 Pupils in Wargrave House, one of the boarding houses at Eastbourne College in Sussex, completed their 24 hour non stop 'Eastbourne to Dakar Challenge' on Sunday 12 February. Rowing across the sea and cycling across the land (virtually), to reach Dakar, Senegal, without stopping, each pupil completed at least one row and cycle – both consisting each of 10 minutes - in a relay form style throughout the night to raise a whopping £2342.50 for our work with vulnerable children across the world. Our community fundraiser (also a former housemaster at Eastbourne College), Euan Clarke, thanked the boys and staff for their outstanding commitment to raising funds for our work. Current Housemaster Nick Russell said: 'I am delighted we managed to exceed our expectations and that the boys have been able to make such a magnificent contribution to the work of Children on the Edge'. If you or your school would like to find out about fundraising for Children on the Edge, please get in touch.  Howard's House, Hurst Prep School, may not yet lead the House Points Competition, but their big hearted generosity raised £1128.86 for Children on the Edge in their annual charity day on Tuesday 13th March. Throughout Howard’s charity day the children in the House created and ran their own stalls including bobbing for marshmallows in a bowl of flour, nail-painting, cream egg and spoon relay racing and a treasure hunt. One of the most successful competitions was ‘Beat the Stig Goalie’ where a mystery person was dressed as the Stig in front of a football goal and prizes were awarded to any competitor that scored. Everyone enjoyed taking part, especially those who were covered in flour for the rest of the day! When presenting the certificate, Euan Clarke thanked the pupils for their outstanding contribution to supporting COTE projects. Inspirational head, Heather Beeby, praised the pupils, parents and staff (particularly house mistress Alexandra Albury) for their tremendous efforts at the charity day. In addition Mark Travers and his team of musicians orchestrated a wonderful Jazz concert to raise £250 for vulnerable and marginalised children around the world. If you or your school is interested in raising money for our projects, please do get in touch.  In February of this year we set up a new kitchen garden at the Children’s Crisis Centre that we support in Thailand. The Centre helps children who have fled Burma and have lost or become separated from their parents. It provides food, shelter, education and trauma counseling for those who have been through traumatic experiences. It is vital in the protection of children who are otherwise extremely vulnerable to trafficking, exploitation and abuse. The kitchen garden was set up to meet a number of needs and in the last few months it has really taken off. One of the primary needs is food. It costs £30,000 to ensure all the children receive adequate nutrition for the year and this is a way for the centre to start to provide for themselves in the long term. It cost just £3000 to set up and run the kitchen garden including the rent of the land, employment of a skilled gardner and the purchase of tools and seeds. The aim is that the produce from the garden will reduce the Centres’s food bill by 20% each year. In addition to this, the garden project is a fantastic opportunity for the children who work in groups of five and use the experience to learn about responsibility, nutrition and basic agricultural skills. Each year both the staff and the children will be getting specialist agricultural training where they can learn about the land in their area and how to get the best out of it. Yeye Win (the director of the Centre) described how the program has given many of the children a great creative outlet during this month's summer school break and thinks it will be really helpful for preparing them with skills for their future. John Littleton, our Asia Regional Manager says “The children are very enthusiastic about the project and considering they have plowed and planted almost 3 acres of land in 3 weeks and helped dig a well, I’m pretty impressed!” So far the children have planted eggplant, chillies, tomatoes and pumpkins, and they expect to get their first crop in 2-3 months time. Feel free to find out more about our work in Thailand and consider donating to the project. London School Skips for Children on the Edge 05/09/2012
 In December, pupils from St Christopher's School in Hampstead voted to support Children on the Edge as their charity project for the term. Spurred on by enthusiastic staff at the school, 186 girls skipped until they dropped (and the younger girls dressed up in support) to raise the astonishing sum of £5772. On his visit to the school our community fundraiser, Euan Clarke thanked pupils and parents for 'lending a hand' (the chosen assembly hymn of the day) to help vulnerable children around the world. Susie West, the dynamic head said: “I am very proud of these generous hearted girls for supporting such a wonderful project with their enthusiasm and their energy”. If you think your school would be interested in fundraising for our work then don’t hesitate to get in touch.  