New Designs added to the Gear Shop for Niall's Charity Drive

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Team Niall has added a bunch of really great designs to the charity shop for Niall's charity drive for Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland. You can check them out here:

http://1dfansgiveniall. spreadshirt.com

http://1dfansgiveniall.spreadshirt.co.uk

 

You can also donate directly to the charity at http://www.justgiving.com/niall22

And follow the Niall charity drive tumblr for all Niall charity news! 

Edited to add: Some of the designs had to be redesigned due to US Spreadshirt restrictions, but are still available in the UK store.

Just a Quick Update!

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My girlfriend is coming for a pre-Valentine's Day visit so my computer time will be limited for the next week or so, but I just wanted to let you know we have a lot going on behind-the-scenes!

We've got teams for each of the guys' birthday charity drives as well as our special Girl Almighty drive to support Women's Aid, a charity providing assistance to women and children affected by domestic violence. 

We're planning new designs for the charity gear stores as well as some really cool auctions and giveaways! If you'd like to be a part of the planning effort, check out the Team page and contact one of the team leaders.

We should have Harry's charity drive link up later this month. LLGS is going to discuss setting up a page on Just Giving and will let us know the results of that meeting. But either way, we will be supporting LLGS for Harry's 2016 Birthday Charity Drive!

Watch this space for all the latest charity happenings! And be sure to follow 1dfansgive on twitter. We're also setting up twitter accounts for each of the drives (Harry, Niall, Louis, Zayn, Liam, Girl Almighty).

Thanks for all your support! - Amy

Doctors without Borders: Providing Care Around the World to People in Need

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This year for Liam Payne's birthday charity drive we are supporting Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), known internationally in English as Doctors Without Borders. 

In May 1968, a group of young doctors decided to go and help victims of wars and major disasters in what was at the time a new brand of humanitarianism would reinvent the concept of emergency aid. They were to become Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), known internationally in English as Doctors Without Borders.

MSF was officially created on December 22, 1971. At the time, 300 volunteers made up the organization: doctors, nurses, and other staff, including the 13 founding doctors and journalists. MSF was created on the belief that all people have the right to medical care regardless of gender, race, religion, creed or political affiliation, and that the needs of these people outweigh respect for national boundaries. 

Since 1980, MSF has opened offices in 28 countries and employs more than 30,000 people across the world. Since its founding, MSF has treated over a hundred million patients—with 8.3 million outpatient consultations being carried out in 2012 alone.

We have several auctions already planned and are working on new charity gear so stay tuned!

Here's the link to donate: http://www.justgiving.com/liam22/

Also, be sure to follow 1dfansgive on twitter to get the latest news about the charity drive!

Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland: Providing Highly Trained Assistance Dogs for Children with Autism and their families

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This year for Niall Horan's birthday, we raising money for Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland. You can donate here: http://www.justgiving.com/niall22

John from AADI has passed on some info about the organization that I thought I'd share with everyone! AADI also has a special treat for one lucky fan! Read on! 

So what's AADI?

Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland provides dogs that are specially trained to provide safety, independence and companionship to children who would otherwise live in a very isolated world.  Having an assistance dog allows the families to be able to take their child to places that they had stopped going to and allows families to partake in simple everyday activities that the rest of us take for granted, such as a simple trip to a local shop, which can be very stressful for a child with autism.

How do the dogs assist?

The child is attached to the dog via a belt which is then linked to the dogs jacket ensuring the child is always safe and the parent then takes control of the dog by the lead. Autistic children sometimes don't have a strong sense of danger and will run after something. The dogs are trained to sit and prevent the child from running off. In addition, they can assist the child by providing companionship and responsibility for the care of the dog.

What is the training process?

It takes up to 2 years to train each dog. Each puppy is placed with a volunteer Puppy Foster Carer. The Foster Carer brings up the pup for the first 12 months, socializing the puppy so it can become a suitable assistance dog.

The dog then enters another 3 months of training, at which time, it is matched to a suitable child and family who will have already been assessed and accepted for an assistance dog.   All dogs have access to shops and restaurants and wear a red jacket with a logo to identify them as an assistance dog. The family goes through intensive training with the dog to ensure they are confident with the dog before taking the dog home, followed up with aftercare visits to the home.

It costs €15,000 (approx. $17,000) to train each dog. AADI just placed 3 dogs last week - Elmo, Georgie, and Kasper. 

Please follow AADI on Facebook! To celebrate Niall's birthday later in the year, AADI will pick one lucky fan who will get to chose a name for their next Puppy in Training and become that Puppy's virtual fosterer. (Terms and conditions apply) . The virtual fosterer will chose a name and then get a forthnightly updates on the dog's progress with pictures and video clips. 

Check out the video below to see AADI in action. I'll be sharing more videos as we get closer and closer to Niall's birthday! Be sure to follow 1dfansgive and 1dfansgiveniall on twitter!