Blog
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Photo of the week: BuskAsOne - High Wycombe.
Dan Baskerville and Mark Newell (Unknown State) busking to raise funds for Simakakata Community School. Lucy Newell also played a set before the cameras arrived. They raised £130.07! :-)
Massive thanks go to Dan and Mark (Unknown State), plus Lucy for donating their time to busk. You can find out more about Unknown State on their website and on MySpace.
If you would like to do a spot of busking in your local town it’s incredibly easy to organise. Just email busk@learnasone.org and we’ll help you set things up.
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Photo of the week: Walking for Saviour.
The London Bridges Sponsored Walk: Last Saturday 22 walkers replicated Saviour's 14km walk to school and raised £1,032 for the final classroom at Simakakata. Thank you!
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Put yourself in Saviour’s shoes and walk 14km to help fund the final classroom at Simakakata.
WalkAsOne: London Bridges sponsored walk
We would like to invite you to join the LearnAsOne team on Saturday 5 June for the London Bridges WalkAsOne event.
The idea is simple
A 14km or 28km sponsored walk along the River Thames. Every time you come to a bridge, cross it. When you arrive at Tower Bridge you’ve finished and are invited to join us in the pub for refreshments.
Date: Sat 5 June 2010
Time: 10am (28km) or 2pm (14km)
Start: Kew Bridge (28km) or Battersea Park (14km)
Finish: Tower Bridge
Why are we walking?
When we were in Zambia, we met an 8-year-old orphan called Saviour. Every day she walks 14km to attend school. She is happy but there is a problem; her school is a borrowed farmhouse and the owner needs it back.
Thanks to the generosity of the LearnAsOne community and Care International four new classrooms are now being built. We are walking to fund the final classroom. You can watch Saviour’s story below.
Fundraising target
Our target for the walk is £5,700. That’s 100 walkers, all raising around £57. It would fund the final classroom at Simakakata and would help to secure the education of over 200 children.
If we reach the fundraising target, the walker who raises the most money will be offered the chance to have the classroom named in their honour.
Sign up
Decide which walk you want do (14km or 28km). Click on the appropriate button below and ‘buy’ yourself a free ticket. We’re using Eventbrite (external site) because it’s a free and simple way to send you details about the walk.
Then set up a fundraising page on JustGiving and start raising money!
In September we’ll return to Zambia and show you the money you raise in action.
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PartyAsOne: New York. Dance for Saviour
Earlier this year Shaun Connell contacted me and offered to throw himself out of a plane for LearnAsOne. Mission recently accomplished Shaun has now set his sights on organising a fundrasing party in New York on 24th October. I’m in awe of volunteers like Shaun. Here’s his story.
Volunteer Shaun
Hi. I’m Shaun. I volunteer because opening access to education is close to my heart. I volunteer because it would be wrong not to. Too many children are subjected to poverty because they do not receive the education and training they need to succeed.
I am really impressed with LearnAsOne and their holistic approach to changing the fortunes of children like Saviour. LearnAsOne is an investment in the future of business and community leaders, teachers, charity workers and medics in the Simakakta community, Zambia and beyond. It’s great that the LearnAsOne investment is fuelled by the continued support of everyday people like you and me.
Live For Today... Plan For Tomorrow... PartyAsOne!
Conversations with Steve inspired me and three friends to setup a not-for-profit company (YAHYAHYAY) and host PartyAsOne in New York on 24th October. PartyAsOne is your chance to party carnival style while raising funds for LearnAsOne. Three of New York’s hottest calypso, soca and reggae DJ’s will help you to dance the evening away onboard the Paddlewheel Queen. Feel free to shake your leg and enjoy the delights of a free buffet supplied by some of the hottest party caterers in New York.
Help make PartyAsOne be a night to remember. Plan to be there. Tickets are available at www.yahyahyay.org.
Tickets reduced to $40 this week only. Get yours now!
Shaun doesn’t just organised parties
I don’t know what scares me more, heights or the effects of no education so I decided to tackle both my completing a 12,800 foot skydive. So far I have raised £615.
