See 'News in full' for details

This is the eleventh year that IS Oxford have donated to charity through the Good Gifts Catalogue. 

Every Christmas, all IS Oxford staff are given £200 each to spend at www.goodgifts.org.

The most popular choice this year was close to home, with twelve people choosing the gift to let no child go hungry - this supplies the food banks which are a lifeline for some families in the UK.

A new gift this year to protect rag pickers was also very popular, with ten of us choosing to protect the children from Indian slums who are forced to scavenge on huge waste dumps. On the theme of education we supplied a year’s schooling for six children in Africa, girl-friendly schooling for four girls in South Sudan, taught three mothers from war-torn areas of Africa to read and trained a teacher in Africa. We chose to supply eight villagers in Africa with solar lamps which are healthier than kerosene lamps, thus saving lives and money, and we also gave the gift of sight for five children. We supported nine Afghan girls who have been abandoned by their families and transformed the life of three Indian street children.

Closer to home we chose to supply two cats and a dog for comfort, care for three abandoned pets, supply five children who would otherwise get nothing with a toy and provided footballs to poor children to enable them to have some fun.

We did not forget the elderly, and we supplied help with heating bills, a gift for a patient in hospital and two Christmas hampers. We also supplied five hospital kits which help make a stay in hospital for an elderly patient more comfortable.  

In addition to the above, as a company we have sponsored a School Library in a poor neighbourhood in India. Our donation will establish the library, including a termite roof, and supply cupboards and books.