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Printable donation and gift aid form
Gift Aid
Payroll / Give-As-You-Earn
Share Giving
Skydiving and whitewater rafting
Charity Challenge
London Marathon
Flora Light Women's Challenge
Biking for Skill
Shop on-line
Become a Friend of Skill
Recycling
Tell the world about Skill
Remember Skill in you Will
Thank you to all our donors
(this link goes to the donor's page)
Make your giving go further with
- Gift Aid
This scheme allows charities to claim back the
tax you have already paid on your donation, however small. This is a
real opportunity to increase Skill's income and effectiveness by 28%
at no cost to you, the donor. The government allows charities like Skill
to reclaim the basic rate tax on donations from individuals who pay
income tax. All that is required is some very straightforward information.
The Inland Revenue doesn't even ask for a signature. Please see our
gift
aid form.
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Make your giving go further with
- Payroll / Give-As-You-Earn
Please consider Committing yourself to a small
monthly donation for Skill - it's the most tax effective way of supporting
Skill; you get tax concessions and Skill can claim back the tax you
have paid plus, for the next year at least to March 2003, an additional
10% from the Chancellor. Simply contact your payroll department; complete
one simple form and it's all arranged. And while you are talking to
Payroll, make sure they have Skill on any list of charities they promote
in their own GAYE scheme.
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Make your giving go further with
- Share Giving - A new way of giving
Are your windfall shares gathering dust in a
drawer? Do you own small numbers of shares in one or two companies that
generate more paperwork than they are worth? Would it cost you more
than their value to sell via a stockbroker? Or maybe you have a sophisticated
share portfolio. Either way, giving shares to charity means your shares
can actively work for a good cause like Skill, while you enjoy the generous
personal tax breaks available. For example, you can claim from 22% to
40% income tax relief depending on whether you are a basic rate or higher
rate tax payer, and no capital gains tax would be payable on any increase
in the value of shares since you bought them. Giving shares is very
easy, whether you have the share certificates or you own a nominee account.
The Charities Aid Foundation (see www.allaboutgiving.org)
or Sharegift (a charity offering a free service
to small charities, see www.sharegift.org)
can arrange your gift to Skill. All you need
to know is available from these organisations. Alternatively, you can
contact www.givingcampaign.org.uk,
or phone Skill's fundraisers on 020 7450 0625/0626.
 - go to allaboutgiving.org
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Skydiving and whitewater rafting
- for the adventurous among you
Know of anyone nursing a secret ambition to
skydive? Or a day out whitewater rafting with a team of friends? Just
put them in touch with Skill for the exhilarating experience of a lifetime,
and benefit Skill with the sponsorship you collect that can enable you
to jump or raft for free.
One of our student skydivers was so thrilled by her
experience that she can't wait to do it again. Her generous father has
agreed to pay for her next jump if she achieves a good exam result!
In the meantime she achieved a fantastic £1600 on sponsorship
for Skill - a champion for Skill!
Skydiving and whitewater rafting is all arranged
for Skill by event experts Skyline. With the help of www.justgiving.com
you may also be able to set up your own website
to help you collect the sponsorship that supports your adventure and
provides a substantial donation to Skill. Just contact [email protected]
or tel. 020 7450 0626.
- go to justgiving.com
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Charity Challenge
From biking in the awesome Andes to skiing to
the North Pole, sleeping under desert stars, ocean sailing, horse-riding
in Mongolia, trekking on the Great Wall of China, canoeing in Cost Rica,
climbing in Africa and the Himalayas, exploring the homeland of the
Dalai Lama - there’s immense variety on offer in the latest programme
of 30 itineraries, in 28 countries, in the Charity Challenge brochure.
Three levels of difficulty mean there will be something to suit everyone.
Previous participants have included people with MS and cerebral palsy;
they weren’t going to let a little local difficulty put them off!
Our picture shows a cyclist on a six-day 450km ride, a route that is
also wheelchair accessible, along the palm fringed Lake Malawi in the
Great African Rift Valley and the adjacent dramatic volcanic mountains.
Skill has joined with expert organisers Charity Challenge to offer you
ambitious opportunities in the far flung parts of the globe. To participate
you will need to raise sponsorship for Skill, or buy your place and
secure a donation for Skill. If you would like to find out more, contact
the Charity Challenge hotline 020 8557 0000 or visit www.charitychallenge.com
and nominate Skill.
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London Marathon
Each year Skill has a number of guaranteed places
in the Flora London Marathon. If you are unlucky in the ballot for runners'
places, why not consider running for Skill. We will ask you to raise
£1,000 in sponsorship if you take up one of our bonded places.
So you will have the added incentive of knowing, when the going gets
really tough, that your achievement will benefit hundreds of disabled
learners. Skill's partner www.justgiving.com
is also there to help you set up a your personal
sponsorship raising website. Contact [email protected]
or tel. 020 7450 0626.
This year, on 14 April 2002, all our runners completed
the course safely, and four even elbowed their way through the amazing
crowds to meet up with Skill's volunteers so we could thank them in
person.
