Run  Wheeler Run

We were delighted to receive an update from Dan Wheeler, who has taken on the challenge of running the London Virgin marathon for Cecily's Fund this year.  We really appreciate the effort and dedication running a marathon takes - Dan's update illustrates this very eloquently.

Please do supoprt Dan and our other runners if you can.  Funds raised help orphans and vulnerable children stay in school, giving them a chance to break out of poverty.

Good luck Dan - and to our other runners, Tracy Vause and Roy Okec, who are curently training for the Brighton marathon.

Download Dan's update.

To sponsor Dan, please visit his fundraising page.

Get Baking for Cecily's Fund

For all the competitive cooks out there - why not enter the Oxfordshire Bake-Off?  This will take place on Saturday 24th March 2012 in Oxford Town Hall to raise money for Cecily's Fund, Oxfam, Coppa Feel and Oxford Rape Crisis.  With twelve mouth-watering categories to choose from, there's something for every would-be master baker, including a Junior Bake-Off Champion.

As well as a brilliant baking competition, there will be something to please the whole family - with stalls, workshops for adults and kids, a vintage teashop and the biggest bake sale you will ever see.  Even if you're not entering the Bake-Off, this will be a great day out - so why not put it in your diary now.

To enter, all you need to do is email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Anyone can enter - all you need is a passion for baking.

For more information, please take a look at the Oxfordshire Bake-Off website.

Please note: whilst we are great fans, this event is not affiliated to the BBC Great British Bake Off.

New Funding From Comic Relief

 Great news - we have been successful in securing some new funding from Comic Relief.  This grant will enable us to improve the support that orphans and vulnerable children receive from their schools and from government. Peer Health Educators will work with schools and other organisations to assess and improve the holistic care the children receive. 

Working with local community committees to review orphans' access to school resources, their attendance and ability to stay at school and how they are doing in their school-work and exams.  They will provide a bridge between pupils, home and school, becoming advocates for the children they are working with and providing feedback and recommendations to schools on what the children need. 

This is an exciting expansion of our programme and we are looking forward to working with CHEP and Hodi in the planning and implementation of this over the coming year. 

Giorgos Entertains Cecily's Fund Supporters

Altogether the event raised £2,400 for Cecily's Fund.  Our thanks to Giorgos, and to all those who attended and contributed to the success of this event.

 Kilimanjaro conquered

Congratulations to Leo Findlater who reached the summit of Kilimanjaro and has so far raised over £550 for Cecily’s fund in doing so.  Leo’s trip took six days altogether, with the final leg being a tough eight hour night climb to the summit.  But as Leo says "By the time I reached the summit, exhausted and rather disorientated, the sun was high in the sky providing fantastic views of the glaciers and nearby Mt Meru. I can safely say it is one of the hardest, most gruelling experiences of my life, however not for one moment did I think of turning back".

If you would like to support Cecily’s Fund through Leo’s endeavour then please visit her fundraising page.

Fingers crossed!

It's exam time in Zambia as the school year wraps up for the Christmas holidays, and the pupils supported by our partner Bwafwano, are no exception. Grades 7 through to 12 have been busy with their end-of-year exams and are now waiting anxiously for their results.

Our graduates are also biting their nails – two former pupils have attended interviews at Copperbelt College of Education, while several are looking at Kitwe College of Education for their teacher training. Bwafwano have built up a strong relationship with fellow Cecily’s Fund partner HODI, who have promised to provide local, Kitwe-based support to these pupils if accepted. In turn, Bwafwano have agreed to contact HODI when a teaching vacancy arises in Lusaka which might be of interest to their newly qualified teachers. This is a great partnership and we are sure it will be valuable to both parties.

Most results will be out by January, until then, like the kids, we’re keeping our fingers crossed!

Cecily's Fund's name in lights

Marketing company PRNewswire has generously donated time on the giant electronic billboard in Time Square, New York (worth $750) as a prize for a silent auction at the upcoming celebration of the 5th anniversary of the American Friends of Cecily's Fund being hosted at JPMorgan's New York HQ on December 5th. To show how it would look they displayed this information and photo of Cecily's Fund giving us a brief burst of very high profile advertising!

Zambia's young people want to work - article in The Guardian

An article in The Guardian on  21st November describes the challenges faced by young Zambians in trying to find work: "Zambia is often held up as a southern African success story. After three decades of stagnation, the economy has grown by an annual average of 6% for the past five years, thanks largely to rising global prices for the country's main export, copper. Per capita GDP has risen steadily since 2000. But the headline figures mask another reality. According to official statistics, 88% of 18-to 35-year-olds have no reliable source of income. In rural areas, four out of five depend on subsistence agriculture."
>> read more

Run Wheeler Run

Dan Wheeler has taken on the challenge of running the London Virgin Marathon for Cecily's Fund in 2012. When Dan was 13, Cecily was the head girl at his school and he remembers her as - 'quite a remarkable person'. The run takes place a week before Dan's 30th birthday which is another motivation for Dan. Watch out for how Dan progresses in his training and fundraising. Good luck Dan! For more information on running for Cecily's Fund go to 'Run for the fund'.

To sponsor Dan please visit his fundraising page.

Christchurch Cathedral School raises an amazing £4,501 for Cecily's Fund!

During the 2010-11 academic year Christchurch Cathedral School of Oxford raised an amazing £4,501 for Cecily's Fund. They chose to support Cecily's Fund because it is a local charity that supports disadvantaged children, raising the money through activities such as collections at services, a Bring and Buy sale, a maths challenge and a sponsored walk. We really appreciate the efforts of the pupils, teachers and parents in raising this impressive amount, which is enough to support 150 Zambian orphans to go to primary school for a year, which is almost the same number of pupils at Christchurch Cathedral School.

'Let's Help Each Other'

Cecily’s Fund launched its new 5-year strategy earlier this year. One of our aims is to have communities more closely involved in the work our partners are doing, to help them move closer to being able to survive without our support. Our partners have been taking steps to sensitise parents, guardians and communities about the simple ways in which they can support orphans and vulnerable children. It is already effecting some exciting change.

At Ichimple Basic school in Kitwe, 22 parents and guardians have set up their own initiative to help. A member of the group, Mildred, explains - “Hodi [Cecily’s Fund partner] helps our children, so we realized that we also should contribute… we all had the same idea to start cultivating. We use some for the children to eat. The money from selling will be used to cater for the other half of the tuition fees and for the children that would otherwise drop out.” Another way our partners engage family support is to ask for a 50% contribution towards school fees where possible.

The group have called themselves the ‘Twanfuwne Club’ which means ‘Let’s help each other’. This is an exciting development in community support and we hope that it will be an example to other communities of how they can come together and support orphans and vulnerable children.