![]() On Saturday 17th November shoppers in Chichester were entertained with some animal magic, in the form of the Chichester Festival Youth Theatre’s latest street dance for Children on the Edge. Specially formed to create an animal themed street dance in Chichester High Street, these young people gave a fantastic show for local shoppers to raise money for our work. Passers by the cross were greeted by a rooster, giraffe, zebra, horse, camel, frog, eagle, anteater and a cheetah as they went about their Christmas shopping. These nine young people achieved the desired effect by sporting a colourful array of animal head dresses and smart white boiler suites. They came from a variety of schools in West Sussex and raised the fantastic amount of £480 for our projects with children living on the very margins of society. The money they raised will pay for 28 children in the slums of Uganda to receive a nutritious meal every day for an entire year at our Child and Community Centre. Dale Rooks, Director of Chichester Festival Youth Theatre said how proud she was of the dancers for their contribution to this wonderful fundraising event and passers by commented on how great it was to see young people putting themselves out in this creative way for a good cause. If you would like involved in fundraising for our work, please don’t hesitate to get in touch! ![]() Following on from their lunch party success in August, and building on a Summer of tennis triumphs for the nation, Children on the Edge Ambassadors held a tennis tournament in September 2013 at four separate venues in the Pulborough countryside. A wonderful catered lunch was provided, enjoyed by all competitors except the finalists, who had to eschew the delicious wine and food. Children on the Edge Ambassador, Euan Clarke, presented the trophy and flowers to the winners. He said “I am so pleased I was able to witness that the competitive edge is alive and well in West Sussex and I am so grateful to everyone for their magnificent contribution, especially organisers Charlotte, Alex, Tracy and Anna”. The event has raised over £800 for the work of Children on the Edge around the world. This will pay for 11 street children in Uganda to have a year of vocational training, breaking a cycle of poverty and resourcing them for the future. It is hoped that the tournament will be an annual event and we are very grateful to all those who took part. If you have ideas for fundraising then don’t hesitate to get in touch! ![]() Last month Clare Smith, a consultant from The Body Shop at Home organised a fantastic Bollywood event to raise money for our projects. Clare not only raises money through her parties and events, but also came with us to Moldova in the summer to volunteer at our Child and Community Centre. At the evening guests were treated to a performance from Authentic Bollywood Dancers who did two sets of dancing then got the audience to join in. Clare said “This bit was really fun and I was up there trying all the moves!! Very energetic though! I thought I would collapse after 20mins!!”. There was also a raffle at the start in which everyone got a prize. Included in ticket prices was either a bottle of Cobra Indian beer for men or a glass of champagne for ladies! Later on in the evening guests were treated to chicken curry, rice, samosas and bags of Indian sweets. Nearly everyone made the effort to get dressed up and dancing went on until 1.00 am in the morning. The event raised a phenomenal £702 which (keeping on theme!) is enough to pay for 90 refugee children from Burma, living in India to go to school for a month and ensure they have food and medical care. Huge thanks to all involved. If you have any creative fundraising plans get in touch! ![]() Startline - Photo by LIz Thornewill Around 540 people took part in the revived Chichester Half Marathon on a sunny Sunday morning in the city. After a 25-year absence, the multi-terrain race returned to the district, starting at Chichester College and passing through the city centre before heading north to the pinnacle of the Downs. Through the route runners were able to see many of the city’s historic sites, including the Cathedral and the City Walls, and a great view from the top of the Trundle. The race was organised by Children on the Edge in conjunction with Chichester District Council. “This is the first Chichester Half Marathon event for a number of years and we’re delighted that so many people took part in the event. The sun came out for all the runners, spectators and volunteers, making it a great day for all,” says Ben Polhill, Sport and Physical Activity Development Officer at Chichester District Council. Just by entering the event runners contributed to our work with 3,000 overlooked children across the world, living on the margins of society. Ben Wilkes, Head of UK said “Children on the Edge has a global reach and helps some of the most