Christmas Charity Fundraiser 2014: Final Poll

[Chris]

Thanks to everyone who voted in the first poll! I've taken the top 10 charities from the first poll and have put them into the final poll.

Please keep in mind that you can only vote for one charity in this poll and you cannot change it once you have voted.

The poll will close on the 25th of November at 20:00 GMT.

Happy voting!

Name	Description
Alzheimers Society	The word dementia describes a set of symptoms that may include memory loss and difficulties with thinking, problem-solving or language. Dementia is caused when the brain is damaged by diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease or a series of strokes. Dementia is progressive, which means the symptoms will gradually get worse.
Crohn's and Colitis UK	Crohn's and Colitis UK is a nationwide charity established in 1979. Our mission is to work with all those affected by inflammatory bowel diseases, in particular Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, to achieve a better quality of life, improve services, and ultimately find a cure. We raise awareness, provide information and support, fund crucial research, and campaign and speak up for change.
Parkinson's UK	As the UK's Parkinson's support and research charity we're leading the work to find a cure, and we're closer than ever. We also campaign to change attitudes and demand better services. Our work is totally dependent on donations. Help us to find a cure and improve life for everyone affected by Parkinson's.
Ataxia	'Ataxia' means ‘lack of order’. People with ataxia have problems with movement, balance, and speech. Over 10,000 people in the UK have a form of ataxia. There is currently no cure but we are working to find one every day.
DogsTrust	Our mission is to bring about the day when all dogs can enjoy a happy life, free from the threat of unnecessary destruction.
Cancer Research UK	Our main purpose is simple: to save lives by preventing, controlling and curing cancer. We do this through our world-class research into over 200 types of cancer, all of which is entirely funded by our supporters.
Mind	We provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. We campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding.
RSPCA	We're the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) and we've been here, looking out for animals, since 1824. It's our vision to work for a world in which all humans respect and live in harmony with all other members of the animal kingdom.
Epilepsy Action	Epilepsy Action is the UK’s leading epilepsy organisation and exists to improve the lives of everyone affected by the condition. As a member-led association, we are led by and represent people with epilepsy, their friends, families and healthcare professionals. Epilepsy can affect anyone at any age and from any walk of life, and globally over 50 million people have the condition. Epilepsy Action is here to support people every step of the way through living with the condition.
Blind Children UK	We help children and their families tackle the challenges of young sight loss so that they can enjoy their childhood and realise their potential as adults. We believe that no child should feel isolated and afraid or be deprived of a full life just because they can’t see. We help children and young adults with sight loss to be all they can be, and to live as independently as possible. There are around 30,000 children and young people in the UK who have a vision impairment.

This poll will close on Tuesday 25th November 2014 at 20:00 GMT.

[Chris]

Bump

[scottish]

Ataxia UK




Well I doubt anyone is going to give this charity a chance now as I didn’t appeal for it well enough before. If you could read this and consider the charity or at least educate yourself on the disorder, I would be really grateful. This is probably the only time I’ll ever talk about it and I hope you take the time out to at least watch the videos. My hopes are that you become more empathetic towards people you may see simply as a ‘wheelchair user’ and realise there is more to some disorders than simply being immobile. On top of this, it may help you be more grateful that you were born in the body that you were born in; one that fights to keep you alive.

Ataxia is a serious debilitating condition with no cure. You may not know anyone with Ataxia or have even heard of it but apathy won’t do any good; it can affect you at any point in your life. 1 in 90 Caucasians carry the gene for the inherited Ataxia – Friedreich’s Ataxia – meaning although you may not get the disease, your children could.

Firstly, as @Kardan; pointed out, last year Ataxia UK got £988,815 in donations, significantly lower than the other charities. It’s a small charity which covers a wide range of disorders that involve Ataxia. The aim of the charity is to research and treat these disorders, eventually finding a cure. Each type of Ataxia comes with its own problems but one of the worst is Friedreich’s Ataxia, which I will be making much reference to as, like everyone else and their charities, I’ve seen first-hand how horrible it is.

What is Ataxia?:
Ataxia is a group of neurological conditions which cause a degree of disability and problems with physical co-ordination such as walking, balance, writing, speech, sight and swallowing. In Friedreich’s Ataxia, the symptoms progressively get worse and can lead to complications of Diabetes and Cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscles), which is the biggest cause of death in those with FA. Life expectancy is roughly 35-50 years of age which has increased considerably. This prolonged longevity and quality of life would absolutely not have been possible without the charity. Freidreich’s has been documented for hundreds of years yet it is only in the past two decades that researchers have found the cause and gained an understanding into the biology of the disorder. Hopefully the charity continues to make progress as I and everyone else affected by it would love to see a cure for this generation.


Causes and Prevalence:
Ataxia is generally caused by damage to the Cerebellum (in the brain) or somewhere in the Nervous System. This damage results from various factors such as Genes, injuries and Gluten sensitivity.

