No. 52 SPRING 2009
ONE WORLD GROUP
OXTED
REGISTERED CHARITY NO 295800
NEWSLETTER NO 52 SPRING 2009
Dear Friends of Oxted One World Group,
Welcome once more to the news of our fund-raising activities (see pages 2-3), and news of the projects that the Group has supported recently (pages 4 -7).
Since our last newsletter the Group has welcomed a new Chairman. After six and a half years of a great deal of hard work and dedication, Tony Stanton stepped down as Chairman at the Silent Auction. Tony has worked tirelessly for the Group and has inspired the Committee to broaden its scope. In particular he was instrumental in encouraging the Committee to organise a 25th Anniversary celebration along with the distribution of a leaflet to every household in the greater Oxted area which not only publicised the Group’s existence but also resulted in several new members. In his place we welcome Geoffrey Sanderson who spent many years in senior management at Reuters, the international news and media company and as managing director and chairman of various businesses on a global basis. He has travelled extensively including to many countries in Africa and Asia. Geoffrey lives locally with his wife and two children and is Chairman of the East Surrey Business Club.
Membership of the Group now stands at about 458. We are pleased to welcome all new members and grateful to all those members who filled in and returned their ‘can you help’ forms. All offers of help have been noted and where possible we have started to take up some of these offers. If you have not yet been asked to help please don’t worry – your turn will come!
We are currently looking for volunteers to help with the Poorman Lunch and with the Open Gardens afternoon. Please let a committee member know if you would be willing to help. Also required is somebody willing and able to develop and update the OWG web-site which so far has been managed by web-master John as part of the Limpsfield web-site. John has been exceptionally busy recently so it would be good to have some sort of help from an OWG member. Also welcome would be any suggestions for projects to support with some idea of costings and also any ideas and/or offers to run, new fund-raising activities.
COMING EVENTS TO BE ORGANISED BY OWG
POORMAN LUNCH – April 25th, 12 noon, Oxted Community Hall.
After a frugal lunch of rice and dahl Kate Ego Ugochukwu will give a talk on the Ozubulu Women Charitable Trust in Nigeria. Kate who is a Director of the Trust set up the charity and visits it frequently. The money raised by the Street Collection was used to fund the completion of a water supply project at the OZUBULU HOME FOR DISABLED CHILDREN. Tickets for the lunch which cost £3.00 each will be available from a committee member very shortly and can be booked by ‘phone. Alternatively just turn up on the day.
OPEN GARDENS – May 25th 2009, (Bank Holiday Monday), 2.00pm – 6.00pm.
As usual six gardens of all sorts of shapes and sizes in the local area will be open for people to look round with teas being available at two of the gardens and plants being on sale at one of them. Tickets giving admission to all the gardens and including a map of their locations will be available from any committee member beforehand priced at £5.00 each or on the day priced at £6.00 each. Contributions of cakes and/or plants for sale will be gratefully received as will offers of help in manning the gates at the gardens for an hour or so, serving teas or selling raffle tickets at one of the gardens. Offers to John Leslie please (01732 750609).
COLLECTION AT MORRISONS – 4th July 2009 – help will be needed.
HURST GREEN FAIR - 19th September, 2009 Bottle Stall
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – 15th October 2009, URC, Bluehouse Lane,
STREET COLLECTION – 5th December 2009 in Oxted
PAST EVENTS AND FUND-RAISING
HURST GREEN FAIR – Bottle Stall – 20th September 2008
This made a net profit for the Group of £757 after a percentage had been given to the Hurst Green Fair Committee. This was a record total for this event and thanks are due to Keith and Maureen Mayers who took over the running of the stall as well as to all those who so generously donated bottles. Of the bottles donated 22 of the better quality ones were kept back for the Silent Auction.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – 15th October 2008
There was a very good turn out for the 25th AGM and the new venue of the United Reformed Church proved ideal for the increased numbers -- thank you to the 79 members who came. The Chairman was able to report at the meeting that in the year ended 31st August 2008 the Group had sent £41,217 to various projects in the developing world and that since its foundation in 1982 it has raised £397,000 to help in the alleviation of poverty, and poor conditions.
After the business part of the meeting, Mark Roberts gave an illustrated talk about The St. Jude Foundation and specifically ‘The Heri Special School’ project, Mporoto, Tanzania where the OWG had recently provided funding for a piped water supply.
