Category Archives: Society

Non-Profit, Society

Step Up to the Plate for a Hunger-Free Community

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Northridge, California…September 22, 2010…The Westside Food Bank will host its 20th annual 5k Hunger Walk: Step Up To The Plate for a Hunger-Free Community.  As our economy continues to struggle, Westside Food Bank’s work has never been more crucial.  Westside Food Bank has been serving the local community since 1981.  It currently provides more than 4 million pounds of food a year that reaches close to 95,000 of our neighbors most in need.  Its mission is to distribute as much food as possible to local agencies with food assistance programs and to reduce food waste on the Westside of Los Angeles County.

The Hunger Walk will take place on November 7, 2010 at 12 noon at 2600 Barnard Way, Santa Monica, CA 90405. (Ocean Park Blvd. at the beach.)  It is a free event and there is no fundraising minimum.   Although the goal is to raise money and alleviate hunger in our communities, we encourage everyone to come out, put their best foot forward and walk for a worthy cause. Gather your friends, create a team, register today and create an impact.  Participants will enjoy entertainment, games, raffle prizes, a silent auction, and naturally, an invigorating 3.1 mile stroll along the beach in Santa Monica.  Invited celebrities include Kerri Kasem, daughter of the radio host Casey Kasem, and actresses Julia-Louis Dreyfus and Teri Hatcher.    The money raised from this event goes to acquiring food for those in need in our community, and half of that food will go to children.  The proceeds from last year’s Hunger Walk enabled them to provide enough food for over 450,000 meals.

In Los Angeles County, a record 1 out of 5 children are living in poverty.  Westside Food Bank is particularly focused on providing a balanced variety of nutritious foods for local children, whose growing bodies cannot wait for a better economy to get the nutrition they need now.  Since the start of the economic crisis, requests for food assistance at Westside Food Bank’s member pantries has increased by more than 50%, and much of that increase is among families with young children.

You can help make a difference in the fight against hunger in our community.  Your participation will help local food pantries, soup kitchens and hunger-relief agencies provide food for thousands of families in the year ahead. Become a walker or form a walking team: with no registration fees or minimum fundraising requirements, your presence alone will make a world of difference by raising awareness about local hunger.  You can also become a sponsor and help raise funds in support of the cause.  Donations and volunteers for the event are highly appreciated.

Register, donate, and get more information online at: https://westsidefoodbank.myetap.org/fundraiser/20thAnnualHungerWalk/

About Westside Food Bank

Westside Food Bank’s mission is to distribute as much food as possible to local agencies with food assistance programs and to reduce food waste on the Westside of Los Angeles County.

Website: http://www.westsidefoodbankca.org/

Society

Hundreds of International NGO’s, Celebrities and Messengers Join the UN in Raising Awareness of the Ceasefire on September 21st. A Global PeaceDay TV Internet Broadcast

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Peace In Our Lifetime a UK based organisation, are hosting ‘Global United Parties for Peace’ which will be part of the Peace Day TV Broadcast Collaboration for Peace Day. Their London and USA Music events will be live streamed into a Global Broadcast. PeaceDay.tv and production partners are inviting people from countries all around the world to participate in what may turn out to be the world’s largest ever humanitarian & entertainment Internet broadcast ever scheduled for September 17-21, 2010.

London, United Kingdom, September 20, 2010 — Hundreds of NGO’s, Celebrities and Messengers Join the UN in Raising Awareness of the Ceasefire on September 21st.

Peace in Our Lifetime are part of this year’s Peace Day TV Broadcast. A Broadcast which has gathered notable NGO’s, Inspiring Peace Messengers, Celebrities along with International Musicians playing uplifting music from around the world. All have gathered to raise awareness of the UN agreed Ceasefire, which is officially part of the International Day of Peace on 21 September 2010.