In Friedreich’s Ataxia, a mutation in a gene called FXN causes a deficiency in a protein called Frataxin. Frataxin is essential for survival of cells in our body and without this, cells become susceptible to oxidative stress damage and slowly die off. As these cells die off, the Spinal Cord, Cerebellum and Peripheral Nerves degenerate and messages from the Spinal Cord on moving the body are unable to reach the brain. In normal people, our bodies fight to stay alive. In Friedreich’s, our body does the opposite. Imagine you or your loved ones body slowly killing itself and there’s nothing you can do but watch it happen.

Cognition remains intact yet those with FA are essentially trapped in their own body; being of sound mind but unable to express it through speech or writing. Obviously this can cause severe distress to the sufferer and their loved ones and so on top of their motor and neurological issues, they are susceptible to mental illness.

It may affect only one person but it affects everyone around them forever and could affect you at any time. 10,000 people in the UK have a form of Ataxia with 1 in 50,000 in the world with Friedreichs and as previously mentioned, 1 in 90 of Caucasians carry the mutated gene for Friedreich's which can be passed through generations.


What the charity has done so far:
Although there is no cure, the Ataxia foundation has done a lot to help understand and hopefully fight against Ataxia in the future. In only the last few decades, research has pin-pointed the gene responsible for Friedreich’s Ataxia and the causes for many other types of Ataxia. They have gained an understanding of the biological causes and what happens in the Brain and Spinal Cord in Ataxia, something that was not understand hundreds of years ago. Drug trials are being tested but the high cost and little money for such a wide variety of disorders means it can be difficult to continue research.
In 5 years they have spent £4 million on research, keeping admin fees low and having less staff means less wages. They do however pay volunteers too so the majority of the money goes towards research and drug trials, support groups and centres for those with Ataxia or supporting people who help raise money. No matter what happens, it will be a charity I will support for the rest of my life but any help given would be extremely welcome.

Their vision is to find a cure for one or all Ataxia’s by 2020!

When writing about this disorder and indeed any other disorder, it is difficult to fully give an account and image of really how badly it affects people. I myself would be apathetic to it if it didn’t affect me because it’s so unknown and thus easy to not care about. I’ve included two videos which hopefully you can give some of your time to look at. If you come across someone who walks/talks like they’re drunk, it may be because of something they can’t help. These symptoms, especially combined with walking aids, may be a type of Ataxia. These people are still cognitively well and should not be treated otherwise as they often are.
I will definitely be checking out other people’s arguments and educating myself about other disorders so as to not be hypocritical!
Thx

Resources:

A video about the charity’s aims and stories of people with Friedreich’s Ataxia,:



But this video really shows the devastating effects Friedreich’s has on a person:

Posting on behalf of @buttons; as she had to go out.

[Richie]

Ataxia UK




Well I doubt anyone is going to give this charity a chance now as I didn’t appeal for it well enough before. If you could read this and consider the charity or at least educate yourself on the disorder, I would be really grateful. This is probably the only time I’ll ever talk about it and I hope you take the time out to at least watch the videos. My hopes are that you become more empathetic towards people you may see simply as a ‘wheelchair user’ and realise there is more to some disorders than simply being immobile. On top of this, it may help you be more grateful that you were born in the body that you were born in; one that fights to keep you alive.

Ataxia is a serious debilitating condition with no cure. You may not know anyone with Ataxia or have even heard of it but apathy won’t do any good; it can affect you at any point in your life. 1 in 90 Caucasians carry the gene for the inherited Ataxia – Friedreich’s Ataxia – meaning although you may not get the disease, your children could.

Firstly, as @Kardan; pointed out, last year Ataxia UK got £988,815 in donations, significantly lower than the other charities. It’s a small charity which covers a wide range of disorders that involve Ataxia. The aim of the charity is to research and treat these disorders, eventually finding a cure. Each type of Ataxia comes with its own problems but one of the worst is Friedreich’s Ataxia, which I will be making much reference to as, like everyone else and their charities, I’ve seen first-hand how horrible it is.

What is Ataxia?:
Ataxia is a group of neurological conditions which cause a degree of disability and problems with physical co-ordination such as walking, balance, writing, speech, sight and swallowing. In Friedreich’s Ataxia, the symptoms progressively get worse and can lead to complications of Diabetes and Cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscles), which is the biggest cause of death in those with FA. Life expectancy is roughly 35-50 years of age which has increased considerably. This prolonged longevity and quality of life would absolutely not have been possible without the charity. Freidreich’s has been documented for hundreds of years yet it is only in the past two decades that researchers have found the cause and gained an understanding into the biology of the disorder. Hopefully the charity continues to make progress as I and everyone else affected by it would love to see a cure for this generation.