STREET COLLECTION – 29th November 2008
Despite the cold weather the fantastic total of £725 was collected for OWG by an intrepid band of volunteers to whom our thanks are due. Thanks are also due to Boots the Chemist for allowing the Group to have a collecting point and a table with information leaflets outside the store. The money collected was made up to £750 by the OWG committee and sent to the OZUBULU HOME FOR DISABLED CHILDREN IN NIGERIA.
CHRISTMAS APPEAL – December 2008
By the end of January the money collected from this had reached £6,370. This money has been sent to PEAS (Promoting Equality in AfricanSchools), tofund the building of a library and to help with the purchase of furniture for a new secondary school being opened at MAYUGE IN THE JINJA DISTRICT OF S.E. UGANDA. This is an area of acute need because there is no nearby affordable secondary school so the children are at a severe educational disadvantage. The school was set to receive its first 150 pupils early in 2009 and will expand initially to 200 pupils and then get bigger as funds allow.
SILENT AUCTION – 14th March 2009, St. Peter’s Hall, Limpsfield
This was as usual a very popular, enjoyable and successful evening with 140 people attending. The tickets were sold out within four days and we are aware that there were many disappointed customers. The committee will consider ways of solving this problem including looking at a bigger venue. There were 166 ‘Lots’ on offer including three holidays, meals, several pictures, rounds of golf, fine wines and paintings. The Lots included several services and goods from local businesses and eating establishments. We are very grateful that these concerns felt able to support us and would ask that you try and give them your custom. They included :-- Bletchingley Golf Club, Chris Evans (PGA Pro, Tandridge Golf Club), Gurkha Kitchen, Royal Oak, Staffhurst Wood, Simply Sports, SMS Creative Photography, The Bell, Godstone, The Bull, Limpsfield, Turnstyles (Men’s Hairstylists), and Woodward Gents Outfitters.
As a result of everyone’s generosity over £5,500 was raised.
DONATIONS FROM OTHER SOURCES -- In September 2008 URBAN AID donated a further £2,500 to OWG to be used for health projects in urban areas of Africa. In October/November members of St. Mary’s Church collected £98 from the sale of surplus Harvest produce.
PROJECTS SUPPORTED
TAPIWANASHE ORPHANS PROJECT, CHIVESO, ZIMBABWE
In March 2008 OWG sent £1,000 to this project which serves 500 Aids orphans and needy adults. The money was for fencing so that a gardening project could be started to provide food for the children. There was a delay in putting up the fencing because of the election violence but it has now been erected and the gardening project can start. At the end of August Mavis Buwa who started the project but who now lives in Hurst Green, held an African Supper and raised £320.00 which with Gift Aid became £519. This was forwarded to the project via OWG. In January OWG agreed to send a further £500 to the project to fund the purchase of fertilisers and seeds. It is hoped that by growing their own food and also starting a poultry project the organisation will be able to feed the orphans and overcome the severe food shortage.
CHERRY CLINIC, MAMBOLEO, KISUMU, KENYA
This project was set up in 2007 by Cherry Watt who trained as a nurse with Judith Eiloart (one of our Committee members). The Clinic is situated on land purchased by local churches under the UILMC Mission which includes an orphanage for 30 children, a small school and a water project.
The project serves a very poor and deprived area where there is a high percentage of malnutrition amongst children as well as a lot of malaria and HIV/AIDS. Cherry and her family furnished the clinic and provided some of the medical equipment. They were joined by another British nurse, and in May 2008 the Minister of Health in Kisumu provided 8 staff to launch the clinic with a Medical Day when 500 people received medical help. They are hoping to expand the clinic to include ante-natal and baby care and needed a steriliser and cupboard. OWG agreed to send £500 to fund these items and to consider further funding of £1000 in April to fund a Medical Day with Urban Aid funds.
KITEREDDE SELF-HELP ASSOCIATION, MUBENDE DISTRICT, UGANDA
This is a registered Ugandan Charity teaching organic farming methods to combat soil erosion and to increase food production. The organisation had 10 oxen which were used to plough land for poor farmers but they died from Foot & Mouth disease. They sent pictures and a quote for a power tiller which they wanted to buy for community use. Initially the Association had raised £1,200 locally towards the total cost of £5,200, needing another £4,000. OWG offered to contribute £2,000 provided they could match this by raising £2,000 themselves and they have now done so by a sponsored walk and other activities.
