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October
2011
Website
Report from Region 2
Derek & Lynda Donaldson
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The past year has been a particularly exciting
time for us here in the North West. With great trepidation we took
part in the
Container Challenge.
As if filling one massive container wasn’t enough we somehow became
involved in filling two, one based in
Wigton in Cumbria and for use in the
homeless village, the other at Inskip
in Lancashire, a refrigerated
container for use at the farm at Aparsel. Both containers were
generously donated by our friends and supporters
Alan and Adeline Fearon
and we are deeply grateful to them.
It
was a daunting task but the items from the
Wish List
kept
coming in from friends far and wide. It was amazing to watch as the
storerooms filled up before we were ready to load. Numerous trips by
car and van were made to the containers but soon we managed to fill
them up.
A number of fundraising events were held to help
pay to transport the containers to Romania and
it was a great thrill to see them leave and then
hear of their safe arrival only a few days later.
(See photo
gallery below)
The container at the farm is now
being put to great use and the other container is awaiting conversion
into a home. We need to raise more funds to complete the task so if
you can help please do get in touch.
Many people helped by donating goods and money
to the cause and we are so grateful to all of you. Many had never
heard of The Smiles Foundation before so this was a great way to
spread the message. We would also however like to express our sincere
thanks to Richard Corrie at BBC Radio
Cumbria for allowing us to tell all
of his listeners on his Sunday Morning
Breakfast Show all about the
challenge, on more than one occasion! |
Those of you
with small children in your family will no doubt have heard of
Peppa Pig.
Well since the end of January, Lynda
has been dressing up in a Peppa Pig lookalike
costume and has attended children’s parties, a nursery graduation,
opened a rooftop garden, took part at a charity event in Ponden Home
store and attended other events raising funds for Smiles. Peppa also
took part in a sponsored scooter ride around a local park.
To date £1277 has been raised by way of donations (we do not make a
charge) from families using Peppa.
Smiles literature is handed out at all these events again getting word
out to others who may
never have heard of us previously. You will see from the photo’s that
the costume is quite big and is very, very hot inside!
Lynda states that it is better than a good workout at the gym and is
desperate to get Derek to join her in another costume! mmm! |
Mission trips
are a great way to see everything that is going on in Romania for
yourselves and a number of people have visited from our region this
past year. The most recent by a group from Kendal. Please
read
Vic Brown’s
report to see just what they experienced.
Speaking of mission trips, as a Region we are
hoping to visit as a group together from
5th - 12th May 2012.
We have reserved a number of places at the mission centre for that
week and it would be great to have you join us. Please do get
in touch either with ourselves or the office in Leeds if you would
like more information about joining us in May.
You will have read in previous reports from
Ireland about their fantastic fundraising event held just a short
while ago when they climbed Mt Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest
peak. It sounds like it was a fantastic trip and an amazing
experience for all who took part. One friend from
Cumbria, Karl Galdins was part of
that trip and we are so pleased that he was able to be part of such a
great team.
Another of our supporters here in
Cumbria, Ian Caddle
was due to travel with the group to take part in the climb.
Unfortunately only a few weeks before departure Ian discovered that
he had a benign brain tumour which obviously needed to be removed as
quickly as possible. Ian was therefore in hospital as the team were
out in Africa and he missed the chance to take part. We are thrilled
to say however that Ian is now well on the road to recovery, although
not quite ready to challenge Kili just yet! We know that a great many
friends both here in the UK and over in Romania prayed diligently for
Ian as he underwent his operation and started his recovery. On
behalf of Ian, can I thank you all for all the care, support and
encouragement he received as a result.
As you can imagine Ian was extremely disappointed to miss out on the
trip, and miss out on raising funds for The Smiles Foundation.
However he has many good friends and a number of them are to hold a
fundraising cycle challenge around the
Lake District passes on Friday 23rd
September. Ian’s nickname is Stan
and they have called it the Stan the Man Challenge. It looks
absolutely gruelling. Many thanks to everyone taking part. If you
would like to sponsor those undertaking the challenge please go to
http://www.justgiving.com/stanthemanchallenge
We have been able to attend a number of different groups and events
over the year, including the Fylde
Convention in August, telling others
about our involvement with Smiles. We are so grateful to all of those
involved and for the donations they have generously given. No matter
how great or how small this is, can we reassure you that every single
penny goes to help those who need it most in Romania. If you are reading this and would like someone from Smiles to come and
speak to your group then please do not hesitate to get in touch. |
Derek & Lynda
Donaldson
Development Associate for Region 2 - North West
derekandlynda@thesmilesfoundation.org
Region 2:
Cumbria, Lancashire, Gtr.
Manchester, Merseyside & Cheshire
|
Container Photo
Gallery |
|
|
Departure day at
Wigton 8th July |
Gently does it! |
|
|
A tight squeeze! |
Its a delicate
operation! |
|
|
Getting there! |
Bye, bye England,
see you in Romania! |
|
|
Arrival at Cihei
13th July |
How did they get
it in there?! |
|
|
Watch that fence...
|
Watch my head..
|
Just need the volunteers to unload it now! |
Previous DA Reports
September
2011 - Scotland
August 2011 - Ireland
July 2011 - South East of England
June 2011 - Wales
May 2011 -
South East England,
Region 4
April 2011 -
North East, Region 1
March 2011 - North Midlands, Region 3
February 2011 - The
South West
January 2011
December 2010 ;
Scotland, November 2010 ;
Wales,
October 2010
Northern Ireland, September 2010 ;
North East, August 2010
South East, July 2010 ;
Southern Counties, June 2010
North West, May 2010;
North
Midlands, March 2010
Scotland, February 2010 ;
South East Counties, January 2010
Southern Counties,
December 09 ;
North East, November 09
South West, October 09 ;
Northern Ireland, September 09
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