The Brighton Marathon is a gruelling event and training on cold winter’s mornings has never been a comfortable part of the journey, but 12 intrepid souls collected faithfully in Preston Park on a cold but sunny April Sunday morning in COTE running vests. Sadly two of our runners had to drop out through illness or injury before the event, but the rest of the team finished safely and a full bevy of supporters bellowed support from strategic points around the course. Here’s what the runners had to say: Production Coordinator Izabela Mayne, one of the 3 Musketeers from Wileys, said: ‘I can certainly say that I have absolutely loved every minute of the marathon. It was without a doubt one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life (so far!) and one which I wish to repeat again….. I certainly plan to support COTE by running further marathons, plus we are open for any other mad suggestions’. Christine Binns, Maths teacher from London said: ‘Thank you so much for your support during the race. Any bawling at me would have only helped me along!! It was lovely to catch Euan in the Charity Village after the race - I can only apologise for my slightly cathartic state and inability to form a sentence longer than about 3 words. We went and had fish and chips on the beach which instantly brought life back to my legs!’ Keith Jamieson, Managing Director of an electrical company said: ‘calves and quads still sore, but no lasting effects. As I ran the last 800 with my son Jack we had to get back to the family, so no pampering I'm afraid but I very much appreciated your support and will always do my bit for Children on the Edge. Body Shop CRM Manager Julie Cromwell said: ‘Thanks so much for your cheering from the sidelines – it was great! Hopefully I can convince a few more laggards to send some more – so hopefully by the end of the week, we should have a final total, but we’re pleased we’ve been able to smash our target of £1,500’. Our wonderful COTE Heroes and Heroines have raised over £7000 as a result their magnificent efforts and we want to say huge congratulations and a very big thank you.
Joe's Paddle moves to June 04/25/2012
 The fifth Joe Way Paddle for life is riding a wave towards the Newquay event on Thursday 21st June at Newquay harbour. The original Paddle for Life started after lifeguards from Fistral Beach held a Joe Way memorial paddle to raise money for charity in 2008. Joe is the inspirational little Newquay boy who touched people's lives around the country and beyond. The 2011 event last September saw over 180 paddlers of all ages and abilities taking part to do their bit to raise money for their chosen charities. Team Joe and its supporters have raised over £98,000.00 for a great variety of charities including Children on the Edge. The event which has normally been held in September has been moved to June to encourage more families, schools and surf clubs to take part, as well as allowing the event to run later into the evening with more light and warmer seas. Paddlers and swimmers ages start from 5 years upwards and the entry fee is £10 per adult and £5 per child (under 18’s) which is paid on the day with everyone also getting a certificate, free prize ticket and a discount voucher for food. The event is about family fun and everyone helps each other along. Matt Way Joe’s Dad said “It’s a great evening with loads to do on the beach, games for the kids, food stands and the amazing Titan the robot who is a huge crowd pleaser. We just want Joe’s story to inspire new people who then grab a board and paddle for charity”. To read about Joe’s story, and find out more about taking part in the Joe Way Newquay Paddle for Life 2012 go to www.joewaypaddle.co.uk  The 'Chi Half' is a challenging yet beautiful half marathon through Chichester city centre and the South Downs that aims to raise vital funds for our projects. The route, which includes a mixture of road, cross country and cycle path terrain, will start at Chichester College and take in the historic sites of Chichester, including the Cathedral and the walls. It will then lead up to the pinnacle of the Downs before wending its way back down Centurion Way. Children on the Edge is organising the event in conjunction with Chichester District Council. Due to take place on the 14th October 2012, the event is expected to be hugely popular and is already being supported by local running clubs. The main sponsors of the race are Montezuma’s Chocolates and Store Property with other locals firms including Harwoods and Evans Weir lending their support. The marathon will be a fantastic way for local people and those runners further afield to raise funds for our work. By paying an entry fee and running the ‘Chi half’ participants will already be helping us as a little really can go a long way in the places where we work. Better still any runners can set up a just giving page and get sponsored for their efforts, or purchase a Children on the Edge T shirt or running vest with proceeds going to our work. The race will take up to 1,000 runners and is open to all entrants whether you’re an elite athlete or jogging around dressed as Elvis. You can register online at Race Timing Systems or call the Children on the Edge office for an entry form on 01243 538530. There is an Early Bird rate for applications received before June 30th of £20 (affiliated UK Athletics Association) and £23 (non-affiliated). After June 30th, the cost for athletes is £22 (affiliated UK Athletics Association) and £25 (non affiliated). Please keep updated on news and tips on our Chichester Half Marathon page, ‘like’ our facebook page or follow @Chichesterhalf on twitter.  