JOSHUA ORPHAN DAY CARE CENTRE,BLANTYRE, MALAWI
This project which was founded in 1998 by the local community to meet the acute problems in the village due to the deaths of parents from AIDS and malaria has been supported by OWG since 2001. During that time the project has expanded enormously so that it now has 20 feeding centres in the surrounding villages which give 1350 children one nutritious meal per day. This is essential to prevent real hunger as the harvest was spoilt in 2008 by heavy rains and food prices have shot up as increasing amounts of maize are diverted to be used as biofuel. Joshua also runs schools and provides health care for the orphans.
In January OWG agreed to send £1,000 to the project which will be spent on books and desks for the Secondary School. Despite having untrained teachers in the school their results were above the national average, as a result of which their numbers have shot up to 375 students. This has meant new teachers, desks and other resources and efforts are being made to set up a science lab and library.
Future plans include improving the clinic and laying on improved water supplies – made more difficult by rocketing prices due to a falling exchange rate which makes boreholes twice as expensive as last year.
TEMWANANI CHILD CARE CENTRE, LUWINGA, MZUZU, MALAWI
Friends of Anna Burrage our Treasurer set up a project to build a Day – Care Centre for AIDS orphans. The children had been meeting in a house with no doors or windows and a leaky roof. They had no furniture, books, pencils or paper and were being taught by two young women who are unpaid. A plot of land was purchased for the Centre and a budget of £14,000 for the building and provision of furniture, teaching materials, cooking utensils and play equipment was set. The local community agreed to raise some money for the project and in January 2008 OWG sent £1,000 to help with the set up costs.
By July 2008 the centre was operational with volunteers preparing food for 131 pre-school children, mostly orphans, on a daily basis. In November 2008 OWG agreed to send a further £1,000 to the project to cover the costs of furniture, toys and equipment as well as fencing round the plot.
NYABITIMBWA WOMENS GROUP, UGANDA
This Group started activities in 2002 with the aim of helping women to help themselves and their families through income generation and literacy programmes. The 30 family groups that are members have already tackled health and other programmes and now want to start a poultry project. OWG has sent the group £1250 to fund the purchase of 500 chicks, feed for 8 months, troughs, wire mesh, vet’s fees and the necessary drugs. This will also cover training and follow -up visits. The poultry houses will be built while the women are in training for the poultry keeping.
KANTHENGA PRIMARY SCHOOL, MALAWI
The children of Weald Primary School, Kent (which is attended by the daughter of one of our committee members), have been raising money for this project. Kanthenga School has 200 pupils and three teachers including the headteacher. It had semi finished buildings and needed to finish them for accommodation for the teachers. By January 2009 the Weald School children had raised £1,000 and the local church another £1,000 so with the £500 that OWG agreed to send the two houses which cost £1,433 each can be completed. Without proper housing for the teachers it is impossible to retain them and the education of the children then suffers.
UNION OF WOMEN AGAINST AIDS (UWAA)APAC DISTRICT, N. UGANDA News and photos have been received from this project showing the success of their workshops aimed at teaching vulnerable adults how to prevent AIDS. They particularly concentrate on using music, dance and drama which reach a wide audience and have formed Community Anti-AIDS Clubs that reach out to many people. The workshops also help give hope to those who have HIV/AIDS so that they can learn to live with their disease and they help to prevent the dissemination of incorrect information, including teaching about the futility of seeking help from witch-doctors. Since July 2007 OWG has sent two tranches of £1,000 to this project to fund the workshops.
LOAVES AND FISHES, EAST LONDON, SOUTH AFRICA
This project (which was brought to our notice by OWG founder Terry Philpott), was started in 2006 to work with children with HIV and their families – where they exist, and also to help children who suffer violence and poverty – much of this because children with AIDS are often abused and thrown out of their homes. The Chairman of the project is a former health minister in the Eastern Cape Provincial Government who has worked with black communities for decades. The work is carried on through edu-centres in very poor townships and offers practical help to the children as well as help with health issues. The project has established 34 centres with volunteer workers supporting the children and wants to expand to build more centres. Many of the existing centres need upgrading at a cost of between £1,333 and £6,366. It also supports 100 households that are in crisis with monthly food parcels, emotional and legal support. In January 2009 OWG agreed to send £1,000 to the project.
