Page 65 - Phonebox Magazine December 2007

A Serious Adventure
A group of pupils from Ousedale School are to visit Saylaffa which I’d never heard of but now I know it’s in Peru. They had to raise a lot of money for the purpose which is where people like me came in. The following account by two of them, Georgina Cross and Jessica Coltman splendidly gives us the starting flavour of this challenge.
What an exciting few months we’ve had!
We are both in year 11 and aged 15 and earlier this year we went to a meeting at school about an expedition to Peru with our school Ousedale. The staff explained that it wasn’t a holiday but an expedition for 25 days with trekking, and spending some time in a small community living and working with local families in a remote village. This is an on going project for sustainable tourism. We were told that the price was over £3,000 each and that money should be fund raised and that we shouldn’t rely on our parents to pay for the expedition.
We both really wanted to go and with support from our families the
deposits were found and then we set our minds to fund raising. Our Mums were really good and together we all worked out three events to start us off. We had about a year to reach the target figure as it all has to be paid for by April 2008.
Our first event was a Table Top sale in Stoke Goldington Village Hall in June and we managed to sell enough table tops for the hall to be full. Sadly though it was poorly attended, and some of the stall holders made absolutely NO money at all, and we felt very bad about it on their behalf.
Our next event was in October and we held a Quiz Night in the Village Hall. What we hadn’t realised was that this was the same night that England were playing rugby in the World Cup. We had some people who having bought tickets decided to sell them back, and we had some people who had not bought their tickets but then decided that rugby was a better draw. We were both a bit worried about this as we thought of all the hard work we and our Mums had put in – not to mention Fraser Bull who had put all the questions together. However on the night we had a full house and a good time was had by all. It was a team called The Homeless that won, and they were all people whose houses in Stoke Goldington were flooded in July and who are living elsewhere temporarily.
Our most recent event was a Promises and Gifts Auction held on November 2nd, again in the Village Hall. We could not believe how generous people were in giving items and promises for us to sell. We ‘employed’ Mr Neale Bowdidge from the village shop as our auctioneer and had the best night ever. It took a great deal of organisation by our Mums, lots of time and help from lots of people in the village and surrounding area and a visit from the ‘Queen of Olney’ with her ‘Princess’ and Elaine their chaperone. At the end of the evening we had made £4975 including the raffle and this was generously topped up by the Bowdidge family to make it a number which was easier to divide in half!
So we have reached and exceeded our target figure and will have some extra money to go to Peru to buy whatever is needed to help the community in Sayllafa. We still can’t believe that someone paid £20 for a metre of Jaffa cakes, £9 for Bread pudding or £7 for a jar of lemon curd! However we are very grateful, and know how lucky we are to live in such a willing and supportive village.
Georgina Cross and Jessica Coltman
Willen Hospice Lights of Love Event 2 December 2007
PARKING
A free Park & Ride service will operate from Daimler Chrysler on Brickhill Street to the hospice grounds.
ORDER OF SERvICE
3.45pm Marquee opens for viewing of the Books of Remembrance.
5.00pm Carol singing lead by MK Acapella, accompanied by Milton Keynes Brass.
5.15pm Winter Wonderland duet followed by welcome by Paul Hinson, the hospice’s director of nursing and address by hospice chaplain, Steve Barnes. Lights of Love switch on. Sleep Dearie Sleep, performed by a lone piper, followed by soloist Aurelia performing Songbird. The service ends with a prayer and blessing.
5.45pm Mince pies and mulled wine served to the sounds of the Milton Keynes Brass Band. Please do visit the marquee and view the Book of Remembrance.
That is some project is it not! We’ve a photo of the two girls supported by half of Olney’s Royals with the ever supportive Neale Bowdidge looking overwhelmed on finding himself surrounded by so many gorgeous young ladies.
On a more serious note I only wish to say such adventures may prove quite life-forming and it should be quite fascinating to hear what these girls have to say about the third world ten years hence. More immediately I hope the school will publicly ‘debrief the troops’ when they return from their mission, then I can get along and let you all know how they found things out there, and what consequence s may follow.
Geoff Bacchus
WANTED
vOLUNTEERS TO HELP WITH CHRISTMAS GIFT WRAPPING
Last year Advantage Africa raised over £7,000 through their Christmas Gift Wrapping Service in Midsummer Place Shopping Centre, Milton Keynes.
This year they need over 100 volunteers to help, so if you have a few hours to spare between 1st – 24th December and would like to be involved in this exciting project or would simply like to find out more, please contact Advantage Africa on 01234 711005 or email information@advantageafric a.org
RE/MAX Property Specialist Group are honoured to be sponsoring the Lights of Love at Willen Hospice and would welcome all our clients, friends and family to attend this beautiful and moving event.
A Christmas tree lit with hundreds of lights will form the centrepiece of this very special celebration of life and love, held in the beautiful grounds overlooking the lake. Children and young people will be invited to decorate stars in memory of someone special and these will be displayed on two smaller Christmas trees.
The service begins with the switch on of the Lights of Love tree and a traditional carol service, followed by mulled wine and mince pies. These Lights of Love will blaze on throughout Christmas and into the New Year and you can dedicate a light to your much- missed loved one. Simply fill in the Dedication Form and the name of your special person will be entered into a Book of Honour which will be on display at the Light of Love service and in the Hospice reception area over Christmas and New Year.
Phonebox Magazine 65