​Despite the recent snowy weather, local scout group 1st Fetcham Scouts have been busy potting up plants for their ‘Bring and Buy’ sale fundraiser.
 
The Scout Group, who had undertaken the task of fundraising as part of their World Challenge Award, planned the event for the 9th March as part of their ‘Team Work and Team Leader awards’.
 
The event included the sale of delicious home-made cakes, lemonade, raffle tickets and potted plants. The plants had been kindly donated from Squires Garden Centre and decorated by the Scouts themselves.
 
Anita Chamberlain, Scout Leader to the young fundraisers said; ’The Leaders were very proud of the Scouts for taking matters into their own hands when they learned about the people who are supported by Children on the Edge projects. They chose to organise an event to raise money to help children less fortunate than themselves- we think they did fantastically!’
 
The Scouts raised an amazing £270 for Children on the Edge and really made the fundraiser a success.
 
If you would like to get your local club involved in a fundraising event or take on a challenge then send us an e-mail letting us know, and we'll be happy to help you with all your fundraising needs.  

​James Watkins is no stranger to supporting Children on the Edge. Last year he took on the 2017 Brighton Marathon to support our work and this year he’s taking on the world-renowned London Marathon. James is well experienced in marathons as this one will be his 5th, but it is still a huge challenge. Having completed the Los Angeles Marathon, the Brighton Marathon and most recently the Leicester Marathon with his son Sam, he’s making it his personal mission to take on the London marathon for the second time and achieve a personal best by completing it in under 4 hours.
 
As James is a bit of a regular at marathon running we asked him for some tips on what helps when taking on running challenges. His advice was to get a running partner, which he says keeps you honest and accountable for your training. Luckily for James this year, he is training with his son, Sam who is also using his place in the Paris Marathon this year to fundraise for Children on the Edge. The father-son duo are helping each another to stay motivated, even in the most difficult running conditions.
 
The recent snowy weather, though beautiful, has caused some of their training to be moved inside as James glumly admitted that he ran 19 miles on a treadmill last week to avoid the icy roads. A massive achievement to any runner, he still can’t wait to get back outdoors to train in the Spring weather. They’ve also been helping each other to stick with a healthy diet which, though difficult at times, is helping them stay in peak condition. They said that these health benefits are of the best bits of training.
 
For motivation, he finds it helpful to remember that his constant challenges are raising funds for a great cause. He says;  “Children on the Edge is a charity which supports children who are literally on the edge, with no other way to escape their situation. They operate by working with local partners on the ground which makes the work sustainable. It’s admirable and I’m very happy to support it.”
 
Their current total is already over £2,000 and they are hoping to get as close to £3,000 as possible. £3,000 can fund the costs of educating 15 Syrian refugee children in one of our tent schools for an entire year in Lebanon.
 
We hope that all James and Sam’s hard work in training and fundraising gets them to that £3,000 target and below their 4-hour time goal.
 
If you would like to support James and Sam in their London/Paris Marathon fundraising journey then you can donate to their JustGiving page. 
 
If you would like to find out how you can take on your own challenge then visit our challenges page.

​The wonderful The Body Shop At Home team and consultants have gone above and beyond with their fundraising for Children on the Edge each year, and 2017 was no different.

Smashing a fundraising target of £85,000, they raised a staggering £113,688 through their Body Shop parties, regular monthly donations, fashion shows, ball nights and by taking on a huge range of runs and cycles. 
 
On Saturday 3rd February Ben, Esther, Abigail and our amazing volunteers Helen and Jane, travelled from Chichester to Telford for their Spring Conference, armed with 1,700 goody bags generously donated by The Body Shop, raffle tickets and t-shirts. The team always look forward to the energy and generosity shown in the rapid fundraising for vulnerable children at this event.
 
The result was an incredible £21,099 raised in one day. This is a phenomenal record amount for a February conference, and we were blown away. 
 
Our Executive Director, Ben shared news from Uganda and described why we are beginning work in a new community called Wandago. We also celebrated consultants who rose to the challenge of raising more than £100 at their parties in the run up to Christmas.
 
Ben says “Our fundraising targets are always ambitious and once again you all smashed it! Your ongoing passion and support for Children on the Edge is helping us to create safer environments for more and more vulnerable children in Uganda each year”.
 
The Body Shop and Children on the Edge have worked together since Dame Anita Roddick founded the charity in 1990. Driven by her passion for sustainable and ethical products, Dame Anita hoped to provide a similar approach to charity work. After witnessing the atrocities befalling children in Romania following the war, she created Children on the Edge to create hope, life, colour and fun for some of the world’s most forgotten children.
 
Thank you to all those who are supporting us to continue this work. If you are a consultant from The Body Shop at Home and you'd like to find out how to get more involved, just e-mail tbsah@childrenontheedge.org.

2018 began with friends and celebrations for the Children on the Edge team as our lovely Ambassadors gathered for a fun filled Quiz night.  Over 120 people came together at Fittleworth Village Hall for 12 rounds of 2017 trivia and a delicious fish and chip supper.

Walter Jones (a long-standing member of the Children on the Edge volunteer team) and his appropriately named ‘Walter’s Winners’ team took the final prize at the end of night.

Whilst Walter and his team were gracious champions, it was the event and the people that made it such a memorable evening for Walter:

‘‘It was a super evening full of people who are committed to supporting Children on the Edge. People tonight were really keen to lend their support. They like the fact that Children on the Edge are a small, local charity, rather than a big bureaucracy. They are getting the job done well, helping children in serious need, and they keep donors in touch with the difference they are making”.