Causes and Prevalence:
Ataxia is generally caused by damage to the Cerebellum (in the brain) or somewhere in the Nervous System. This damage results from various factors such as Genes, injuries and Gluten sensitivity.

In Friedreich’s Ataxia, a mutation in a gene called FXN causes a deficiency in a protein called Frataxin. Frataxin is essential for survival of cells in our body and without this, cells become susceptible to oxidative stress damage and slowly die off. As these cells die off, the Spinal Cord, Cerebellum and Peripheral Nerves degenerate and messages from the Spinal Cord on moving the body are unable to reach the brain. In normal people, our bodies fight to stay alive. In Friedreich’s, our body does the opposite. Imagine you or your loved ones body slowly killing itself and there’s nothing you can do but watch it happen.

Cognition remains intact yet those with FA are essentially trapped in their own body; being of sound mind but unable to express it through speech or writing. Obviously this can cause severe distress to the sufferer and their loved ones and so on top of their motor and neurological issues, they are susceptible to mental illness.

It may affect only one person but it affects everyone around them forever and could affect you at any time. 10,000 people in the UK have a form of Ataxia with 1 in 50,000 in the world with Friedreichs and as previously mentioned, 1 in 90 of Caucasians carry the mutated gene for Friedreich's which can be passed through generations.


What the charity has done so far:
Although there is no cure, the Ataxia foundation has done a lot to help understand and hopefully fight against Ataxia in the future. In only the last few decades, research has pin-pointed the gene responsible for Friedreich’s Ataxia and the causes for many other types of Ataxia. They have gained an understanding of the biological causes and what happens in the Brain and Spinal Cord in Ataxia, something that was not understand hundreds of years ago. Drug trials are being tested but the high cost and little money for such a wide variety of disorders means it can be difficult to continue research.
In 5 years they have spent £4 million on research, keeping admin fees low and having less staff means less wages. They do however pay volunteers too so the majority of the money goes towards research and drug trials, support groups and centres for those with Ataxia or supporting people who help raise money. No matter what happens, it will be a charity I will support for the rest of my life but any help given would be extremely welcome.

Their vision is to find a cure for one or all Ataxia’s by 2020!

When writing about this disorder and indeed any other disorder, it is difficult to fully give an account and image of really how badly it affects people. I myself would be apathetic to it if it didn’t affect me because it’s so unknown and thus easy to not care about. I’ve included two videos which hopefully you can give some of your time to look at. If you come across someone who walks/talks like they’re drunk, it may be because of something they can’t help. These symptoms, especially combined with walking aids, may be a type of Ataxia. These people are still cognitively well and should not be treated otherwise as they often are.
I will definitely be checking out other people’s arguments and educating myself about other disorders so as to not be hypocritical!
Thx

Resources:

A video about the charity’s aims and stories of people with Friedreich’s Ataxia,:



But this video really shows the devastating effects Friedreich’s has on a person:

Posting on behalf of @buttons; as she had to go out.

I know it's only a bit of banter when I say you are in a wheelchair but it's things like this that make you stop and think, Jesus I'm
a ******* ****.

I've read up a bit about each charity over the past few days so had a fair understanding of what ataxia was before even voting in the previous poll, still going to support this charity as I couldn't imagine trying to live an active life with these conditions, it'd be beyond a struggle.


iPhone

[FlyingJesus]

Don't forget about Alzheimer's *+*+*+*+*+

[Jssy]

All of these conditions deserve support, but I'm supporting Epilepsy as it is hereditary in my family with my dad and several aunties and cousins with it. All the different types of epilepsy vary in severity but I don't feel like there is enough support for this awful condition, which shows with the small amount of money epilepsy action gets each year. I also liked Scott's post about Axtasia, I've never heard of the condition before which shows how much we aren't educated on other conditions, I think it would be really good for one of these conditions that is less known about to get our support so we can make a small difference to the amount of money the charity receives each year.

[dbgtz]

Is the 25th not a Tuesday?

[Chris]

Is the 25th not a Tuesday?

Yeah it is. Sorry

[Empired]

I will be posting more about Parkinson's UK as soon as I've finished my Spanish essay which was due like two weeks ago oops. And I only skim read scott's post for the same reason; I'll take the time to read it properly later.

I'm sure facts + figures will bore most people but I don't want sympathy votes for Parkinson's, I want the charity we donate to to be chosen because people think that it is the best cause and the money for it will go the furthest. There are a couple up there that I really hope don't get chosen, but I would be happy for the majority of those charities to be Habbox's Christmas charity for this year.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I vote for the Alhezmiers (can't spell) one due to the fact everybody has heard stories of older people losing their memory, how it changes the person and just generally what a terrible illness it is. It always makes me sad at Christmas time that there's old people alone and confused with no visitors.

I usually opt for at-home charities and those which help very sick children and older people. They looked after us all of their lives, return the favour.