RWENZORI WOMEN’S INITIATIVE FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT –(RWICOD) KASESE, UGANDA
This initiative which was founded in 2002 by 5 women and 2 men aims to lift women out of poverty, illiteracy and domestic violence in one of the poorest districts of Uganda.
To date the programme has secured support from "Feed the Minds – UK" and "Books Abroad" for their literacy project and from "Work Aid" who supply tools and sewing machines etc. "Trees for the Future", an American charity, is funding a tree-planting scheme.
A new project, which should be self-sustaining within one year, is to train and equip peasant farmers to use better techniques to cultivate the land using teams of oxen. Their budget is for £3,000 approximately, to purchase 2 sets of oxen (8 bulls) and 2 sets of ploughs plus training for one month, transport and administration. OWG has agreed to fund one set of oxen and ploughs at a cost of £1,260.
BARWODA – BAYIRA RURAL WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION, LAKE KATWE, UGANDA
Barwoda was founded in 2001 to promote community development with programmes in brickmaking, health awareness, children at risk, adult literacy (with help from the local Government), and women’s rights. As a next step they visited the Kamuruli Project (which OWG has supported several times), to learn about income generation through agriculture and as a result they have planned a pig-raising project as the area is suitable for this. They requested £1,800 for a project to include training, the purchase of piglets and transport. The pigs will not only provide food but also a source of income and it’s hoped that proceeds from the sale of the piglets will enable the group to buy their own transport. In September 2008 OWG agreed to send £2,000 to cover the cost of the piggery project, the extra being to allow for rising costs. In February 2009 a good report was received on the progress of the project.
OXTED ONE WORLD GROUP COMMITTEE 2008/09
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Geoffrey Sanderson (Chairman) |
Sapperton, Bluehouse Lane Oxted RH8 0AR |
01883 723903 |
|
Anna Burrage (Treasurer) |
Linden, Rockfield Road Oxted RH8 0EL |
01883 723204 |
|
Helen Adams (Minutes Secretary) |
Barclay Cottage Hale Oak Road, Weald, Sevenoaks, Kent TN14 6NQ |
01732 461399 |
|
Stuart Paterson (Press and Publicity) |
50 Silkham Road Oxted RH8 0NY |
01883 714642 |
|
Averin Cox (Membership Sec.) |
Hookwood Oak, Hookwood Park, Limpsfield RH8 0DU |
01883 723748 |
|
Karen Nicholls (Bookings Secretary) |
19, Bell Meadow Godstone RH9 8ED |
01883 741916 |
|
Valerie Adamson MBE (Vice Chairman) |
13, East Hill, Oxted RH8 9AF |
01883 714859 |
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Celia Butler |
Potters Cottage, Church Lane Godstone RH9 8BW |
01883 742561 |
|
Judith Eiloart MBE (Co-opted member) |
Little Haye, Holtye Road East Grinstead RH19 3PP |
01342 300053 |
|
John Leslie |
Scollops Oast, York Hill Ide Hill Nr Sevenoaks TN14 6LG |
01732 750609 |
|
Jenifer Ruxton |
22, Oast Road Oxted RH8 9DU |
01883 712836 |
|
Richard Smith |
12, Detillens Lane, Limpsfield RH8 0DJ |
01883 722671 |
|
David Stafford |
Clover Lea, Dairy Lane Edenbridge, Kent TN8 6RA |
01732 866327 |
|
Tony Stanton OBE |
Oast Hatch, 2A The Maltings Oxted RH8 9DZ |
01883 712697 |
|
David Steele |
25, Detillens Lane Limpsfield RH8 0DH |
01883 712527 |
|
Church reps:- |
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All Saints ........................ Anna Burrage |
St .Andrew’s L. Chart...Annie Blanchard |
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St. Peter’s L’field, Janet & Stephen Mills |
St. Mary’s, Oxted......Valerie Adamson |
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St. John’s H. Green ..........Jenifer Ruxton |
St. Peter’s, Tandridge........Sally Walker |
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Society of Friends.................Len Roberts |
URC, Oxted ........................Celia Butler |
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Methodist, H. Green, Margaret Bamford |
Holy Trinity.. Cr. Hill .......David Stafford |