On any given day in London you get hundreds of flyers pushed up in your face as you navigate to and from work, and you quickly learn how to ignore the street promoters. However yesterday as I left the tube station en route to my office I was intrigued by the people wearing t-shirts with gorillas on them, so I picked up one of their yellow flyers. It asked me: "Could you run 7k dressed as a gorilla?"

I smiled and thought to myself..."NO." But that is just me (because I don't run), and because it's in aid for The Gorilla Organization, a registered charity, I felt I had to share it with you in case you would be tempted to participate.

On Saturday 24th September 2011 - so there is a lot of time to get training still - "the most fun event for conservation going on anywhere in the world" according to Bill Oddie takes place in London. This is your chance to dress up as a gorilla and run 7k among 100s of other runners on the streets of London. By doing the Great Gorilla Run you'll be playing a crucial role in helping save the remaining 720 mountain gorillas left in the wild. So not just a chance to go ape then!

If you're interested and would like to register simply head on over to www.greatgorillarun.org or call 0207 916 4974.

And don't you worry the organisers will send you a free gorilla suit when you register.

Former Pussycat Doll Kimberly Wyatt and British actress Joanna Lumley are asking people who are buying Easter presents to help save rabbits by buying beauty and personal care gifts that have not been tested on animals.

These products can easily be identified by the Leaping Bunny Logo that symbolises the product has been approved by the BUAV's Humane Cosmetics Standard, which guarantees a company doesn't test their cosmetics and toiletries on animals.

Kimberley, who is also the founder of a new cruelty-free cosmetics brand BM Beauty, said: "Please be kind to bunnies this Easter - don't buy animal tested cosmetics and toiletries when choosing gifts for your loved ones. Look out for the BUAV's Leaping Bunny logo."

Joanna added: "I'm helping rabbits this Easter by only buying cruelty-free cosmetics. Look out for the BUAV's Leaping Bunny logo."

Despite bans in the UK and EU that prevent animals from being used to test cosmetics and toiletries, products that have been cruelly tested on animals in other parts of the world are still allowed to be sold and the BUAV is campaigning for a ban that will prevent this from happening.

Kimberley and Joanna are not the only stars lending their support to BUAV to end cruel animal testing. In March, Sir Paul McCartney joined the animal rights charity in a European campaign.

You can sign the No Cruel Cosmetics petition at www.nocruelcosmetics.org.

The world's leading animal welfare and environmental organisation WWF are currently trying to raise vital funds to help protect the forest home of the spectacled bear. As part of this appeal they have teamed up with origami expert Joseph Wu to challenge you to make an origami spectacled bear!

Here at Hippyshopper we're always up for a challenge, so we invested in some green (our colour), recycled paper (only the finest for the bears), and followed the step-by-step video instructions below.

Spectacled Bear from Joseph Wu on Vimeo.

In hindsight the paper was perhaps a wee bit too thick for origami, but the result was pretty decent!

We've shared our green paper bear on WWF's Facebook page - will you?!

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Forget about the toasters, gravy boats and candlesticks if you were planning on sending a present to the royal couple. Prince William and Catherine Middleton on Wednesday requested charitable gifts instead of wedding presents.

Not that the couple would need more traditional wedding gifts - we're sure Buckingham Palace has that covered - but it is great to hear that the modern British royals have opted for a more benevolent approach as they pre-empt the flood of extravagant gifts that typically are gifted at royal weddings.

The statement by Clarence House said the couple is "touched by the goodwill shown them" and "have set up a charitable gift fund for those who very generously may wish to donate to charity to help the couple celebrate their wedding." A total of 26 charities have been personally chosen by Kate and William (see complete list below).

The 29^th April wedding is set to reflect the state of Britain and perhaps the world - a time of economic uncertainty and philanthropic need - and the list includes charitable causes in the UK as well as some in Canada, Australia and New Zealand that reflect the couple's close ties to and affection for the three countries.

The couple famously got engaged while on holiday in Kenya which is reflected in charities focusing on wildlife conservation in Africa and beyond.

If you would like to donate to the happy couple, you can do so through the official website www.royalweddingcharityfund.org.

The full list of charities that will benefit from the fund is as follows:

• Peace Players


• Ocean Youth Trust


• Greenhouse Schools


• Oily Cart


• Dance United


• IntoUniversity


• Venture Trust


• Beat Bullying


• Keyfund


• A National Voice


• Association for Children's Palliative Care (ACT)


• Youth Access


• Community Foundation in Wales


• Community Foundation in Scotland


• Community Foundation in Berkshire


• Combat Stress


• Cruse Bereavement Care for Children of Forces' Families


• Household Cavalry Benevolent Fund


• Irish Guards Appeal


• Army Widows Association


• Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund


• ZSL


• EarthWatch


• The Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary


• New Zealand Government's Christchurch Earthquake Appeal


• Royal Flying Doctor Service - Australia

This article first appeared on Bridalwave.tv

The supermodel has joined forces with shopping centre Westfield for the pop-up store, which will open its doors between April 6 to 13 to sell designer items in aid of The Prince's Trust charity.

Among the products up for grabs will be a Vivienne Westwood evening dress previously worn by the British beauty, and a Tom Ford suit donned by comedian David Walliams.