A glass was raised to everyone’s incredible generosity, support and hard work over 2017. The evening offered a moment to reflect on how much had been achieved by all involved with Children on the Edge in the last year, and their continuing work to restore the ingredients of a full and happy childhood to so many forgotten children.

The final total from the evening was an incredible £3,007.80.

​If you would like to be involved in our next fundraising event, or maybe you would like to organise one, then please get in touch!

​On Friday 27th October, local chef, Juliet Graham organised a 'Syrian Feast' at Tuppenny Barn in Southbourne, to raise funds for our tented schools for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. The event raised an incredible £2245.

Juliet, who owns Green and Graham catering in Hambrook wanted to do something to support Children on the Edge and in particular, our education programme for Syrian refugee children in Lebanon. She organised the Syrian themed feast, creating her own menu of delicious food which was freshly prepared at Tuppenny Barn with help from a team of volunteers.

Juliet Graham said:

"In 2016, I visited the refugee camps in Calais. Having seen how people were living, I knew I wanted to do something to help. Soon after, I heard Nuna Matar speak in Chichester and I thought it would be fantastic to join up with Children on the Edge and do something locally to raise funds, build awareness, and have some fun at the same time!".

Nuna Matar runs the education programme we support in Lebanon, and visited Chichester in April 2016. She met with a number of local supporters to talk more about the programme, inspiring many local people to get involved in supporting this work.

The meal for 67 hungry guests included lentil, chard and freekeh soup, flat breads, falafel and moutabal, along with lamb, marinated chicken kebabs and roasted quail, with an array of side dishes - Mujadara, Fattoush salad, Muhammara and honey roasted figs with halloumi. All the dishes went down extremely well with guests, who dined with the delightful tunes of some traditional Syrian music in the background, performed by members of the Sussex Syrian Community Group.

After dinner, Director of Children on the Edge, Rachel Bentley spoke about our work in Lebanon. She explained how we have been working with Syrian refugees in Bekaa Valley for over three years, in partnership with Lebanese NGO - Mercy Foundation.

Our programme provides quality, child friendly education for 500 refugee children, aged 6-12, who are unable to access government or UN school provision. The schools are safe places with a trusted adult presence. Where other projects of this kind bring in teachers from the outside, our model raises up teachers from within the Syrian refugee community. It costs just £194 a year to educate one Syrian refugee child in one of our tent schools, so the total of £2245 raised from the banquet is enough to educate 11 children for a whole year.

Juliet added:

"I'm delighted that the evening was such a huge success and raised vital funds for a very worthwhile cause. I'm grateful to all the volunteers that helped to make the event possible, and to Tuppenny Barn, who very kindly provided the venue for free". 

Rachel Bentley, Director of Children on the Edge said:

"We'd like to say an enormous thank you to Juliet and her team for not only providing such a lovely evening of fine dining and entertainment, but raising so much for our work with Syrian refugee children in Lebanon. As a small charity, funds like this really do make a huge difference, so we are grateful to everyone who was involved for making the event such a success".

Find out more about how you can organise a fundraising event for Children on the Edge.

George Hemmati is on his way to Venice this weekend to take part in the Venice Marathon for Children on the Edge. It's his first ever marathon and he's hoping to raise £350 for us after hearing about our work with Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. We chatted to George about his challenge....

What made you decide to do the Venice Marathon? 
Well I've never done a marathon and I've never been to Venice so I thought two birds, one stone!

What made you want to fundraise for Children on the Edge?
I was keen to run for a charity working with refugees and then I came across the Promising Practices project. It was here that I noticed Children on the Edge had been chosen as one of the top 20 leading projects in refugee education with your work with Rohingya refugees. I was particularly inspired by your work given the scale of the atrocities being inflicted in Myanmar so it was really a no brainer.

Have you taken on anything like this before?
I've done a handful of half marathons in my time but never a whole one! (eek)

What are you most excited about?
I'm looking forward to that race day buzz. Wherever you're running, it's always great to have a crowd cheering you on and chucking you the odd jelly baby to keep you fuelled! 

What are you most nervous about?
Not being able to get a reservation at a restaurant after. I'll be craving a BIG pizza!

How have you been training for the marathon?
I downloaded a training plan online and tracking my runs using an app. I'd be lying if I said that I've stuck to it religiously but I've managed to tick off most of them off. The best parts having been heading out on those Sunday mornings and running down Regents Canal. It's dreamy! The worst parts have been trying to motivate myself to run after work when it's dark and all you want to do is relax - never easy. The 22 miler in my training plan was also pretty gruelling! 

Whilst we won't be in Venice to cheer George round the course on Sunday (sadly), we wish him the best of luck and we'll be sure to eat some pizza in his honour this weekend! 

Can you help George reach his sponsorship target? He's got just £75 more to go! If you need some motivation, just look how hard he's been training.....

UPDATE 25th October:

George completed the Venice Marathon on Sunday 22nd October 2017, in 3 hours and 47 minutes, a fantastic achievement! His current fundraising total is £429, well over his target of £350. So he deserves a huge well done on both counts.

George said:

I actually had a great time for the most part but the last 12k was KILLER! I finished in 3:47 so chuffed with that (the photos are from the last kilometre!). And yes I had pasta AND pizza after.

Well done George!