Digital Poverty Alliance

Digital Poverty Alliance is a charity working to end digital poverty by 2030, by a combination of advocacy and practical action.

Formed in the UK in 2021 by the Learning Foundation, Currys plc and The Institution of Learning and Technology, Digital Poverty Alliance publishes research, facilitates ideas sharing and runs programmes such as Tech4Families to improve people’s access to technology. Digital Poverty Alliance also advocates for policy and industrial change to improve access to technology and digital spaces.

How You Can Help

Time: varied; typically less than an hour at a time

Join the DPA Hub to join conversations about ending digital poverty or make a pledge to support the Digital Poverty Alliance.

Money: varied

Donate to Digital Poverty Alliance via its website.

Location: Based in the UK

Learn more: https://digitalpovertyalliance.org/

(This information was updated 13/01/23 and will be checked regularly by the Do Something Directory team. If you notice any mistakes, please let us know.)

Bone Cancer Research Trust

Bone Cancer Research Trust researches bone cancer and its causes, raises awareness of the disease and provides support to those impacted by bone cancer.

Founded by a group of families in 2004, Bone Cancer Trust funds research into the causes, treatments and potential cures for bone cancer. It provides information on the symptoms and types of bone cancer, with practical and guides for patients including resources regarding amputation, alongside support groups. Bone Cancer Trust also provides information to healthcare professionals.

How You Can Help

Time: various

Campaign or fundraise for Bone Cancer Research Trust, taking part in one-off or regular campaigns and activities.

Money: various

Donate to Bone Cancer Research Trust on a regular or one-off basis.

Location: UK

Learn more: https://www.bcrt.org.uk/

(This information was updated 21/12/22 and will be checked regularly by the Do Something Directory team. If you notice any mistakes, please let us know.)

How to Support a Charity or Non-Profit Using Social Media (in less than three minutes)

In our Campaigning, Education & Activism blogs, we share tools, tips and resources to help you help the causes you care about.

Time pressed and frustrated you can’t do more to support your favourite charity, community group or non-profit organisation? If you’re active on social media, you actually have a lot of power at your fingertips – even if you don’t have a six figure follower count. Here are our top tips for supporting your favourite organisations in less than three minutes:

Share the organisation’s posts

Not so often you irritate everyone you know, mind you. Share strategically! Send a post directly to a friend who would be interested, share a news post post to your stories or mention a friend in the comments of a post with a quick ‘would you be interested in this?’ Sharing is far more efficient than just generating ‘likes’ for the post or page.

Comment on posts

Algorithms generally reward ‘content’ that generates ‘engagement.’ (We don’t like that everything in the universe seems to have been reduced to content, but that’s a conversation for another day.) So engage! Comment with a response to an interesting post and maybe even get a comment thread going. This will boost the organisation’s chances of being seen on the ‘explore’ page of the social media site, or showing in the ‘suggested for you’ section of a feed.

Make your own post about the organisation

Whether you share a graphic they’ve created, share a photo or video of your own involvement or just post some words about what the organisation means to you, you’ll be helping your organisation hugely. Don’t forget to mention and/or tag them with the handle they use on that platform, or they won’t be able to see it!

We hope you find these tips helpful – and we’d love to know if you have any suggestions!

Last updated 7th January 2023.

Care4Calais

Care4Calais is a charity offering practical and direct support to refugees in the UK, France and Belgium.

In the UK, Care4Calais provides essential items such as toiletries to refugees, helps them register with doctors, helps with language learning and works to get young people into school. It also provides support with dealing with the legal system, such as providing interpreters and signposting. In France, Care4Calais works alongside other aid organisations in Calais, Dunkirk, Caen and Paris, providing practical help for refugees such as first aid, toiletries and sleeping bags, as well as a day centre and a children’s centre. Care4Calais also works with refugees in Brussels, and in Ventimiglia and the Italian Alps, and advocates for refugees’ legal rights in the UK.

How You Can Help

Time: varied; typically several days at a time

Care4Calais welcomes volunteers to help its teams across the UK, and in Calais. Alternatively, campaign or fundraise for Care4Calais, raising awareness of the plight of refugees in Europe.

Money: typically £10 minimum at a time

Donate to Care4Calais on a one-off or regular basis, or buy a ‘gift’ for a refugee, such as a phone or a winter coat.

Location: Based in the UK; working in France, Belgium and Italy

Learn more: https://care4calais.org/

(This information was updated 28/11/22 and will be checked regularly by the Do Something Directory team. If you notice any mistakes, please let us know.)

Conway Hall (Conway Hall Ethical Society)

The Conway Hall Ethical Society is a humanist organisation supporting free thought and celebrating and promoting culture and diversity of opinion.

