Recent updates

We've reached £5,975

An update for Fairfield High School essential technology fundraiser

Jan 6 2021

The appeal total has now reached £5,975 and we are well on our way to making a significant dent in the technology shortfall which is affecting many of our students and their families.

The response so far has been fantastic and we will be increasing the appeal target as soon as we have the latest summary of needs from the school IT department.

Online access over the coming weeks and months will be critical for all students who are now at home with no face-to-face contact with their teachers or friend groups.

School staff are incredibly grateful to everyone who has donated so far and are busy allocating the donated funds to the most urgent cases. This includes an initial immediate provision of 24 laptops and 20 dongles with more in the pipeline.

A huge thank you to the school IT team who have worked over the holiday to ready the laptops and continue to do so this week.

"This has an immediate impact on our ability to provide online learning in this period. We are so overwhelmed by the level of support from our community."

"Absolutely blown away by this. Thank you so much."

Well done everyone - and please keep sharing the appeal. With a concentrated effort we may yet achieve the goal of eliminating the digital divide in our school completely.

Merry Christmas and a Massive Thank You from the Sleep Pod Team

An update for Sleep Pod Fundraising Campaign

Dec 25 2020

A Huge Thank You to everyone who has helped the Sleep Pod Charity grow from strength to strength. We now have 785 backers together you have raised a Massive £35,630!

We have come along way this year and now have Sleep Pods being distributed across the UK. We have 1,600 Sleep Pod build kits out in London, Kent and Bristol being built over Christmas. A massive thank you for all your generous donations, kindness supporting us with the Sleep Pod Builds.

Special thanks to everyone from the charities and organisations who have distributed the Sleep Pods on the streets to those most in need your support is vital. Big Up Joby, Emma and the Bristol Sleep Pod Crew.

Thank you to everyone for spreading the Sleep Pod Love.

This Charity could not run without your love and support. A heartfelt thank you to you all.

Merry Christmas to you all love the Sleep Pod Team ❤️

A big thank you !!

An update for Fairfield High School essential technology fundraiser

Dec 24 2020

Yes! We did it - Stage 1 achieved!

What an amazing group you are - to have raised £5000 in just 10 days for a project which will make so much difference to so many of the children who have been struggling to get connected online.

Of course the appeal will carry on and we'll be moving to Stage 2 in the New Year focusing on local businesses and a wider network of contributors in an attempt to close the remaining digital divide in our school.

You are all so brilliant and deserve an enormous amount of praise and thanks.

Stars, each and every one of you.

Merry Christmas to everyone.

!! Breaking News !! We've reached our £5,000 Stage 1 target !!

An update for Fairfield High School essential technology fundraiser

Dec 24 2020

Of course the appeal will carry on and we'll be moving to Stage 2 in the New Year focusing on local businesses and a wider network of contributors in an attempt to close the remaining digital divide in our school.

Thank you, thank you, thank you !!

You've helped push us to £4,500 !!

An update for Fairfield High School essential technology fundraiser

Dec 21 2020

Our Stage 1 target is in sight and edging closer.

We know it's going to be tough in 2021 and we want to do everything in our power to help ensure that no child or family is left behind, unable to access the crucial online learning which will be needed. The school is doing its best but needs our support to make this happen.

The response to the appeal so far has been brilliant and we now need a final push over the Christmas period.

Please continue to share and to add a little extra if you can - every donation is important, however small.

We've passed the £3000 mark thanks to your support !!

An update for Fairfield High School essential technology fundraiser

Dec 17 2020

We have passed the £3000 mark in the tech appeal - an astonishing feat in just a couple of days thanks to your extraordinary generosity.

To all of you who have contributed so far we are incredibly grateful. You should feel proud to be so instrumental in supporting a project which will make such a positive difference to so many.

Please continue to share the appeal to those who may not be aware of the Fundsurfer page and who might feel able to support the fund.

Every pound donated will make a difference to a child in difficulty.

Short Film

An update for Britten Saint Nicolas: A film celebrating live and virtual music making

Dec 16 2020

Hello everyone! I hope you have all had a chance to watch the short film we released a couple of weeks ago. Thank you so much to those of you who have already sent feedback – and if you haven't, I would love to hear what you think. 

You can access the film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqgeRcmW_ro&t=7s or on the Chiltern Arts website, until the end of December.

Enjoy, and thank you again for your support: we wouldn't have got here without you! 

Very best wishes

Naomi

You have raised a Massive £30,582!!

