Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Nearly 42% of Americans (and I am sure it is a similar percentage in the UK) distrust charities and distrust is most often cited as the reason why people do not donate. The second most common reason cited is that charities create dependence and "kick away the ladder" for long term growth and development. Both are very real problems for many charities, but they are also why Evidence Action stands out so much.

Evidence Action currently focuses on mass deworming treatment in the poorest and most vulnerable places on our planet, but this has not always been their objective. They have some of the world's top economists working with them who actively research into the long term development and lifesaving benefits of a plethora of aid interventions and then they implement the most effective ones. For example recently they looked into running a program called "lean season", but decided that was not as cost effective as deworming. This means that aid is diverted where it is needed most so you get the most "bang for your buck". They also have completely transparent finances which they release to GiveWell annually (the most well respected charity evaluator run by some incredibly intelligent analysts) who, having combed through their books, rank them as 1 of only 8 of their top charities.

Parasitic worms effectively steal and eat the already limited nutrition that the poorest receive. This leads to seriously impaired physical and brain development in children, diarrhoea, chronic intestinal blood loss, intestinal obstruction and ultimately death in many cases. Now there are many diseases out there that present similarly horrendous symptoms and kill more people, for example malaria, however the treatment of parasitic worms stands out for two reasons.

Firstly roughly 1 in 8 people are infected with parasitic worms in the world (most of whom are the poorest in developing countries). Often worms are not fatal in the short term, but they make workers unable to work, and children unable to attend school. The effect of this on the economy is so severe that it is estimated that for every £1 spent on deworming a developing countries economy grows by between £9 and £32. If the economy is stunted like it currently is then general healthcare and living standards will take longer to improve in countries with parasitic worm problems, so mortality rates for all diseases in that country worsen.

Secondly the treatment is so cheap. It costs around only 40p to deworm a child (this includes all administrative and operational costs). That is around half the price of a bar of chocolate. This means that with the £1000 I hope to raise 2500 people will be treated. Not all of these people will or would have had worms, but as treatment is located in areas where worms have a prevalence of between 20-50%, between 500 and 1250 people will no longer suffer from worms for £1000. No other charity can boast such cheap and effective intervention. For example malaria nets are £5 per person  and it is estimated that 1 in every 50 nets saves a life, so that is £250 per life (still very cheap when you imagine what you would pay to protect the ones you love). 

So this year instead of asking for presents I don't need I am asking for donations for those who definitely do need them. So please help me make my 18th birthday special by donating so others may live to see theirs.

I could write about this for hours, but this is already too long and probably bored you to death. If it hasn't though and you want to know more message me and I'll be sure to reply or visit these websites and see what your money can do:

https://www.thelifeyoucansave.org/impact-calculator

https://www.evidenceaction.org/dewormtheworld/

https://www.givewell.org/

and this last one is about a fantastic guy called Scott Harris and his charity, which having read into it is good but not as excellent as Evidence Action, but gives a brilliant over view of aid and what we can do so please watch it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHQWUERptAM

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.