My sense of achievement is immense. One second I was perched on the edge of a plane enjoying an amazing view of the sky, the next I was hurtling towards the ground at 130mph. 5 minutes later I was back on the ground celebrating with family and friends. I would like to thank Keith - my jump instructor - and every one who sponsored my jump. We did it together.
If you are based in New York join Shaun on Saturday 24 October and PartyAsOne. Get your tickets at www.yahyahyay.org. And if you’d like to organise your own party please get in touch.
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Cycle Wales: 3 mountain ranges. 250 miles. Please sponsor us.
Relax with your friends and family. Go to church. Consume too many chocolate eggs. Watch the Masters. Just a few of things most of you will probably be doing over Easter.
But I have agreed (read been persuaded) to cycle the length of Wales along with 7 others by Volunteer Nerys (the TV producer coming to Zambia). That’s 250 miles and 3 mountain ranges. It’s called the Lon Las Challenge and is one of the hardest cycling routes in the UK, starting in Hollyhead and finishing in Chepstow. The less said about the weather forecast the better!
Why are we doing this?
To raise money of course. It will all go towards the first community school project in Zambia. Which you can see us document live in May. You can even ask questions for the community to answer. So if you donate to the cyclists (Cennydd, Andrew, Juliet, Nick, Harriet, Phil, Nerys and me) you’ll get to see exactly where you money will go in just over a months time.
Follow the cycle live
It’s only right that you can have a giggle at our pain and suffering. You’ll be able to follow our progress on twitter and via GPS.
Please sponsor us
You can make a secure donation via Just Giving. Then log-on to the site again from 11 May, follow the trip to Zambia and see exactly who your money will help.
Big thank you’s go to Wheelies of Swansea for lending Nerys a bike and to Hannah Davies for helping with the logisitcs.
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Site update: Totaliser for the first school now live!
Hello everybody.
First of all thank you for your patience with the downtime over the weekend. We were upgrading the site with lots of help from Volunteer Bill. Everything seems to have gone well, but if you notice any problems or broken links please leave a comment below so we can get it fixed. Thank you.
Visually, there has been one major change to the site. A totaliser has been added to the homepage so that you can see the fundraising progress for the first school.
How much will the school cost?
The target has been set at £25,000. At this stage we can’t promise this is 100% accurate, but what can say with certainty is the first school will cost no more than this. And that any extra money raised will go towards a second community school.
We will provide a final target live from our trip to Zambia this May once we have sat down with the community and discussed exactly what they need. A full breakdown of costs will also be provided so you can see exactly what any money you are kind enough to donate will be spent on.
Follow the trip
You can follow the trip live by subscribing to this blog or using twitter.
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A long overdue update (including notes from a meeting with the Zambian High Commissioner)
Hello all,
Firstly, sorry for the ridiculous length of time since the last update. You’ll be glad to know that all is still going well at LearnAsOne and that updates will be considerably more frequent from now on!
So what’s been happening?
Well three main things:
1) Developing the website (which is about 85% complete).
2) Gearing up for the first visit to Africa to select the first school.
3) Some small scale fundraising.I’ll briefly bring you up to speed.
Developing the website
The website is being developed so that you can donate to a specific community in need of a school.
Every school will get their own web page featuring a fundraising target, a shopping list of what they need and a way for you to donate. Plus a blog to provide regular feedback (video, written, photos etc.) so you can see exactly how your money is being spent. You will also be able to leave questions for the kids, teachers and community members to answer. Think of it as a cross between Facebook and JustGiving.
The new site is still in development but is now about 85% complete. Key screenshots can be found here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/7370765@N05/sets/72157603655096088. All the web development is being done on a voluntary basis by two amazing individuals, Ian Pearce and Bill Glover. This has resulted in a significant cost saving, which means that more of your money can go towards the first school. But on the flip side it means it’s taking longer than we initially hoped to get the new site live.
I can however tell you that the new site is shaping up really well and will be worth the wait! It’s currently restricted to the developers and a few testers. But as the development gets closer to completion we will be looking for more testers to provide feedback before the full launch. Look out for more details on how to become a tester appearing on this blog in the near future.