An update for Sleep Pod Fundraising Campaign

Dec 2 2020

The Sleep Pod Team are blown away by all your support and generous donations. We now have 696 backers and together you have raised a MASSIVE £30,582. 

Every penny counts and will all go towards helping to protect rough sleepers during these winter months. All this money goes directly into the Charity to build more Sleep Pods for those people living rough on the streets.

Through your generous donations and the kindness of volunteers just over 3,000 Sleep Pods have been built since the start of the project. This is a huge achievement, you have helped protect 3,000 vulnerable people, living day to day on the cold wet streets.  We are now distributing Sleep Pods across the UK from Bolton, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Kent, London, Northampton, North Herts, Sheffield, Southampton, Wales, Walsall, and Wolverhampton. Each week we have new homeless organisations and charities contacting us enquiring about Sleep Pods. The need is even greater this year during these uncertain times. We want to help protect as many rough sleepers as we can this winter.

Sleep Pod relies heavily on the generosity of others who share the same vision to help protect rough sleepers by keeping them warm, dry and safe. Please share the fundsurfer so we can build more Sleep Pods to help protect the most vulnerable people during these cold, wet, winter months.

A huge thank you to all those who have been involved with the Sleep Pod Build at Home Project.

To find out more about the Sleep Pod Build at Home Project please subscribe to our YouTube Channel: Sleep Pod UK 

This coming weekend the Bristol Sleep Pod Distribution Team are running Sleep Pod Build at Home builds, so Sleep Pods can be built safely and securely in the comfort of your own homes. Videos are available to follow on our YouTube Channel. We also plan to run home builds in London and in Kent so please follow us so you can sign up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmx6WAN44wM Please watch our recent video with updates about the Sleep Pod Charity.

Together we can make a difference!! 

Love the Sleep Pod Team 

Registered Charity Number 1187295

Short Film Release THIS SUNDAY!

An update for Britten Saint Nicolas: A film celebrating live and virtual music making

Dec 1 2020

Hello everyone

I'm writing to let you know that we will be releasing the short film that we recorded for back in September on Sunday 6th December (Saint Nicolas' Day) at 3pm. The film will then be available to view until the end of December. 

Check out a little sneak peak of how the Virtual Choir sound with this video here: https://youtu.be/xIqAgQKh0zE 

We'll be emailing our Silver, Gold and Platinum Donors with a private link to the film on Saturday afternoon – your chance to see it before the rest of the world! 

Very best wishes

Naomi

First Phase Recording: Done!

An update for Britten Saint Nicolas: A film celebrating live and virtual music making

Sep 29 2020

Dear All Supporters

I am delighted to let you know that on Monday 21st September we were able to go ahead with our first phase recording session.

Some of you may have heard that Nicky Spence, who is our Nicolas for this project, unfortunately underwent emergency surgery a couple of weeks ago, and due to this he was unable to sing for a number of weeks. We did all we reasonably could to try to find an alternative recording date that suited both Nicky and the rest of the team, but unfortunately rescheduling became horrendously complex – along with the nagging feeling that we don't know what may come along next in terms of government regulations that may put a halt to our plans. 

When we come to record the full-length film, with the entire work, Nicky Spence will be singing Nicolas. However, for this first phase – the initial short film that will be released this Christmas – the excellent Nick Pritchard will be singing. We all wish Nicky a very speedy recovery, and look forward to working with him in 2021. 

So a week and a half ago, at St Giles' Cripplegate in London, we recorded movements 1, 2 and 9 of Britten's Saint Nicolas with Nick Pritchard, Ken Burton, I Fagiolini, the City of London Sinfonia, pianists Iain Farrington and John Reid and organist Stephen Farr. It was a brilliant day, everyone involved worked incredibly hard to squeeze everything into the four hours we had available to us – and above all, it was wonderful to be in the room hearing and experiencing real live music-making between this excellent group of musicians. 

From this recording we are creating the guide tracks for the virtual choir – whose contributions we will be receiving over the next four weeks.

Bill Barclay (director) and Alex Barnes and his team (sound and vision) worked tirelessly throughout the session last week to get exactly the right shots that we needed to make this short film an unforgettable experience for you this Christmas, documenting this time we are living through with music and poignant images. We will shortly be posting a few photos on social media, and also making a full photo gallery with photos from the day available to our Gold and Platinum donors (there are a couple of tasters here – both from Matthew Johnson)... and we'll keep you updated as we move forward! 

Very best wishes

Naomi Taylor