In addition, labels including Stella McCartney, Mulberry, Givenchy and Christopher Kane will donate pieces to the shop, while fashion set designer Michael Howells will be responsible for dressing the store windows.

Naomi will also be joined behind the till by a string of as-yet unnamed famous faces, with mystery guest DJs also promised to boost the shopping experience.

The Prince's Trust benefits young people who need practical and financial backing in order to turn their lives around.

The supermodel's previous altruistic efforts include her annual Fashion for Relief catwalk show, and a collection of t-shirts, which were sold to raise money for the charity.

Many of us have old mobile phones laying around the house, patiently waiting to fulfil their purpose as a 'spare' in case the current - more modern - handset is lost, stolen, or suddenly decides to take a dive into the cup of tea on your desk... Sadly most of these will simply sit in the drawer, gathering dust, not to be touched until you decide to have a spring clean or move house.

Have you thought about recycling your unwanted phone? Now you can do so and help the environment with Vodafone UK's new phone recycling phone scheme that will raise funds for WWF UK's vital conservation projects across the world.

The newly launched scheme is available in Vodafone's 380 UK retail stores, or you can post your old phone to 'Freepost Vodafone Recycling'; any phone from any network or manufacturer will be accepted. Sometimes old phones can be worth only a few pounds, but if you recycle your handset with Vodafone, WWF receives a donation of about £9 for each phone. The money will be used by WFF, who is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, to tackle issues like climate change and to help endangered animals.

And you can be certain your phone doesn't end up on a landfill as Vodafone refurbish and reuse all phones, or break them down for other manufacturing.

News this week that China has struck a deal with the UK and - for the first time in almost two decades - two giant pandas will take residence in Edinburgh Zoo is sure to make Brits go panda crazy.

The arrival of Tian Tian (sweet) and Yangguang (sunlight) have already increased the interest of pandas on the Isles if looking at the news articles surrounding the race and its wellbeing. Not to mention that pandas are extremely cute!

But expect more panda mania later this year as the World Wildlife Foundation (WFF) celebrates its 50th anniversary. The world's leading independent environmental organisation - famous for its panda logo - has already started marking the occasion, and we're certain to hear more about it in the months to come.

There are many things that you can do to help support the work of the WWF: switch off your lights for WWF's Earth Hour; buy a set of Royal Mail commemorative set of stamps celebrating its 50th anniversary; make a donation; or volunteer to campaign with the charity.

One of the more popular ways to help is to adopt an animal in great danger of extinction. Choose between polar bears, bottlenose dolphins, Asian elephants, Bengal tigers, Amur leopards, orang-utans, black rhinos, Hawksbill turtles, Adélie penguins, jaguars, or giant pandas. For as little as £3 per month, you can help ensure these species will be around for future generations.

WWF is a challenging, constructive, science-based organisation that addresses issues from the survival of species and habitats to climate change, sustainable business and environmental education. Its global network spans across more than 90 countries and is almost wholly dependent on its five million supporters worldwide. The UK division was launched on 23 November 1961.

For more information visit www.wwf.org.uk

Photo: WWF / Bernard de Wetter

If you haven't got around to planning your Christmas presents yet and are starting to feel slightly stressed out now that it's only 12 days left, this is the app for you!

Christmas Wrapped generates tailor made gift suggestions for all your loved ones. The app factors in budget, age and gender to suggest the very best possible gifts from over 5,000 products and 250 shops. It also organises it all into a handy shopping list for when you head to the shops!

And better yet, 10p of every download of the Christmas Wrapped app goes to the Make-A-Wish Foundation® UK, a British charity that grants magical wishes to children suffering from life-threatening diseases.

A few key features of the app include:
-Gift ideas generator
- View similar products
- Input gifts manually
- Assign gifts to your chosen contact list
- Add people to list direct from phone contacts
- Set budget for each person/total budget
- See total actual/budgeted
- Mark what's been bought and what you still need to buy
- Create a single page Christmas shopping list

The app is available now from the iTunes store for £1.19 (iPhone, iPod Touch).

Photo: PR

For anyone wishing to add a bit of Old Hollywood glamour to this year's Christmas parties, red lips are a must.

This deep, timeless red lipstick designed by Daniel Sandler for 'all for eve' is the perfect choice. A blue based red; it is suitable for most skin types.

'all for eve' is a stand-alone beauty and lifestyle brand that works together with some of the leading brands in the beauty and fashion industry, and donates its net profits to The Eve Appeal, which supports women's cancers.

The crimson lipstick is designed to create a feeling of courage and poise in celebration women's strength.

It is available from Pure Design for £10.00 + delivery.

Pure Design has chosen to match 'all for eve's' commitment by donating 100% of Pure Design profit from sales to The Eve Appeal.

Photo: Pure Design

This week is The Big Give's 2010 Christmas Challenge, where your donation to the charity (or charities) of your choice could be doubled!

"The Big Give features over 7,000 charities working all over the world. You can find new projects to support, and make your donation go further with our Double Your Donation challenges. You can also promote giving to the next generation of philanthropists, or leave a legacy to any charity on the website."

Head over to The Big Give website and donate what you can before end of tomorrow, Friday 10th December - every penny is helping someone!

In 2009 £8.5 million was raised - what will this year bring?