vulnerable children in the world, so it was amazing to see our local community come together not only for a fantastic race, but to support our projects in such a positive way” Scores of runners came in singing the praises of the marshals who were all volunteers from the local area. The goody bags were also a firm favourite, containing contributions from Montezuma’s Chocolates, The Body Shop, Higher Nature and GNC. “It was a fantastic event today and I really enjoyed it” says runner Su Leeming. “The course is superb and the organisation and cheerful nature of all the correspondence has been fabulous. I was really impressed by the number and friendliness of the marshals today and also by the truly high quality good bag” The winner in all categories was James Baker with a net finish time of 1 hour, 15 minutes and 27 seconds and the women’s winner was Laura Allen who came in at 1 hour 36 minutes and 22 seconds. Both Children on the Edge and the council are hoping this will grow into an annual event and one runner, Mark Ponsford stated “This will become an Iconic south coast race.. a must for every serious runner”. Sponsored and supported by Montezuma’s Chocolates, Store Property and Covers and a string of other local businesses and excellently marshaled by over 100 local volunteers, the race was a truly local success. A full list of results can be found on the Chi half page, and the Chichester District Council website. ![]() Montezuma’s Chocolates have raised a whopping £1250 for our Learning Centres in their fun packed charity week. Last week every Montezuma’s store across the country hosted a week of activities to raise money for Children on the Edge. Each day had a different challenge including ‘Guess the number of Giant Buttons in the jar’, ‘Guess the weight of cocoa beans Montezuma’s uses in a year’, ‘Guess the flavour’ of a new and interesting bar sent to each store and two grand raffles, one for a chocolate filled Montezuma’s hamper and one for an exclusive factory tour and chocolate making session. The most exciting challenge was the ‘Design a Bar’ challenge, where customers could get creative and dream up their own flavour of bar. Each store had a winning customer who received a kilo of chocolate made using their winning idea, with each flavour being considered for launch as a limited edition product. In addition to the challenges the stores sold scrumptious chocolate dipped strawberries with the money going to the our projects. Naturally these went down very well with customers! Montezuma’s are currently raising money which goes specifically towards our Learning Centres for working children in Bangladesh. These have been set up to give 600 working children a place to come each afternoon for education, nutrition and a chance to play and rest for a few hours. The amount raised by the Montezuma's stores, head office and from their online customers will pay the rent for two of these Centres for an entire year, giving a place for 400 children to get an education that would have otherwise been impossible. Montezuma’s Chocolates are also a main sponsor for The Chichester Half Marathon, happening on October 14th. There are still running spaces for the race which promises to be a great event and will raise money for our work. We'd like to say a huge thank you to Montezuma's Chocolates for their hard work and generosity this week ![]() Henry Green, Commercial Director of Covers Timber and Builders Merchant who are sponsoring the Chichester Half Marathon on Sunday October 14th 2012 is already in training to run it himself. The 'Chi Half' is a challenging yet beautiful half marathon through Chichester city centre and the South Downs that aims to raise vital funds for our work with overlooked children living on the edges of society. Henry said: 'This is a great local event and we are proud to be sponsoring Children on the Edge, the Chichester based international children's charity as well as running in the event myself’. By paying an entry fee and running the ‘Chi half’ entrants will already be helping our projects where a little money really can go a long way in the places where we work. Just £5 can provide a hot lunch for 10 children for 1 week in our Learning Centres in Bangladesh. The marathon will be a fantastic way to raise funds to continue this and many other vital projects. Covers joins other local firms supporting the Chichester Half Marathon: Montezuma's, Store Property, Fitness First, Henry Adams, Evans Weir and Carte Blanche. For further information on the event please visit our 'Chi half' page, e-mail the office or call us on 01243 538530. ![]() Despite reducing the event from three days to one, as a result of extreme weather throughout the region, the British Gas Great North Swim still saw over 5,000 swimmers take on half mile, one mile or two mile distances at Lake Windermere in Cumbria on June 24th. To make sure they are