See the Marathon photos here. Our team this year ranged from a stockbroker to representatives
from secondary, further and higher education, and several were in their
50s. We were particularly pleased to see Ray, a headmaster from Manchester,
still smiling at the end of his marathon run. Ray had challenged all
his staff and pupils to improve on something they were not very good
at. His personal challenge was running. On the day after the marathon
he was stiffly hobbling round the school in tracksuit and trainers,
proudly wearing that hard-won marathon medal. Heartiest congratulations
to all our runners.
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Flora Light Women's Challenge - 3
mile summer fun run in London
Join with 25,000 other ladies and run round
Hyde Park for Skill. Every year one on a summer's day Hyde Park will
come alive with the Flora Light Women's Challenge. Skill gets £5
of your £12 entry fee, while you have a great day out and at the
finish will receive a medal, tee shirt and goody bag. Of course you
could raise even more in sponsorship for Skill. Hurry - entries close
2nd August and the organisers have warned that available places are
filling up fast!
Contact [email protected]
for an entry form.
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Biking for Skill - sponsorship
invited
George Bedell MBE is a rare being - an honorary
member of Skill and a keen cyclist. He has just cycled from Maryland
to Maine, a journey of well over 1000 miles, to give funds raised to
Skill. On some days, that was over 100 miles a day! How's that for a
retired former decorator and signwriter, lecturer, advisor on the employment
of disabled people and latterly chair of Sunderland Health Authority?
You can sponsor him, post-completion, by sending donations direct to
Skill. George set up a website for sponsorship collection, and so we
could monitor his journey. Go to: www.justgiving.com/Group_Giving/?ggid=GGG/82
Could you too do something to raise funds for Skill? We can provide
sponsorship forms and leaflets about Skill, and a free website you can
set up for yourself, with lots of help from experts via www.justgiving.com
to reduce the effort of collecting post-event
donations.
[updated 27th June 2002]
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Shop on-line: - UshopUgive.com -
going from strength to strength
If you are shopping on-line think of going through
UshopUgive.com, either direct or via Skill's site. It will not cost
you any more than if you shopped elsewhere, but Skill will benefit from
a proportion of your spend. UshopUgive.com offers almost a whole high
street in one site, with over 150 retailers now offering donations to
Skill when you click through this fast and easy to use site and buy
from them online. Just enter www.ushopugive.com,
nominate Skill and click through to your chosen retailer. If you click
through Skill's own website on the pulsating button, Skill will automatically
benefit.
Latest additions include travel agents Lunn Poly;
65 flight destinations through Air2000.com; more discounted airfares
from TravelSelect.com; gas and electricity generator Powergen offering
5% per domestic account; The AA for motor and home insurance; on-line
discounted electrical goods via Co-op Electrical Store; on-line applications
for loans and credit cards through Alliance & Leicester; and Amazon.com
the US site, offering the world's biggest on-line shopping site. From
art to wine, there's something for you on this site. Tell your friends
about it too, and your employer's bulk purchasers and staff who make
travel arrangements.
 - go to ushopugive.com
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Become a Friend of Skill
Maybe you are interested in Skill's work and would
like to help us in what we do, but do not want to become an active member.
Why not become a Friend of Skill. We will keep you up to date with what
we are doing. Joining Skill's Friends scheme costs just £10 per
year. For more information about becoming a friend, please tick the relevant
box on our printable membership form.
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Recycling
What does you college or workplace do with their
spent toner cartridges and old mobile phones? Cartridges and mobiles
contain dangerous chemical and need to be disposed of carefully. They
can also raise money for Skill. Skill has teamed up with leading recycling
company Eurosource in a scheme that will help boost our funds. Eurosource
will take away your spent cartridges and old mobiles for nothing, recycle
those that are suitable and make a small donation to Skill, and safely
dispose of others. So please, encourage your college or company to do
their bit for Skill and the environment. Contact [email protected]
or go straight to the recycling appeal website
to join the scheme with Skill.
- go to recyclingappeal.com
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Tell the world about Skill …
… and its work of national significance
in promoting changes to the Disability Discrimination Act and much more.
Promote Skill in your organisation's in-house magazines or in any other
relevant journals. How can we help those who need our help, as well
as attract the attention of potential funders, if they have never heard
of Skill? Liz Victor, Skill's Marketing and Information Assistant can
advise on text. Phone her on 020 7450 0643.
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Remember Skill in you Will
Lifelong learning is here to stay. There will
always be students with disabilities needing Skill's advice and support.
Please consider making a bequest to Skill in your Will. It will cost
you nothing now, but you will know that when you no longer have need
of your worldly goods, others will continue to benefit.
It took just one legacy to give Skill sufficient
security to expand its information team and develop new services. Skill
now helps hundreds of thousands of disabled adult learners every year.
Another legacy ensured an office could be opened in Scotland.
Make sure you quote Skill's charity number 801971, then wherever we
are, your gift will always reach us.
Skill has joined with over 80 other charities to promote will-making and charitable bequests as part of a national Legacy Promotion Campaign. The public give lots of support to charities during their lifetime, but only 13% leave a bequest to charities in their wills, even with tax-free incentives. It is probably true to say that an under-resourced charity like Skill would not be here today, making substantial contributions at national level to improving prospects for the educational opportunities for disabled people, without legacy windfalls. So next time you make or alter your will, please remember Skill. Thousands could benefit.
- go to thewillsite.co.uk
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