‘Tis the season of colds, flu and general sniffliness. So Heinz has come up with a truly heartwarming idea for the invalid in your life – ‘Get Well’ soup that can be ordered through Facebook, personalised with the name of your poorly friend and then delivered to their doorstep, all for a measly £1.99.

Better than a bunch of grapes any day. But hurry – offer ends this week…

Hannah

Listen up, pottymouths! From now on, there’s no need to mind your manners on Twitter – at least, not if you connect to SwearJar.

This nifty little application takes the baddest of your bad language and turns it into something good – by making you donate £1 every time you tweet a swearword.

For the less foul-mouthed amongst you, fines can also levied on ‘offensive’ language such as ‘awesome’, ‘synergy’ and ‘epic’.

And all the cash raised goes towards UNICEF’s famine relief efforts in East Africa – a freaking good cause if ever there was one.

Hannah

During Open’s last big money giveaway a few of us donated to an Action for Children project that helps children who have been sexually abused.

Yesterday Nicki and I got to visit the centre to learn a bit more about what they do (and how our gift helped).

I think I expected to hear stories that would upset me. I didn’t expect to get a really good lesson in fundraising from the project’s manager.

First, she told us stories that made me want to cry. She then talked about the amazing and smart ways she and her staff get the children to deal with what has happened to them. And finally she explained exactly what it costs to give a sexually abused child enough support, counseling and love that they can move on from the horrific experiences they’ve been through.

Oh, and then she mentioned that they currently have six children on a waiting list to be seen while they try and raise enough money to help them.

Now if that isn’t solid fundraising – story telling, tangible solutions and need all in one – then I don’t know what is.

And throughout all of this was the simple message that once a child has been referred to their project, they can come back whenever they want. Meaning that, for those kids, Action for Children really is there for as long as it takes. Never has a charity strapline been so true.

So if you’ve got a few quid to spare, why not help here?

Mark