bigger and better, so keep an eye out for information about how you can get involved. unicef.org.uk/socceraid

UNICEF’s partnership with the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games will help more children like Anjani to flourish through sport.

Getting active to save and change lives Richard Hughes ran the Brighton Marathon earlier this year in aid of UNICEF. He talks us through his experience, from fundraising and training to race day “I decided to run the Brighton marathon because I was looking for a challenge and to push myself to achieve something. It made sense to me at the same time to do my bit to raise some money for a great charity like UNICEF UK.

“I wasn’t expecting the response I got from friends and family, everyone was impressed and rallied around me, putting their hands deep in their pockets, even people that I didn’t know that well, which was quite humbling.

It all meant that I exceeded my fundraising target really quickly!

“The day itself was fantastic.

So much support from Team UNICEF, friends and the public who turned out. Everyone shouting my name, ‘Go on Rich!’, as I staggered towards the end.

I did my marathon in the time that I wanted and felt absolutely euphoric crossing the line.”

© UNICEF UK/2013

Richard enjoys a well-earned sit down after the Brighton Marathon.

Find out more Join Team UNICEF and sign up for events at unicef.org.uk/ getactive

12 Join Team UNICEF

Join Team UNICEF Have you been inspired to follow in Richard’s footsteps? There are lots of UNICEF UK charity sport events that you could take part in. They’re a great way to have fun and raise muchneeded funds for vulnerable children.

Like Richard, you could join Team UNICEF at the Brighton Marathon 2014. Visit unicef.org.uk/brighton to find out more and register for your place.

TEAM UNICEF DATES FO R YOUR DIARY

If this isn’t the challenge for you, then check out these fantastic events that are coming up and sign up to join Team UNICEF. Once you have registered for your event, we will send you your Team UNICEF Fundraising Pack to give you helpful guidance on: raising sponsorship, including online and through social media; contacting your local radio station and newspaper to drum up more support and awareness; and talking about UNICEF UK.

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2 5 EMD I N BAU R GYH 2014 M A R A T H O N

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Team UNICEF 13

Inside UNICEF UK Legacy Manager Jane Hallahan tells us why she loves her job I’ve been working at UNICEF UK for over eight years, managing our Legacy and In Memoriam programmes. If someone wants to collect donations at a funeral, or is thinking of extending their support for UNICEF through leaving a gift in their will, then I am here to provide support. I also liaise with executors and solicitors on the management of our supporters’ estates.

I’m often asked why I have stayed working here for such a long time, and my answer is always the same.

I work in the friendliest office, with the most inspiring supporters, for a cause that means everything to me.

I’m part of the team that delivers different events for our supporters — the Carol Concert and the Garden Party for our legacy supporters to name just two.

I have been fortunate to meet

What are you doing for children?

Here at UNICEF UK we always love to hear about what our supporters are doing for children: Include @UNICEF_UK in your posts (you will need to ‘like’ us first) Type in +UNICEF UK in your posts Message us @unicef_uk

“I am constantly inspired by our supporters’ commitment to making a better world for children.” many supporters over the years, and I am constantly inspired not just by your commitment to making a better world for children, but also by the many thoughtful and generous ways you do that.

When someone leaves a gift in their will to the children we work for, it has a huge impact, as these gifts really underpin our key work. For example, we received a substantial gift just after the Haiti earthquake, which meant we were able to send that money immediately to provide key emergency services and save children’s lives.

Fundraisers in action In August, students Payge Temple and Karolina Cybulski braved a skydive for UNICEF UK. They tell us about their inventive fundraising efforts Why did you choose to raise money for UNICEF UK? We felt that UNICEF’s work is close to our hearts. We both feel very strongly that no matter who you are and where you’re from, everyone has the right to a childhood. And a happy one at that!

© UNICEF UK/13

How did you raise the money?

We raised a lot of our fundraising money at our college. We organised a gigantic cake sale, and an ‘intriguing drinks’ sale day, where we made our own virgin mojitos and all types of milkshakes. Both events were extremely successful thanks to the wonderfully generous students and staff members at our college.

Payge (left) and Karolina prepare for their skydive.

How much have you raised? £445 What’s your top fundraising tip?

Never lose enthusiasm! Things can always go wrong with planned activities but unconditional enthusiasm inspires those around you to believe in your goal just as much as you do.

What did you enjoy most?

The best part of the entire process was the rewarding feeling we achieved following the success of the events. Not only did we feel proud of ourselves, but we were also amazed at the level of generosity from our fellow students and staff members. This experience really opened our eyes to how much people give when they know that it is going to a cause like UNICEF.

You can have an unforgettable experience skydiving for UNICEF like Payge and Karolina.

Find out more at unicef.org.uk/skydive If this isn’t the challenge for you, then check out our other fantastic events at unicef.org.uk/getactive

Fundraisers in action 15

Leave a gift that lives on By including a gift to UNICEF in your Will, you will be extending your generosity to future generations

Talk to us in confidence Speak to Jane Hallahan today and find out more about making a gift in your Will.

Call 020 7375 6032 email legacies@unicef.org.uk or visit unicef.org.uk/legacy

© UNICEF/HQ2012-1850/Tanya Bindra

SHE HAS HER MOTHER’S EYES, HER FATHER’S NOSE. SHE CAN INHERIT HER SMILE FROM YOU.