Conway Hall Ethical Society began in 1787 as a dissident congregation advocating for freedom of thought. It is now based at Conway Hall in Red Lion Square, London. Conway Hall hosts regular social and cultural events alongside debates and lectures, both in London and online. The Conway Hall Humanist Library and Archives hosts the UK’s largest collection of humanist material in the UK, including academic papers, manuscripts and personal documents.

How You Can Help

Time: n/a

Conway Hall Ethical Society does not typically accept volunteers; we recommend contacting the organisation directly if you are interested in volunteer work.

Money: typically £2-£5 at a time; average £40 annually

Donate to Conway Hall or Conway Hall’s Sunday Concerts. You can also join Conway Hall as a member for between £30 and £55 per year.

Location: London, England

Learn more: https://www.conwayhall.org.uk/

(This information was updated 21/12/22 and will be checked regularly by the Do Something Directory team. If you notice any mistakes, please let us know.)

Essex Wildlife Trust

Essex Wildlife Trust is a conservation charity working across Essex, England, to preserve and advocate for wildlife and green spaces.

Established in 1959 and part of the UK-wide network of Wildlife Trusts, Essex Wildlife Trust is a charity dedicated to conservation of Essex’s land and sea, as well as advocacy and education. Essex Wildlife Trust works with schools and businesses to provide outdoors learning and outreach work, as well as ecology consultancy services. It pressures local and national government to take steps to preserve and rebuild green spaces, halt species extinction and tackle climate change. Specific projects include the Essex Seagrass Project, Share Our Shores and barn owl conservation.

How You Can Help

Time: typically several hours at a time

Fundraise for Essex Wildlife Trust or adopt species to help its work. You can volunteer for various local centres in different capacities. You can also take part in various campaigns, such as 30 Days Wild, or join in with campaigns or petitions to pressure local or national government.

Note: many volunteer opportunities require several hours at a time, although some, like magazine deliveries, may only require your help once or twice per year.

Cost: various

Become an Essex Wildlife Trust member or make a one-off or regular donation via the Essex Wildlife Trust website.

Location: Essex, England

Find out more: https://www.essexwt.org.uk/

(This information was updated 28/11/22 and will be checked regularly by the Do Something Directory team. If you notice any mistakes, please let us know.)

Trans Rescue

Trans Rescue is a non-profit helping transgender people to legally and safely escape from dangerous places and situations.

Based in the Netherlands, Trans Rescue provides safe, legal options for transgender people to travel out of their country of origin, providing help at various stages, such as leaving an abusive home and moving into a hotel, then leaving one country and spending time in another before moving on again. Trans Rescue helps people to claim asylum or apply for long-term residency. It operates under the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, ensuring that it never breaks the laws of any country it operates in. All people travel via ‘conventional carriers’ such as train or aeroplane. Trans Rescue also operates projects in specific places, such as building Eden House in Kenya, a safe, communal living space for trans people in Nakuru.

How You Can Help

Time: varied; typically several hours at a time

Trans Rescue is always looking for volunteers, from translators to legal interns to content writers. Note that most local work goes on in the Trans Rescue offices in Enschede, the Netherlands, but there are opportunities for international volunteers, especially working with people who in transit or recently arrived.

Money: typically £10 minimum at a time

Donate to Trans Rescue on a one-off or monthly basis via its website.

Location: Based in the Netherlands; operating in Egypt, Ghana, India, Kenya, Lebanon, the Maldives, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, Uganda, the UK, the USA and Yemen

Learn more: https://transrescue.org/

(This information was updated 28/11/22 and will be checked regularly by the Do Something Directory team. If you notice any mistakes, please let us know.)

Border Violence Monitoring Network

An independent network of non-profits and associations, the Border Violence Monitoring Network monitors and publicises human rights violations at the borders of the European Union.

Formed in 2016, the Border Violence Monitoring Network works predominantly in Greece and the Balkans, tracking events from the Turkish border with Greece and Bulgaria up to Italy and Austria (the ‘Balkan Route’). It records, fact-checks and publishes reports which track and analyse human rights violations and ‘pushback’ at national borders. Reports include testimonies, medical reports and images.

Note: Border Violence Monitoring Network works with our other entries, including No Name Kitchen. The network’s legal frame is German NGO Rigardu.

How You Can Help

Time: various

If you would like to get involved with the Border Violence Monitoring Network as a witness or journalist, or become involved in advocacy, you can get in touch via its website. (Note you can use an encrypted public PGP-key to get in touch privately.) You can also subscribe to a monthly newsletter summarising the situation on the Balkan Route.

Money: various

Use PayPal or bank transfer to donate to the Border Violence Monitoring Network.

Location: Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Romania, Turkey

Learn more: https://www.borderviolence.eu/

(This information was updated 27/11/22 and will be checked regularly by the Do Something Directory team. If you notice any mistakes, please let us know.)

Sightsavers

Sightsavers works in over 30 nations globally, preventing sight loss, fighting disease and advocating the rights of those with disabilities.

