Welcome to our new KOST blog-spot

Welcome to our new KOST blog-spot

Hello and welcome to this new KOST blog. Its aim is to keep you up to date with KOST news and, well, have a chat about what’s going on-so put the kettle on.  I’m hoping you’ll feel able to comment on the posts. I’d be really interested to have your input!

I first heard of KOST in a roundabout way-you could call it kismet really. It’s slightly complicated, so bear with me!  I was working at a college in Skipton at the time, and after a promotion, had made up my mind to sponsor another child. We (Not the ‘royal we’-there is a husband in the case) already sponsored two children with another charity. I wasn’t sure whether to add another to their number, or look elsewhere.

Cue the sister of a trustee who also worked at college. Are you with me so far? Good, I do ramble on a bit.  She had placed some adverts for KOST in our staff room. (Yes, we had one in those days, sadly no longer; it has been claimed for offices or something.) I noticed the advert and thought, ‘this was meant to be’.  Bingo! Five years on and we’re still with KOST and hoping to keep going for many more years.

How did you first hear about KOST? Did you stumble upon it like me? Did you hear through a friend? Have you clicked onto this website by accident and here we are? It would be interesting to hear about it.

While you’re thinking about that, here are some good reasons to support KOST-sounds like the Ian Dury song of the 90’s ‘Reasons to be cheerful-part one’:

1. KOST don’t have any overheads apart from banking charges, so all but 2.5% of your money is spent on the children and their needs.
2. Gift-aiding your donations diverts some of your tax money from politician’s duck ponds.
3. KOST is Leeds-based, grassroots charity run by a handful of enthusiastic volunteers, who cover all their own expenses.
4. This year, the charity reaches its twentieth anniversary on the 26^th of February-quite a milestone, I’m sure you’ll agree.
5. If you shopped in M&S food in Moortown, near Leeds over Christmas, you might have had help packing your bags by KOST volunteers.  Any help with the onerous task of Christmas shopping has to be a result!
6. It’s got a feel-good factor! A study by Harvard Business School and graduate students titled “Feeling Good about Giving: The Benefits (and Costs) of Self-Interested Charitable Behavior,” explores the ways in which donating to charity makes us feel good about ourselves.
7. If you have a business, you can raise your community standing and business profile by sponsorship. There can be tax benefits too.
8. By sponsoring a child through KOST, you can feel part of an organisation that is doing good in a developing country.
9. You can really have an impact on a child’s life: KOST houses, feeds, educates and prepares their charges for an independent life. For example, they can be trained in sewing, cooking or carpentry –wonderful skills for life and future employment.
10. Because, if you’re reading this, you’re already the kind of person who cares about others and wants to see change in the lives of people less fortunate than ourselves.

Take care folks. I’m looking forward to hearing from you. Mandy