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Contact Details
Sue Hayward
Castlemere Hotel
13 Shaftesbury Avenue
North Shore
Blackpool FY2 9QQ
Tel & Fax (0044) 01253 352430
Reg. Charity No.1098731
Latest News
Hi Everyone,
News In Brief
Congratulations to Sue
who made the finals
of Clairns most
dynamisante woman
of the year award 2008
Sue will be at No 11
Downing
Street
on 17th June
for the presentations
Previous News
February Update
from Kenya
December 2007
Welcome to friends old and new. Thank you for visiting our news page, we really do try to keep it very up to date. If you have any news or information please contact us. sue@childrenofwatamu.net
Update 7th May
Sue is hoping this will be a great opportunity to lift the profile of the Charity, and to reach many more people who will want to help with the Happy House Project.
Rest of the News From Sue
Kenya has now settled down again after the post election riots. Watamu never saw any of these violent outbursts. If you are thinking of visiting Watamu I can assure you of a beautiful and peaceful time. Turtle bay beach Club is a lovely all-inclusive hotel. www.turtlebay.co.ke
In December 2007 we received a terrific donation from a Polymer Manufacturing Company based in Wollaston, Northants. What is different about this company is that the shares of the operating company are held by a registered charity called Scott Bader Commonwealth Limited, and a proportion of the profits go to the charity each year. People that work for the company become members of the charity and from the funds available the charity seek to support community based projects in different locations around the world, particularly where they have a presence. Thankfully for us when we sent a copy of our DVD about the Happy House to them they appreciated what we are trying to do and wanted to help and be part of this special project. Their donation has enabled us to start the basics of phase one of the Happy House project etc. for this we are extremely grateful to them.
With this money we have erected a fence around the Happy House land. The well is now being dug. Never had a well before, so I kept going to look down it! Two guys are digging this well by hand. As they hit hard coral they set a fire on it and leave it to burn for maybe 5 days, after which time it is brittle and breaks easily. There is a well nearby which is around 25 feet deep. We hope to reach water around the same depth. The walls inside the well are being built in the coral that is dug out. We are going to build a water tower with a storage tank to hold around 200 litres of water. A pump will be fitted inside the well to fill the tank. This water will be used for flushing the toilets, washing, cooking and watering the gardens. The well will be sealed so we don't lose any kids!!
Sadly, in January 2008 Graham Warren was shot and killed during a burglary at his home. His wife Chris contacted me to say that a memorial service was being organised for Graham and instead of flowers Chris had asked family and friends for donations towards our work with the children. Chris and her daughter Sam have all my admiration to be able to think of the plight of others during this terribly sad time in their lives.
A plaque will be placed in the Happy House to remember Graham, and to thank all his family and friends for their kindness and generosity.
Thank you all for caring
In February Dave and I were delighted to have meet Chris and Helie Franklin at Turtle Bay Beach Club. They had been in touch with us before we left the UK in January. Chris wanted to come to Watamu to see what he could do to help us with our work for the children, as his speciality is video, photographs and websites. We have Chris to thank for our fantastic new website and promotional DVD. Chris & Helie sponsored two of our children, bought bicycles ad made a substantial donation towards the Happy House. Thank you both so much See some of Chris's photos on our FACEBOOK Page
So many of you are doing so many different things to raise money for the happy House.
Photo below - Grace Webster 22 months old is seen here helping her Mum to make blankets for the Happy House Kids. Grace’s Mum Louise is saving clothes and toys for the Happy House. The family will be visiting Turtle Bay later in the year.
Brenda Groves and her friend Ann Marie Summers work at Crown Packaging based in Wantage Oxon. They are tireless in their fundraising for the Happy House Kids.
Brenda decided along with their colleagues that after Christmas they would do a sponsored slim to raise some much needed money for the Happy House. The slim ran for 6 weeks and between them they lost a total of 20.5lbs but found £597. Well done everyone!!
Just before Easter Brenda received a bottle of Baileys (she wishes to thank Alistair) Again with the Happy House in mind she decided to do a raffle at Crown Packaging. All the staff was so very supportive, even to donating extra prizes. A total of £106 was raised.
I wish to sincerely thank Brenda, her friends, family, and especially the staff at Crown, for their continued support. It is due to the kindness and generosity of people such as these that makes our hopes and dreams for these very vulnerable children possible.
The Slim team - Denise, Ann, Julie, Jane, Kim & Brenda.
Marc Venturi his wife Thalia, children Emma and Joe and their friend Theora, have worked so hard for us over the past year, and are continuing to do so. During their visit to Watamu in February they made a substantial donation towards the Happy House from funds they had raised amongst family friends and colleagues. They purchased bicycles in 2007 and during this visit bought another 5 bicycles to increase the Beautiful Bicycle Brigade. Marc & Co. also arranged a Charity Night in their local pub, King & Queen Pub in Marlborough Place Brighton, on Thursday the 17th of April. Marc wishes to thank everyone who came to make he evening a great success, especially Carey Christofor for the terrific prizes and superb food. A resounding £640 was raised!!
CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE THE LARGER PHOTO
Photo Left - Thalia with the delighted children who received bicycles
Photo centre - Theora with a Happy new cyclist
Photo Right - Sue receiving cheque from Emma
Nick Thomas is starting a Sponsored Slim and intends to lose 3st. by the 25th of September 2008. Here are the links for Nick. If you can support him please do.
Latest 2 May - Nick is pleased to report that he weighted in today at 19st 1lb , very nearly 2st loss all but 1lb so a very successful week on that side. plus a total up of the money raised so far is £563.50 with still more promised, so he is well pleased with all the support he is getting from friends and family.
Week 2 Nick Thomas loses another 2lb!!
Week 1 Nick Thomas loses 6lb but raises £200!
We are now starting a children's clothes collection, for children from birth to 10 years. Clothing the Happy House kids will be a big item. I know you all have beautiful children's clothes that you didn't know what to do with, well now you do!! We are also looking for anything that will help babies and very young children to learn. Items that their little minds can be stimulated by. Flash cards, colours, shapes, and educational toys. Anything that helped your children to learn will of course help ours. We do not have collections points at the moment, but if you can tell me you are collecting, when we are ready to ship out we will contact you will details.