really “walking the talk” when it comes to their slogan ‘Beauty With Heart’, a small team from The Body Shop® joined these thousands of brave swimmers to raise money for our projects. The team was made up of Clare Judic, Gemma Glenister, Becky Taylor, Liz Harrington, Sam Thomson and Steve Middleton who all swam an entire mile in Lake Windermere, despite the previous storms. On the day, the Lake District was flooded and trees had fallen down with the high winds, yet the team pressed on to the start line via a ferry, and a miles’ walk. They arrived a little flustered because of the need to change into their wetsuits very quickly. Appropriate lashings of Body Shop body butter (recommended by the wet suit hire company) helped enormously to get the wet suits on with the added bonus of soft skin after the swim! After donning swim caps with a timing chip attached they headed for the start line and 'acclimatisation' in the water before the official start. Liz described the experience; “Wow that's cold!!! Even with a wetsuit on, you needed to keep moving to keep warm”. After best wishes from well known swimmer Duncan Goodhew, they started their 1 mile swim. All the team did brilliantly (despite the lifeguards mistaking Liz’s back stroke for a help signal!) and have already raised over £2,000. We’d like to say how grateful we are to these brave swimmers for completing this challenge to support our work. You can still donate at their justgiving page and if you’re interested in taking on your own challenge for Children on the Edge then get in touch! ![]() A month ago Victoria Smith attempted her first ever marathon to raise money for our work. She had plumped for the Edinburgh marathon and having only done a few 10K races over the years it was a challenge to to start training in the cold, wet and windy winter weather. By the time she could run for 15 miles she felt her feet were never going to forgive her. It was hard pacing the inner city streets of Leeds on her own every Sunday, while her friends were snuggled on the sofa! She said “motivation is tough to come by, but it helped knowing that I was doing to make a difference to a child somewhere in desperate need”. Victoria became a Body Shop at Home™ consultant in June last year and had gone along to a number of meetings where there were updates about the work done by Children on the Edge across the world. When she decided to take the plunge and complete a marathon for the first ever time in her 30th year she said “I couldn't of chosen a more deserving charity to run for as I felt inspired by all the other consultants who were undertaking various activities in aid of this great cause”. When the big day came it was 24 degrees and no amount of training could have prepared her for hours running in the sun with absolutely no shade. Despite this, Victoria completed the marathon in 5 hours and 19 seconds and was pleased with her result. Just over a week later she was fully recovered and back in her trainers! We’d like to say a huge thank you to Victoria and congratulate her on this once in a lifetime achievement. She has already raised over £750 for our projects so she can rest assured that all her hard work has had a massive impact not just on her leg muscles, but in the lives of some of the most overlooked children on the edges of society. If Victoria’s story has inspired you to take on a challenge for Children on the Edge, then get in touch. ![]() On a beautiful summer's day in May (one of the few we’ve been granted in this poor excuse for a summer so far) an elegant lunch party in Pulborough, splendidly organised by Children on the Edge Ambassadors Tracy, Anna, Alex and Charlotte, raised over £1000 for our projects. “It was a wonderful cause to support and we all had fun celebrating a beautiful day” said Tracy. “Our guest speaker, Euan Clarke, told us all about Children on the Edge and its current projects. One member of the party decided to hold a collection at her Jubilee Street Party collection as a result. We plan to hold a series of events through the year to help raise funds for children who are literally living on the margins of existence.” We are extremely grateful to these ladies for raising such an impressive amount for our work. The amount they raised will pay for 300 internally displaced children in Burma to attend our refugee camp nurseries for 6 weeks. The nurseries are for children under five who are at severe risk of chronic malnutrition. At the nurseries they receive vital early years education, as well as rice,egg and curried vegetables daily, and milk once a week. Would you be interested in being an Ambassador in your area of the country to raise funds for Children on the Edge and have fun with your friends? If you would like to find out more, or need any advice about how to organise events, please contact Euan Clarke. |
RECEIVE OUR EMAILSBlog Categories
All
Archives
July 2024
|