This year’s ‘Global United Party for Peace in London featuring musicians such as Mike Lindup (Level 42), Kuljit Bhamara (The Guru, Bend it Like Beckham, Bombay Dreams) joining other artists John Young (Asia, Scorpions), Ricardo Garcia, Two Spot Gobi, Tony Moore and Xander Nichting to celebrate the day when humanity lay down our weapons by conscious choice. The London Party will be live-streamed via their website but also into peaceday.tv which is also embedded into the United Nations Official website.

Standing with Peacejam, Good Will Treaty, Imagine Peace, Just Giving, Love is All We Need and many other peace pioneering organisations, Peace in Our Lifetime aim is to raise awareness of The International Day of Peace by and Peace One Day’s extraordinary work. Peace in Our Lifetime initiative founder Lynne Hazelden said, “We are Standing together as one collective intention and inviting people around the world to thank someone or people in their lives, community, services and families for acts of kindness. To bring attention to the peace being created everyday by ordinary people. Also, by inviting individuals to take a personal stand for peace by adding their voice, be counted and downloading their own personalised peace certificate which shows their unique voice inside.” Their aim is to count to one billion souls by acknowledging each individuals personal choice.

Betty Williams, Nobel Laureate – “I encourage everyone around the globe to recognize and celebrate International Day of Peace on September 21st. This is a day to honor all of those groups and people who work for peace everyday, all year long. I am a member of the PeaceJam Foundation and we are excited to be supporting Peace In Our Lifetimes’ “Global United Parties for Peace” in cities around the world and the United Nation’s annual global cease fire. Until everyday is Peace Day, it is important that we do all we can to create a safe and just world — we owe this to children across the globe.”

More information on the organisations partnering with Peace in Our lifetime with details on how to get Involved.

http://www.peaceinourlifetime.org/sites/default/files/GetInvolvedPeaceDay.pdf

London Event page : http://thebedford.co.uk/EventView.aspx?ID=683ecfe6-e72d-44cb-b275-5498b9b87a78

Tickets: https://www.wegottickets.com/event/92289

PeaceDay.tv and Peace in OUR lifetime productions are inviting partners invite individuals around the world to participate in what may turn out to be the world’s largest ever humanitarian & entertainment Internet broadcast ever scheduled for September 17-21st.

The “Peace Day Global Broadcast” combines this year’s UN Millennium Development Goals Review Summit from the United Nations with the 2010 International Day of Peace celebrations from around the world. This five day celebration includes live coverage from the UN building in NY including the Millennium Review Summit with world leaders, a peace concert from London from Peace In Our Lifetime, the Jane Goodall Roots & Shoots youth event in Los Angeles, the planting of Peace Trees from Finland by Israeli & Palestinian Ambassadors, Art Miles Peace Murals from the Giza Pyramid in Egypt, a Peace Day Parade from Hawaii, and EarthDance festivals from over 20 locations globally.

Between the live segments are pre-produced documentary segments that cover the state of world affairs in areas ranging from ending poverty, peace keeping, the middle east, child mortality, 2010 disasters, bio-diversity, maternal health, indigenous peoples, world culture, the Millennium Development Goals, and much more.

Content is provided by CARE, UNICEF, ONE Campaign, Millennium Campaign, The Elders, Water.org, UN World Food Program, Peace One Day, UNIFEM, Action Against Hunger, Amnesty International, World Economic Forum, URI, Agape, Playing For Change, and over 50 more of the worlds most effective aid organizations listed on the http://www.peaceday.tv website. As part of the International Day of Peace promotion and education we will be airing the entire “Day After Peace” documentary created by the Peace One Day Foundation, and include a special film festival comprised of short films provided by the Global Oneness Project.