Selecting the first school
The most interesting and important part of this update of course surrounds the first school, which will be in Zambia.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending just over an hour in the company of the Zambian High Commissioner, Mr. Anderson Chibwa. I was able to introduce LearnAsOne, show him the current prototype for the new site and discuss the opportunities to work in Zambia. He offered to make a number of calls on our behalf, put us directly in touch with potential partners (local NGOs who specialise in education) and make introductions to other individuals in the media and at the Ministry of Education.
The next step will be to follow up on these contacts, and set up an exploratory trip to meet these people and identify our first NGO partner. And from there select the first community to work, establish their educational needs, set up their web page on the new site and get into full scale fundraising for the first school.
The one word of caution was the upcoming rainy season (Dec-April) which can make travel difficult. We are still looking into options for visiting during this period as it looks like this is when the initial funding will be sufficient to justify the trip and the new website will be up and running.
Again, you will be kept posted as to how things develop.
And a brief fundraising update
Despite a period of inactivity on the site, small scale fundraising has been continuing.
Dugald Wilson decided run the Edinburgh marathon in aid of LearnAsOne and raised £344 in the process. The New Bucks University Student Union continued their fine work from early in the year and sent through a cheque for £528. And our trustee Iain Gray raised £595 in sponsorship by completing l’Etape - the hardest stage of the Tour de France. There have been a number general donations too.
I’d like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to everyone who has contributed their time and money over the past few months. It’s fantastic to see money coming in even before the first school project is up on the site.
Thanks everyone!
P.S. If you would like to take part in an event to raise money for LearnAsOne it’s simple to set-up a fundraising page. Just use this link and follow the simple instructions.
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LearnAsOne: Bucks Students’ Union International Rag Charity 2007/8
As many good things do, this blog post started off in a pub.
Back in October last year I was introduced to Steve Marsh, a friend of a friend, and a music industry management student at Bucks New University. Over a beer Steve expressed an interest in carrying out some fundraising for LearnAsOne and told me about a few gigs he had previously organised with his friend Leigh Gorman. Numbers were exchanged and Steve got to work.
About a week later I received an email from Michael Paxman at the Bucks Students’ Union asking if I was interested in submitting a proposal for LearnAsOne to become their International Rag Charity for 2007/8. Steve moves fast! Well, I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice to say I said yes, wrote the proposal and I’m sure you will be pleased to know that it was accepted.
A number of meetings followed and the initial plans made in the pub were fleshed out. They are still fairly fluid but it looks like there will be a number of fundraisers carried out over early 2008, ranging in scale from a cakes sale up to a proposed hypnotist night. Watch this space.
The first fundraiser actually took place just over a week ago. The University Ladies Hockey Team raising over £125 selling lollies (while dressed as lollies) at the ever popular Flirt! night on campus. Good work girls!
In addition, Michael informed me that the University runs both Web Development and Graphic Design courses. This could fit perfectly with phase II of the website, so a number of volunteering opportunities are in the process of being shared with the students. I am hopeful there will be some developments over the coming months.
So thanks to Steve and Leigh, the team at the Student’s Union and the Hockey girls for getting the show on the road. Here’s to a very successful 2008 RAG!
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RunAsOne: Thanks to all the runners and sponsors!
On very little sleep - due to a Rugby World Cup semi-final and 21st birthday celebrations - 5 pairs of runners took part in the inaugural RunAsOne last Sunday morning.
Chris and Wendy (pictured) led the way home closely followed by Nick, Russ, Marion, Chris, Rebecca, myself, Eileen and Geoff. A massive thank you to everyone who ran and to all the sponsors - you can see all the photos from the day on Flickr. To date over £500 has been raised towards the first school in Zambia!
The support around the course and from the Innovation Sports announcer was amazing. Thanks everybody.
We are currently looking into options for a bigger and improved RunAsOne next year. Please feel free to add ideas for themes, venues, timings etc in the comments and we will keep you posted on the plans via this blog.
Thanks again!