Giving Back & Paying it Forward

Paying it Forward

One of the most transformational things you can do when you’re suffering from depression, is to take part in sacred activism.

If you’re feeling depressed at the state of the world, this can be an absolute gamechanger!

Initially, I considered donating part of my profits to various charities and organisations, but then I want my programs to be as accessible and affordable as possible, and that would make them more expensive. 

It also removes your freedom of choice.

I want you to be in control of what form of sacred activism you want to get involved in.  

For 90 days between every equinox and solstice, we’ll all work together to support a particular cause.

You can suggest a personal favourite, or we can go for something or someone needing emergency support. 

We’ll have a democratic vote to choose which one we’ll put our efforts into. 

Below are some of the organisations I’d love to support. 

I want to give back to organizations and people who’ve directly supported me and my family.

I’m lucky enough to be living a life that most people only dream of.

But it wasn’t always like this.

Back in 2013, my life was the stuff of nightmares. I had a massive mental breakdown and I lost everything.

We were jobless, on benefits, and living in emergency housing.

Rock-bottom is a pretty rough place to be and I wouldn’t wish what my family went through on anyone.

But there were some very kind and compassionate people that helped us get back on our feet.

The Trussell Trust

When we were at rock-bottom the Trussell Trust provided us with enough food for our family of 8.

We’d never been dependent on unemployment benefits before and had no clue how hard it would be.

Without the Trussell Trust, my kids would have gone hungry.

Even though I now live in Spain, I haven’t forgotten the people in the UK who helped me rebuild my life. 

I’d love to support the Trussell Trust so that they can help other families in need.  

FESBAL

In Spain, we have The Spanish Federation of Foodbanks.

Now that we’ve made our home in Spain, I feel that we should support our fellow citizens here, some of whom have suffered since the crash of 2008.

And of course, Covid has set us all back again.

So we’re giving back to our new country by making regular food donations to FESBAL via our local supermarkets.

These are taken to children’s homes and orphanages, as well as to families in need.

Help For Wounded Souls Around the World

We can help others in dire situations worldwide.

So many souls are suffering.

They’re:-

💥victims of war and genocide;

🌪️ in poverty due to climate change, freak weather ruining crops and destroying homes;

😷 exposed to diseases that the West considers eradicated;

💰 being trafficked and sold into slavery;

👩‍🎓 unable to get an education;

🍲 not even able to access food, clean water, or period products.

And now in a supposedly democratic and developed country, many people are losing access to basic healthcare and gender affirming care. I’d like us to be able to help out where we can. 

Then there’s the destruction of our Earth caused by governments and companies putting profit before the planet and people.

Creatures of all kinds are losing their habitats, many are endangered, some are already extinct.

Climate change is a real threat to our continued existence on the planet.

This is unacceptable!

We can choose organisations that aim to empower people and make a difference.

And it’s not just about money. We can give our time, sign petitions, protest, share articles and much, much more!

KIVA

I love, love, love this idea.

Kiva.org helps people all over the world by giving loans to them so they can start and maintain businesses that provide for themselves and their families.

This really resonates with me because nothing promotes depression as much as the hopelessness of poverty.

Giving people hope and the ability to be self-sufficient is so important.

You can lend as little as $25 and you’ll get it repaid so you can go on to lend it to someone else and change their lives, too!

It’s possible to choose who you loan to, so I choose to support women whose businesses will make a massive difference to their community.

Charity: Water

I was shocked to discover that clean water could be supplied to every person on the planet for the same amount of money that folks in the USA spend on ice cream every year.

It seems unbelievable to me that people are still drinking dirty water in this day and age. It’s unacceptable.

I’ve been donating to Charity: Water for a while now, cos I’m so impressed with what they do. I often say that if I was lucky enough to be a billionaire, I’d fund them forever.

I love that this charity doesn’t use donations to fund swanky offices or seven-figure salaries.

100% of my donation goes to helping villages get clean water.  

I also love that they send me loads of information and photos of their latest projects.

It blows me away how having clean water impacts an area.

And it affects women and children the most, freeing them from traveling miles to collect water that only makes them sick.

Read Helen’s story. I guarantee you’ll be moved!

I’d love to fundraise in the community for this amazing organisation.

Supporting Animals in Need

Supporting Feral Cats in Spain 

Nugget and Marshmallow came to live with us after being born feral in our barn. 

Nuggy was only a couple of hours old when we found him. We searched high and low, but his mother was nowhere to be found. The only option was to hand rear him. 

Marshmallow or ‘Moosh’ as he is most commonly known, came inside when it became obvious that his mum left him behind and he was unable to feed himself.

By this time we were caring for 14 ferals who seemed keen on increasing their numbers as soon as possible.

We visited our local vet and she told us that ‘campo cats’ don’t qualify for trap, neuter, release (TNR) programs, so we would have to fund it all ourselves.

So we did. We got our colony under control by neutering the lot of them! We found a couple of excellent vets in the locality that were willing to subsidize the cost.

By neutering all the girls, we’ve managed to avoid adding any new kittens to our colony since summer 2020! 

Now we provide food, health, and vet care for the ones that are already here. It’s cost us thousands as some of the cats have had serious health problems such as stomatitis, cystitis and they’ve needed operations. 

If you want to know more or to get involved, you can find us at Ko-Fi.  Buy me a coffee and we’ll use all the money to help the cats.  

We have 25+ cats in our care, some of whom have disabilities or who need ongoing medical care.

My dream is to open a cat café in the future, so other people can enjoy being around these wonderful souls.

PEPA – Protección y Educación para los Animales

We had seven tomcats left to neuter. They were fighting all the time and peeing everywhere.

In between tearing each other apart, they were driving our girls mad, even though they’re sterilized and no longer come into season.

We were trying to come up with the funding to have all 7 cats neutered in one go, but it was a struggle. And then PEPA stepped in and helped us out by part funding the cost. This meant that we could get them all done at once and end the madness on the mountain!

We are eternally grateful to PEPA for helping us out. They do amazing work trying to reduce the feral cat population in Spain. It’s very different to the UK and US here – there isn’t much funding for animal rescue. 

If you would like to support them, you can send them a donation here: https://www.pepaspain.com/support

Katra, Yarper and Harrold were so much happier after being neutered. Thank you to PEPA for making this possible.

Giving Back to the Planet

Another organisation I’d love us to fundraise for is Ocean Clean Up.

I believe we have to take responsibility for the mess we’re making and fund projects designed to solve our problems.

The Ocean Clean Up is using green technology to get rid of the plastic finding its way to our oceans, seas, and rivers.

My Business Manifesto

It matters to me that my business has a positive impact in the world.

I’m very careful about the products I create and how I use the resources of the planet, including things like essential oils.

My retreats are very eco-friendly – delicious organic foods, organic cotton towels, and bedding, and no plastic binders full of papers to take home!

I cultivate my garden organically.

We’re doing our best as a family to reduce the amount of plastic we’re using, swapping the toxic chemicals we use in the house for natural cleaners and we’re cutting down on the amount of meat we eat.

I’m far from perfect, but I do my best!

And every year, I aim to take a portion of my profits to help organizations and people who make a huge difference on the planet.

At the end of each year, I’ll share with you how much difference we’ve made, so look out for that!

If you want to know more, please get in touch.

I can help you change your life and by working together in sacred activism, we can help to change the world.

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