Celebrities appearing include Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Nelson Mandela, Bono, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jimmy Carter, Tom Hanks, Sean Penn, Dalai Lama, Jane Goodall, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Al Pacino, Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, USHER, Justn Beiber, Jonas Brothers, Charlize Theron, Jane Goodall, David Beckham, James Cameron, Jude Law, Drew Barrymore, Roger Federer, Joan Baez, Jackson Browne, Michael Douglas, Muhammed Ali, Jeremy Irons, Sarah Jessica Parker, Richard Branson, Michael Franti, Kofi Anan, Ban-Ki Moon, Cameron Diaz, Princess Hussein of Jordan, Jackie Chan, Jamie Foxx, Mia Farrow, Lenny Kravitz, Kevin Bacon, Alan Rickman, Gordon Brown, Jennifer Connelly, Antonia Banderas, Orlando Bloom, Jet Li, and too may others to mention.

Celebrate the International Day of Peace with incredible entertainment and learn about the Millennium Development Goals by tuning in during the September 17-21st broadcast period.

The Peace Day Player is available for people or organizations to freely place on their own websites, Facebook pages, MySpace pages, even in blog pages such as WordPress.

The Peace Day Global Broadcast is an annual charitable humanitarian event coordinated through the cooperation of LiveSteam, Unity Foundation, ShockRa Entertainment, Xeden, PeacePortal.mobi, and GlobaLink TotalVision Network.

http://peaceday.tv/musicians
http://peaceday.tv/campaigns
http://peaceday.tv/contentproviders

To find out more information, Download A Peace Certificate got to http://www.peaceinourlifetime.org/
http://peaceday.tv/goals/campaigns

Contact Nick Barr : peaceday@yourpersonalassitant.co.uk
Telephone: 0207 193 7615

Press & Media Contact:
Nick Barr
Peace In Our Lifetime
London, United Kingdom
(+44) 0207 193 7615
info@peaceinourlifetime.org
http://www.peaceinourlifetime.org

Business, Economy, Financial, Society

Possible £2.7bn Bill for PPI Reclaim Compensation

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The Financial Services Authority has announced that compensation for mis-sold PPI reclaims could reach as much as £2.7bn and involve 2.75 million people in the UK. Complaints regarding PPI reclaims are expected to rise to over 550,000 per year for the next five years, with compensation for PPI reclaims varying from £900 – £1,800 per person.

The FSA found ‘wide and deep evidence of weakness in PPI sales’ over the last five years and warned lenders they have until December 1st 2010 to adopt a new set of rules that deal with PPI reclaim complaints, key features of which include:

If the customer would not have bought the policy in the first place, the PPI premiums plus interest should be reimbursed.
If the customer was persuaded to buy a premium with a single up-front payment instead of a regular premium policy, the customer should be reinstated to the position they would have been if they had done.
Dan Waters of the FSA said: “The rules are the culmination of months of hard work and now, with these measures, we look forward to consumers being treated fairly whether they are buying or complaining about PPI. Since we took over the regulation of PPI we’ve carried out 24 investigations and three thematic reviews, issued warnings, halted the selling of single premium PPI with unsecured personal loans, visited over 200 firms, and handed out some very significant fines.”

Lenders up in arms about new PPI reclaim rules

Many have argued the new PPI reclaim rules are unnecessary and disproportionate, with lenders waging a behind-the-scenes campaign to stop the new regulations from being instated.

However, the FSA is adamant the new rules are necessary given the behaviour of some lenders when faced with dealing with PPI reclaims. Some lenders have been automatically turning down almost half of the PPI reclaim complaints they receive with others have been rejecting every single one. Of those customers who had their PPI reclaims rejected, 1 in 3 turned to the Financial Ombudsman Service for help and 80% had their complaints upheld. Such is the extent of the problem, last year the FSA instructed lenders to open up 185,000 rejected PPI reclaims and review them.

For claims comparison site, writeoffloan.com, the behaviour of the lenders is nothing new. “The new FSA rules are incredibly welcome, For years lenders have been mis-selling PPI insurance alongside loans to everyone they could. Often they knew the premiums to be unnecessary or that the customer would be unable to claim on the policy because they were exempt from doing so when they took them out. Sometimes they didn’t even bother telling the borrower they were adding a PPI premium. Customers had no idea they even had an insurance policy.”

