More Fundraising News!

Cambridge University supports Cecily's Fund

Students from Cambridge University are fundraising for our programmes in Zambia this year. Thank you all for your fantastic support!

Maarten Nieuwhuis Completes Four-Day Walk in Nijmegen (the Netherlands) for Cecily’s Fund.

We were very moved by the following account of Maarten's four-day walk to raise funds for us: "The four-day walk was introduced all over the Netherlands in 1909. It became particular to Nijmegen in 1925. The distance you walk is specified as 30km, 40km or 50km per day, depending on your age. I walked for the first time 4 years ago when I did 30km a day. Last summer when I did it for Cecily’s Fund, I had to walk 40km a day. My father also walked, but had to do the 50 km a day because he is in between the age group 18-50!

I experienced mixed emotions along the way. At the start I was always enthusiastic. At the halfway point, I found it increasingly challenging but the idea of Cecily’s Fund kept me going. At the end of every day, I reminded myself why I was doing this and it somehow gave me a boost. I worked out that I received 5CHF/km for Cecily’s Fund and that kept me going. I know that next year I will do the 4-day walk again. Friends lined the route to support us during the last few kilometres." Maarten Nieuwhuis (Year 13)

New record broken by Poems in a Pub
Peter Clifton describes the very successful poetry evening he recently hosted in Charlbury:

"International Faber & Faber poet Jamie McKendrick read from his translations of Dante’s Inferno and Ovid’s Metamorphoses at the latest Poems in a Pub meeting in Charlbury on 10 November and signed copies of his poetry collections. The evening raised a record £160 for Cecily’s Fund... Moles’ ‘Millennium’ was the beer of the evening in the Rose & Crown’s Deep Well Saloon.

Moira Wyatt, Patricia Perry and Pat Winslow were runners up in the translation competition. Both the competitions for the best new poem (called ‘Folding Sheets’) and for the translation were won by Moe Browne. Thirty poetry lovers attended and winners were decided by their vote. The next event will be held again at the Rose and Crown on Monday 26 January. Handbills with the name of the long poem which will be read and the French poem to be translated will be available on this website at Evenlode Books, the Woodstock Bookshop and the Stonesfield, Charlbury and Woodstock public libraries in early January."

See the Events Diary for future Poems in a Pub dates

King Edward VI Aston School

King Edward VI Aston School has once again done a fantstic fundraising job for Cecily's Fund. The students raised a fantastic £1200 by holding a non uniform day and selling Cecily's Fund T-shirts and Zambian beaded badges made by Bwafwano Women's Community Group. This donation could provide a daily meal, for an entire year, for 120 children in attendance at Bwafwano Community School.

Sweets in a Bottle Raise £60!

Charlotte Gravell, a Year 11 student from London, was keen to raise money for Cecily's Fund as part of the service section of her Duke of Edinburgh award. She filled a bottle with sweets, invited family and friends to make a donation and then guess the number inside. She raised an impressive £60, enough to send an orphaned child to secondary school for a year. Well done for your great fundraising effort Charlotte, and we hope the winner enjoyed their sweets!

Sabita’s Journey

On 21st May we welcomed Sabita Benerji as the Cecily’s Fund Marketing and Communications Officer. To support the 10,000 Mile challenge, Sabita walked 13.1 miles from Oxford City Centre to New Yatt on 18th May. Sabita said “My last day with Oxfam was on May 16th and my first day with Cecily's Fund is May 21st, so this walk - exactly half way between the two dates - is symbolic of my own personal journey too.” Sabita has raised £579 so far. See her photos here

Charlotte’s Cotswold Clamber

Charlotte Johnston, ex-Cecily’s Fund staff member, got together with 23 friends to walk 22 miles in the Cotswolds on 10th May. The walk was a great success and the group covered 461 miles in total which adds a big chunk to our foot-o-meter! We know the group have raised well over £4000 and the donations are still coming in…

A big thank you is also due to the campsite the group used, who very generously donated the £72 tent fee to Cecily’s Fund.

Associated British Foods Ingredients (ABFI)

Our corporate supporters, Associated British Foods Ingredients (ABFI) have been very busy with their fundraising events from their offices in the UK, Germany and the USA. Events organised include a bake sale, clothing drive, golf competition, an Easter basket raffle, a fun run, a Casino night and a posh charity dinner with silent auction on a steamboat in New Orleans. A huge thank you to all at ABFI who are organising or getting involved in an event or are supporting Cecily’s Fund in other ways. We really do appreciate it!

