We are emailing this newsletter to you today to remind you that you are on our mailing list because in the past you have supported the children of Ruhanga in SW Uganda either by making a one off donation to our charity, have sponsored a child, or are considering or have already volunteered with us. We will not use this mailing list for purposes other than sending you emails, newsletters and photos relating to supporting these children and other communities in Western Uganda, and will continue to safely store your contact details. Through the Mailchimp system it is very easy to opt out of hearing from us completely at any time simply by clicking ‘Unsubscribe’ at the end of the newsletter.
To those of you who do enjoy reading our occasional updates our children say a massive THANKYOU for your support.
With your support we are continuing to give a good but affordable education each term to several hundred rural village children in Ruhanga, but we urgently need YOUR help to find more regular donors of just £5 a month. We have the names of many new children on our child support website and we will send you a THANKYOU certificate that you can use if you buy ‘Sponsorship’ as a birthday present or if £60 for a year is raised by a class of children or a Brownie/ Cub Pack etc.
Please promote Volunteering or simply ‘A Holiday with a Difference’ amongst your friends, other uni students, alone or with a small group or family. In just two weeks you can go gorilla trekking, join a safari, go for walks around friendly rural villages, and spend time with the adorable little ones at our school doing sports, crafts, or just helping by speaking to them in English.
We have now completed the third new classroom except for painting the inside walls, and we are preparing for a group of 20 Scottish Scouts arriving in July. They have raised almost £10,000 towards building a very large multi purpose School/Scout Hall but we need additional help with fundraising to get it finished. See details here of how to donate. Foundations and walls are completed and the Builders will soon start on the roof. The children will all fit inside for assemblies in wet weather, and the 200 Boarders will have somewhere to play and study in the evenings.
We all give thanks to the massive support we have received over the past 5 years from the directors of ASE Consulting Ltd. They paid for the building of The McNeil Medical Centre and have enabled us to give free medical care to thousands of children by funding the cost of staff salaries and many drugs; unfortunately their company has recently been taken over and supporting us was not part of the deal. I have written up a proposal for continuing the support that we need to keep the centre open and continue offering low cost treatment for local villagers plus giving children in the area free medical care so if anyone can offer some ideas of where we could apply please let me know.Ongoing fundraising comes in small amounts from YOUR SCHOOL LOTTERY where for just £1 per week you can win£25,000 Have you joined yet? We get almost 50% of your donation plus many weekly participants donate their small winnings back to us as well.
Then if you ever buy anything online or book holidays or theatre tickets etc please go through EASYFUNDRAISINGwhich has now sent us several hundred pounds at no cost to anyone.See our School Facebook Page plus our Uganda Lodge Facebook Page and several Groups for more photos and news updates.
For Denis to continue with the work he has already done for the local communities both in Ruhanga and around the Queen Elizabeth Fishing Villages over the past 10 years he needs more offers of help from more people with some of the following:
Advertising and finding more volunteers especially through recommendations from past visitors in their Uni’s or place of work.
Promoting sponsorship & support for children at our school at £5 a month amongst friends and colleagues or through churches and schools.
Write proposals and apply to Trust Funds etc for new build at the Vocation Centre and School, a newer school minibus, help to continue free school meals and other ideas.
Organising a Sponsored event and donating money for current building projects.
Help with ongoing admin such as writing and sending out newsletters.
Collating photos and making mini videos for viewing by potential volunteers and donors and in newsletters etc
Assistance with SEO and promoting our charity and websites on Google and on social media.
Despite what Denis thinks, I am very aware of my advancing age and capabilities, and I will not go on forever! We really need others to come on board to help with all the admin needed. Feel free to give me a call – in UK on +44 1932 562757 (up to 21st June when I return to Uganda) or any time on WhatsApp +44 7867998414. if you would like to know more about helping, or send me an email.
Denis also would be happy to hear from you on WhatsApp +256 774768090 or +256 701536197