The spokesperson added; “The numbers of people coming to us for help with PPI reclaims has risen dramatically over the last 12 months and some of the stories we are hearing are quite shocking. It’s quite obvious the lenders are banking on people being disillusioned and put off when they repeatedly reject their PPI reclaims. That’s why many people need a helping hand from companies like ours to deal with the tactics of these unscrupulous lenders who have simply instated a blanket ban on dealing with PPI reclaims regardless of the merit of the customer’s case. Luckily we understand PPI reclaim law and aren’t so easily put off by the tactics of lenders”.

The Competition Commission is also expected to announce a ban on selling PPI policies at the point when someone is granted a loan. Some lenders however have realised the game is up and have already stopped offering polices, including HSBC and Lloyds.

But it’s all too little too late for the millions of people who were caught and still face a battle to get their money back.

Contact Details: Writeoffloan.com
Finance House,
Stockport Road,
Altrincham
WA15 8ET

Tel: 0800 043 2027
Website: http://www.writeoffloan.com

Healthcare, Internet & Online, Society

Dementia Web – Offering Support to People With Dementia & Their Carers

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Dementia Web was launched to offer support for people who have dementia, carers and professionals. The national website contains information and support for people who have dementia and their carers.

Oxon, UK, September 01, 2010 — If you have dementia ( http://www.dementiaweb.org.uk ) or care for someone who does you will understand how it can change the lives of both of you. It is important that you do not feel alone in this situation and seek support.

Dementia Web was launched to offer support for people who have dementia, carers and professionals. The national website contains information and support for people who have dementia and their carers, there are separate county sites for local sources of information.

When a loved one becomes affected by dementia it can be a difficult time for everyone, raising many questions. These questions can often go unanswered. Dementia Web ( http://www.dementiaweb.org.uk ) was set up to provide answers to these questions with full in-depth information and support, this means that there is no need to feel alone and sidelined which many people with dementia and their carers feel.

It can also feel like a very uncertain future after a diagnosis of dementia, what do you do? What are the next steps? Who will understand? What treatments are available? Dementia Web ( http://www.dementiaweb.org.uk ) helps you to make your next step a positive one by providing all of the relevant information such as dedicated organisations that can help, be it over the telephone or through support groups. If you want to talk to someone who understands your concerns there is a national helpline number to ring 0845 1204048.

The Dementia Web website is where all of the information you require is, whether it is practical help, money matters, help with living with dementia or links to national dementia-specialist organisations. There are external links and contact details to put you in touch with the relevant organisations.

If you have dementia,( http://www.dementiaweb.org.uk ) or if you care for someone with it, do not suffer in silence, visit Dementia Web today and find the relevant help for you.

For more details visit:http://www.dementiaweb.org.uk

Press Contact:
David Beck
Dementia Web UK
Dementia web
Guideposts Trust
Two Rivers, Station Lane
Witney, Oxon OX28 4BH
01993 700061
dementia@clearwebservices.com
http://www.dementiaweb.org.uk

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Real Time Press Release Distribution

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In today’s Internet the real time information is already playing a significant role in how businesses and people access and consume the information online. Technologies online have emerged up to the point where 2 minutes may sometimes be the difference between having tens of thousands of people not only seen your PR announcement, but creating a long tail of reactions across the vast real time online space adding up to your overall online presence/reputation and your message being buried down among millions of other identical pieces of information.

Considering how crucial the real time information for the average business and web user appears to be, one can only imagine how great the impact of the real time information flow over the public relations business online can be.

That’s why we think it is about time for RealTimePressRelease.com — real time press release distribution online.

In a nutshell RealTimePressRelease.com is a do-it-yourself publishing platform for real time press release distribution. It’s free and you can instantly have your press release published on RealTimePressRelease.com as well as released via the Web, the Blogosphere and the Twitter. Having spent almost 2 decades within the PR industry, and currently engaged with EPR Network, one of the largest press release distribution networks online, it’s been just a matter of time for us to realize how vital a real time press release distribution service online is.