We had a fantastic time at our eighth annual Easter Trail on Saturday where over 350 children joined us in learning about our work and collecting delicious Montezuma’s chocolates along the way! The Graylingwell Park Partnership – Linden Homes, Affinity Sutton and the Homes and Communities Agency – sponsored this year’s Easter Trail, which raised a fantastic £3,500. Natalie Flint, sales director at Linden Homes Guildford, says: “We’re very proud to have sponsored the Easter Trail for the second year running. As ever, everyone had a great day out and Children on the Edge is an extremely worthwhile charity helping the most vulnerable children around the world.” During the event families not only enjoyed the trail itself but took part in fete games, bouncy castle bouncing, craft and face painting. We also announced the winner of the Montezuma’s ‘Design your own Easter Egg’ competition and the winners received a full size egg with their own design on it. Congratulations to winners Jena Juggins, aged 6 who made a pink egg face and Leo Tregear, aged 8 who created a spring landscape. Both Jena and Leo are from Fishbourne primary. We also had a visit from the Mayor, Councillor Tony French who did a little tour of the stands himself and said "The Easter Chocolate Trail is a wonderful example of the community of Chichester District coming together to help a locally based charity." Thank you to all those who came along, our generous sponsors and as always a huge thank you to Montezuma’s Chocolates for coming up with the idea in the first place, supporting us along the way and providing such wonderful chocolate. Shop for good with Give as you Live! 03/28/2012
 Did you know that when you shop online you can raise funds for Children on the Edge, at no extra cost to you? Shop online at your favourite retailers using Give as you Live and a percentage of your spend will be donated to us, at no extra cost. There are 1000’s of stores signed up, including most high street names like John Lewis, Tesco, Sainsburys, Amazon and HMV. Give as you Live are rewarding us with an extra £5 for every new shopper that signs up to support us through Give as you Live. This means that with only 100 shoppers we can raise £3,000 this year, at no extra cost to us and no extra cost to you! Please sign up today and help us raise an additional £3,000 this year, by doing what you do already!  In late February Ben and Esther took a trip to work with Patrice Millet, founder of of an innovative sports project in Port au Prince, currently supported by Children on the Edge. Here they talk about some of their experiences. "I thought I was already very familiar with the work of Patrice, having spent the last few years writing about the project" said Esther, "But actually seeing the massive impact a simple football project can have on children that vulnerable was amazing". The purpose of the trip was for communications and some general capacity building, so the start of the trip involved going along to a series of the football training sessions to get a feel for the day to day work. Each session was extremely professional and disciplined. Patrice always finished with an awesome pep talk, often focussing on good citizenship, working as a team and respecting others. The boys were completely transfixed throughout and always clapped at the end, which is a rare sign of respect in Haiti, meaning ‘I have learnt something, thank you for teaching me’. The discipline is well balanced with a good dose of fun. One session ended with piggy back races and spontaneous singing, spilling out into a Conga. At Children on the Edge we talk about bringing ‘life, colour and fun’ to children living in the worst conditions, and here it is really brought to life. Children living in abject poverty, living with loss, disease and violence, all in a conga line on their way to pick up a sack of food from the back of Patrice’s jeep. "The food parcels are given at the end of each training session and we can’t stress enough how vital they are" says Ben, "We interviewed 8 boys who live in the tents and many of them said they only eat once a day". They also talked to one boy’s mother at her home in the camps. She described how she wakes up every day worried about where she will find food to cook for a family of seven. The parcel her son brings home will feed them for two days. One of the most moving experiences of the visit was taking 20 boys from the slums for the trip of a lifetime in the mountains. Patrice had described how these children had never been out of the city. Where he was taking them was to a place owned by a friend of his, who let us use it for the morning. It was a place that closely resembles paradise, with a beautiful pool overlooking breathtaking scenery. The whole morning the boys were yelling with excitement, splashing, playing, singing and dancing. Esther described how "With charity we usually give second hand shoes, send clothes that we don’t want or things we don’t need. There’s a place for that, because it’s practical, but here it was amazing to be able to take children who live in the worst of the worst conditions, and actually give them the best of the best". As a sobering contrast to this experience, the following afternoon consisted of a trip to the ghettos to visit one of the older boys. He lives in one tiny hot room, with one bed. Most of the 8 people that he shares with just sleep on the floor, and it was hard to imagine how there was even room for that. It costs about £100 to do one of these trips for 30 children. Obviously there’s various ways you can quantify what £100 can do in Haiti. It would buy around 16 food parcels or 15 footballs, but to be able to give these boys the time of their life for a day is priceless. Please find out more about the project we support in Haiti, or consider donating to the work out there. |
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