ABF Ingredients is a division of Associated British Foods, a range of ingredient companies operating under their own identities and business models. Focusing on high value ingredients for both food and non-food applications ABF Ingredients has established a strong market position in the sector. The business today supplies ingredients in a wide range of food and beverage applications. www.abfingredients.com

King Edward VI Aston School Fundraises with Style!

As part of their Charity Week, King Edward VI Aston School raised over £1220 for Cecily’s Fund. The money was raised through a diverse range of activities including a non-uniform day and the sales of Cecily’s Fund badges and wristbands. When deciding how the School could help Cecily’s Fund, sixth-former Mark Smith took the lead and came up with the idea of a non-uniform day as a way of raising money for school uniforms for orphaned and vulnerable children in Zambia. This has been a fantastic achievement and everyone at Cecily’s Fund says a big thank you to the staff and pupils at King Edward VI Aston School for their continued support.

International School of Lausanne (ISL)
ISL's jazz night extravaganza, organised by Cédric Wurm of Year 10, was a superb evening of entertainment .Two groups took to the stage, The Funky Brass Band, which included Cédric himself, and the impressive 16-piece Third Floor Big Band. Students from Year 10 helped out by serving behind the bar and selling tickets. In total, the concert raised 1000 Swiss Francs. Well done for all your efforts, Cedric! Fun Run In June, 100 ISL staff, students and parents ran in the course à travers Pully in aid of Cecily's Fund. Congratulations to all who ran and especially to Alexi Surtees and Derek Scott who came third in their category. The team's efforts have raised over 4,600 Swiss Francs to date, with further donations still expected, what a fantastic acheivement!

If you would like to organise a fundraising event at your school click here for some great ideas.

British London 10k
Cecily's Fund had an impressive representation at this year's London 10k, the 20 strong team included Mr Incredible (formerly known as Dan Quy) and one of our Trustees. The team have raised over £7,000! To see some more photos of the team in action click here.

Pedalling to Paris!
After four days of hard work this summer, Sarah, Siân, Chisenga, Mark and Claire celebrated their arrival in Paris! It was a little different from your usual weekend city break, as it had taken them 300 miles of pedalling to get to the Eiffel Tower. The London to Paris bike rides have proved very popular with our supporters this year. Claire Hooper says, "It was really, really enjoyable although also pretty tough at times. There are far more hills than you might imagine! However, we got a huge sense of achievement from knowing that we'd got all that way just by pedalling." Click here to read a full account of the challenge by Claire's.
Sarah and Siân completed the ride on a tandem, despite having never ridden one at all before they signed up for the trip! Siân took the back seat and had her hands free to take photos, etc, while Sarah steered them along (at speeds of up to 40mph!) - apparently Siân's legs were working very hard too though... They both very much enjoyed the experience, although Siân recommends that "you definitely need to be really good friends with your tandem partner!"
The cycling was mainly on quiet country roads, including the beautiful Pilgrim's Way for a long stretch through Kent. Northern France is even more cyclist-friendly, with less traffic, beautiful countryside and villages with inviting cafés and bars, should you need refreshment.

London to Paris bike rides are held every year, usually in June to September, so please contact us if you would like to find out more about a future trip.

London Sponsored Walk - Saturday 10th March
Many thanks to Alison and David Cowie for organising this sociable walk through some of London's parks and along the River Thames. They even managed to arrange some beautiful spring weather. The walk has raised over £2,500.

Cuba Diary
In February, three of our supporters set out on an exotic cycling challenge. They exchanged the bleakness of the British winter for the vivid scenery and Caribbean beaches of Cuba.
Mella, Clare and Bella worked hard in the run-up to their trip to collect sponsorship. Together, they have raised a very impressive total of over £6,000.
If you'd like to find out more about their trip and get a real flavour of their Cuban adventure, click here to read Bella's diary and see more pictures. She describes each day of their enjoyable challenge and gives a great insight into what these trips are really like. We hope that you'll be tempted to consider taking part in one of our future cycling, hiking or horse trekking challenges too!