Founded in 1950, Sightsavers prevents sight loss by providing eye surgery for issues such as cataracts and glaucoma. It trains eye care workers, distributes medication and works to ensure that medical care is accessible to people with disabilities. Sightsavers also fights diseases that cause sight loss, such as trachoma and river blindness. The organisation advocates for the right of disabled people to access education and work opportunities, as well as working toward political participation for disabled people.

How You Can Help

Time: various; typically a few hours at a time for fundraising

Fundraise with Sightsavers or join its Equal World disability rights campaign. Sightsavers does work with volunteers, but they are people local to their community. This is due to their invaluable connection to, and insight into, their own communities.

Money: various

Donate to Sightsavers on a monthly or one-off basis.

Location: Global; based in the United Kingdom

Learn more: https://www.sightsavers.org/

(This information was updated 20/11/22 and will be checked regularly by the Do Something Directory team. If you notice any mistakes, please let us know.)

Black Scottish Adventurers

Black Scottish Adventurers is a community group aiming to improve people’s mental health through outdoor experiences.

Black Scottish Adventurers is a community group aiming to connect Scottish people with their local countryside and nature, and improve their mental health and wellbeing in the process. Aimed predominantly at ethnic minorities and first generation migrants, events include hiking, water sports, games and barbeques.

How You Can Help

Time: various, typically several hours at a time

Join Black Scottish Adventurers to get involved with the organisation, which is active across Scotland. Day events tend to last several hours.

Money: n/a

Black Scottish Adventurers does not presently accept donations. We recommend contacting the organisation directly if you are interested in making a financial contribution.

Location: Across Scotland

Learn more: https://blackscottishadventurers.com/

(This information was updated 20/11/22 and will be checked regularly by the Do Something Directory team. If you notice any mistakes, please let us know.)

No Name Kitchen

No Name Kitchen works in Europe, predominantly the Mediterranean and the Balkans, to provide humanitarian aid and political help for migrants and refugees.

No Name Kitchen provides practical humanitarian aid, including hygiene kits, food vouchers and clothing. It also collects testimonies of experiences at national borders, and contributes to the Border Violence Monitoring Network to advocate on behalf of refugees and migrating people.

How You Can Help

Time: several weeks; placements typically last 4+ weeks

Volunteer for No Name Kitchen at one of its locations, for a minimum of four weeks. Please note volunteers must be aged over 18, and must be prepared for stressful conditions and roles with responsibility. English is a required language for volunteers.

Money: various

Donate to No Name Kitchen on a one-off, monthly or annual basis. There are options to choose which cause you prefer to support (clothing and food/health, water and hygiene/legal protection). You can also purchase merchandise from No Name Kitchen’s online shop.

Location: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Serbia, Spain

Learn more: https://www.nonamekitchen.org/

(This information was updated 20/11/22 and will be checked regularly by the Do Something Directory team. If you notice any mistakes, please let us know.)

3 Climate Change Books to Pick Up During Cop27 | Campaigning, Education and Activism

In our Campaigning, Education & Activism blogs, we share tools, tips and resources to help you help the causes you care about.

Cop27 (the 27th ‘Conference of Parties’ in which nations meet to discuss climate change) has begun in Egypt. If you’re anything like us, you’re hopeful for real policy change but realistic about the chances of it happening. Cop summits are often confusing, with headlines focussing on the drama of which world leader has made which awkward comment, as opposed to explaining the complexities of climate change. With this in mind, here are a few books we’ve been dipping in and out of lately. We hope they help you get some perspective on the complexities and options of tackling climate change!

As always, we recommend borrowing these texts from a local library. If you’d like to purchase them, our Bookshop.org.uk profile lists many of them and you’ll be supporting both indie bookshops and the Do Something Directory with your purchase.

A Perfect Moral Storm: The Ethical Tragedy of Climate Change by Stephen M. Gardiner

Quite an academic book, this is all about the moral aspect of climate change and how ethics and politics interact – for example, how richer nations are often tempted to pass the costs of climate change to poorer nations, and how the current generations pass the issue on to future generations. Perfect reading for during the Cop summit!

Cover for 'A Perfect Moral Storm The Ethical Tragedy of Climate Change' by Stephen M. Gardiner

Environmental Ethics: an Anthology, ed. Andrew Light

This anthology is quite heavy, but it’s filled with writings by scientists, philosophers and thinkers including Aldo Leopold and Arne Naess. We recommend picking the passages you’re interested in, as opposed to trying to read it from cover to cover.

Don’t Even Think About It : Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change by George Marshall

We’ve only just started this one, but it’s promising. We’re always looking at how we can learn to engage with people who aren’t convinced certain issues are real or worth caring about. If you’ve already finished it, share your thoughts!

We hope you’ve found this list helpful and we’d love to know your recommendations for climate change-related books.

Last updated on 11th November 2022.