The Charities we support

The charities we support are presented to the MCR and voted on. Each
year a maximum of 5 charities are elected. These are the beneficiaries of
money raised by the various charities events taking place during the year,
as well as the 8 annual contribution automatically batteled to each MCR
member (the Charities Fund main source of income).

A total of 4,028.33 was raised during the academic year 2016/2017, split
(following the % of votes) among the charities that the MCR elected to
support. Below are the details of which charities we voted on and elected,
and how much each charity received:

MCR Charities 2016-17

1. Oxford Poverty Action Trust (OxPAT), proposed by Beatrice

Montedoro and seconded by Rose Mortimer (28%)
2. Drapen I Havet (A Drop in the Ocean), proposed by Holly Hathrell
(26%)
3. Cool Earth, proposed by Ferdinando Randisi (19%)
4. Amazon Conservation Team, proposed by Fritzi Reuter (15%)
5. Eritrean Women's Community Centre (EWCC), proposed by Maayan
Ravid (12%)

Other Charities the MCR voted on:

Lincoln College Vacation Project (VacProj), proposed by Movin

Abeywickrema
Afrinspire, proposed by Dan Brown
KEEN, proposed by Jessica Milligan
Students 4 Students, proposed by Joe Kelly
BECOME "Come True" Project, proposed by Maayan Ravid
Trinity Health Services, proposed by Claire Keene

If you are curious to know more about the charities Lincoln college
supports feel free to read the descriptions below written by those
members who nominated the charities.
Charities in support of Nature

1. Amazon Conservation Team, proposed by Friederike Reuter (non uk-based)

The Amazon Conservation Team is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting South
American rainforests through the empowerment of indigenous people. Established in 1996, ACT has
developed long-term partnerships with more than 50 indigenous communities across more than 70
million acres of indigenous landsan area larger than some Central American countries to
support the maintenance of indigenous knowledge systems and culture while protecting ancestral
lands that account for some of the largest tracts of pristine and sustainably managed rainforest in
South America. The livelihoods and cultural identities of indigenous Amazonian societies are
inextricably tied to health of their forests, making them powerful partners for conservation.


2. Cool Earth, proposed by Ferdinando Randisi (uk-based)

Cool Earth is the most cost-effective charity we have identified to date which works on mitigating
climate change through direct action (Giving What We Can, Charity evaluator)

Climate change is notoriously bad. This charity fights it by preserving the rainforest with a very
effective approach: it empowers the communities that live in it so that they do not have to leave
their lands to loggers. The charity prioritises its funding very efficiently, helping communities in
circular patterns so that they can form a shield for the forest. The charity therefore has both a
social AND an environmental impact. The unaivability of a particular part of the forest to the
loggers pushes them to other, more expensive parts, and the difference in costs ends up saving acres
and acres of rainforest.



Local Charities helping humans:

3. Oxford Poverty Action Trust (OxPAT), proposed by Beatrice Montedoro

and seconded by Rose Mortimer (uk-based)

The Oxford Poverty Action Trust was set up in 1996 to enable the public to give to homeless and
vulnerably housed people in a direct way that would ensure that the money was well spent.
Most of the donations fund the work of partner agencies, which are all charities working directly
with homeless or vulnerably housed people in Oxford. Generally, the OxPAT funds go into these
agencies' welfare funds. What this means is that, by supporting OxPAT, the MCR would effectively
be supporting a plethora of local charities all involved in helping homeless people. These partner
charities are: Aspire Oxfordshire, Church of God Soup Kitchen, Crisis Skylight Oxford, Elmore Team,
Emmaus Oxford, Oxford Homeless Pathways, Simon House, SMART, St Mungo's Broadway, Steppin
Stone.

International Charities helping humans:

4. Drapen I Havet (A Drop in the Ocean), proposed by Holly Hathrell (non uk-
based)

A Drop in the Ocean is a volunteer organization whose purpose is to help refugees, especially
children and their mothers. They do not receive state aid and are therefore dependent on private
support and donations. A Drop in the Ocean is present at the island Chios, Nea Kavala and Cherso in
northern Greece and in the area of Athens. They work directly inside the refugee camps, often run by
the national Greek army. They use a large portion of the proceeds to purchase water, food and
supplies to refugees locally and for storage fees on our destinations. In order to maintain continuity
in their work and ensure training of volunteers, they also cover the cost of a certain number of
coordinators on the destinations.



5. Eritrean Women's Community Centre (EWCC), proposed by Maayan
Ravid (uk-based)

The Eritrean Womens Community Center is a grassroots initiative developed and run by asylum
seeking women from Eritrea. Established in 2012, it serves as the first port of call for many Eritrean
women who entered Israel since 2007 due to increasing human rights abuse in their country. These
women escaped Eritrea and sought refuge in neighbouring countries. Many were kidnapped by
human traffickers and fell victims to torture and rape along the way, kept in torture camps in the
Egyptian Sinai desert as ransom was demanded for their release. In Israel Eritrean women struggle
with various issues lack of legal status or rights, daily survival and economic hardship, domestic
abuse, post-traumatic symptom, and more.