Live below the line this week

If you've been in to the Phonebox Magazine office in Stanley Court over the last few months, you'll have seen the box where we collect donations for the Food Bank, maybe you've even popped something in there yourself. In thinking about helping those who don't have enough food, we thought we'd share an initiative called Live Below the Line, which is taking place this coming week and helps raise awareness and money for those around the world living in poverty.

Live Below the Line encourages people across the world to join together in spending just £5 on food for the week. From 27th April-1st May you can get involved and live on just £1 a day for your food and drink, using your experience to help change perspectives and behaviours, and raise money for a cause you believe in. The aim isn't to replicate what it would be like to live in poverty, but rather to help connect you to the issues you're fundraising for and help you understand in a very small way how people living in poverty have to live every day. Potentially leaving you a little less full than usual, it'll give you an even better idea of the injustice that 1.2billion people have to face every day living on £1, as well as helping you to save money. We so often spend so much money on food and drink, and this could be a week of reality-checking how much we really need to be spending on food and maybe donating the savings.

Since 2011, people taking part in Live Below the Line have raised over £3 million in the UK alone. To take part in it as a fundraising challenge, you can ask people to sponsor you for the week as well as fundraising and donating the extra money you would have usually spent on food for that week. The Live Below the Line website offers loads of ideas, including recipes, fundraising ideas, school challenge ideas and more, why not take on the challenge and get involved!

Sport Relief

It's that time of year again, and today marks the official start of Sport Relief! Although you've probably seen merchandise in the shops and adverts on the TV and radio for the last month or so, today actually kicks off the Sport Relief weekend.

Events are taking place across the country, with the Sainsbury's Sport Relief games; the swimathon, the mile and the cycle, which are taking place in a number of locations, allowing for everyone who wants to get involved to do so. Sponsorship raised through these events goes towards the work Sport Relief are doing, which helps people both at home in the UK and abroad, helping create safer lives, stronger communities, healthier finances, better futures and a fairer society. In the UK, Sport Relief provide young people with shelter and protection for those living on the streets and suffering domestic abuse, and further afield providing communities with clean water and life-saving vaccinations.

As well as the big three Sainsbury's games, there will be numerous other events and activities taking place across the country today and over the weekend. Today will be a big one for schools and workplaces I reckon, with various sponsored events taking place all in aid of Sport Relief. There's a song that's been written with the idea of getting it sung in school assemblies, some schools will be holding Sport themed events which the children have been fundraising for, as well as fundraising sales, mufti days and more!

How do you feel about the event? It's clearly a great way of raising money and helping loads of great causes, but is it a bit too hyped up or do you think that's just the necessary way of getting the message across to thousands of people at the same time? We'd love to hear your thoughts on Sport Relief, let us know if you're doing anything for the weekend in order to raise money. Or maybe you're the less sporty type and are planning on watching the night of Sport Relief TV tonight (7pm)… I know which I'll be doing!

Sarah