Recent updates
The latest news from our projects
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In the news!
An update for A preschool for Down Ampney and surrounding villages - Little Explorers
May 4 2018
Here is the article that the Wilts and Glos Standard wrote about us recently:
Headline - Campaign for pre-school
A CAMPAIGN to raise £23,500 is underway to bring a pre-school back to Down Ampney, more than two years after the village lost its early years provision.
Little Explorers will be run as a Community Interest Company (CIC) and will be a not for profit social enterprise. The plan is for a nature-based pre-school, with the capacity to take 12 children. It will be situated in a portacabin in the grounds of Down Ampney Primary School and could open this autumn.
Karen Powell and Danielle Seatter have been working behind the scenes to turn the dream into a reality.
Volunteer Karen was on the committee of the previous pre-school Muddy Wellies, prior to its closure. "My children are now 6 and 8 so I no longer need the provision," she explained, "but I am really driven to make this happen. I believe it is a rural service that will benefit the whole community. We will also be creating several new jobs in the area."
Danielle, who will manage Little Explorers, gave up her role as chair and manager of Ashton Keynes Preschool. "A lot of services end up disappearing from villages. We would like to restore a pre-school to serve the local community," she said. "At the moment parents have to travel to other towns and villages and not everyone has the ability to do that.
"Chatting to parents it is also clear that some people want childcare that is on route to work and we could provide that."
The campaign has so far raised £5,000 through events and donations, with a further £2,000 of fundraisers planned for the next two months.
A capital grant application for £11,000 is also looking promising, as long as the team can show that all costs are covered. This leaves the project £5,500 short and the team have set up a crowdfunding campaign to help raise the outstanding funds.
"We need to raise money to renovate the building and to provide a contingency fund, so that we do not have to go down the route of needing loans," Danielle explained.
"The sooner we can raise the money the sooner we can open," she added.
For further information or to donate visit fundsurfer.com/littleexplorers
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Malaysian Hari Raya Celebration
An update for Help us fund and launch 91 Ways International pop up Peace Cafes!
Apr 29 2018
Hi Everyone
Tickets are now available for our Malaysian Supper Club on 19th June at Spike Island. We will be celebrating Malaysian Hari Raya with our friends from Malaysian Kitchen. It will be a joyous celebration of fellowship and feasting and marks the end of Ramadan. It's is all about sharing food and spending time with family, friends and neighbours so we'd love to see you there.
The 91 Ways Team.
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50% raised!
An update for UPFEST 2018
Apr 28 2018
Thanks to you, UPFEST 2018 has already raised 50% of its goal
Keep sharing the project to help us get to 100%!
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NEW REWARD ALERT - 2018 Festival Artwork by JODY
An update for UPFEST 2018
Apr 21 2018
NEW REWARD NOW AVAILABLE
Officially introducing our 2018 Festival Artist 'JODY' and this years festival artwork...
LUSTRE by JODY
Edition of 100
A2 Giclee Print on Fine Art Portrait paper
Pledge just £95 for this stunning reward!
Watch the video of the creation of this artwork HERE
#PLEDGE & #SHARE
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Official 2018 Hotel Partner - Mercure Hotels - Support & Win
An update for UPFEST 2018
Apr 18 2018
Support and WIN
As if supporting such an amazing event was not enough and also being rewarded with spectacular gifts, everyone who donates to the festival will be entered into a free prize draw for a festival weekend stay at our offical festival hotel partner the Mercure at The Grand Hotel, situated in the heart of the city.
A two night stay (Saturday 28th & Sunday 29th of July, Room for 2) is up for grabs in this stunning listed building. Mercure Grand Hotel, having recently undertaken a £4million renovation of this historic building, artwork at the hotel was provided by Upfest artists to give a unique blend of street art style against the hotels stunning Victorian features.
Check out this review of renovations at the Grand by travel blogger Heather Cowper HERE
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25% raised!
An update for UPFEST 2018
Apr 17 2018
Thanks to you, UPFEST 2018 has already raised 25% of its goal
Keep sharing the project to help us get to 100%!
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Ploughing ahead with grant applications!
An update for A preschool for Down Ampney and surrounding villages - Little Explorers
Mar 18 2018
Little Explorers are eight months into a capital grant application which if successful will pay 80% of the building costs needed to reopen the preschool(approximately £12,000). We have trawled through close to 150 different grants and it is hard to find one that fits. Our project is eligible for this capital grant because it will grow the local economy and improve our community by providing access to a rural service. We have been working closely with the grants office throughout the process which is both detailed and strict. We have passed through several stages already and they continue to encourage us to progress our application because our project - to reopen a preschool in Down Ampney - helps achieve their aim of increasing sustainable economic growth and jobs in our area. A new preschool in Down Ampney would create 4 new local part-time jobs as well as providing a new high-quality childcare option which could help some parents return to work. The biggest stumbling block for our grant application is being able to demonstrate that all project costs are covered - hence our crowdfunding campaign. Please consider giving - any donation no matter how large or small will help us meet our target. Do get in touch if you want to find out more http://thelittleexplorers.org Thanks for reading Karen :0)
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First week in!
An update for A preschool for Down Ampney and surrounding villages - Little Explorers
Mar 10 2018
The Little Explorers crowdfunding campaign is one week in. We would love to engage the community to help us reopen the preschool in Down Ampney. We're having a particular push at the moment because by raising another few thousand pounds we will release significant funding via a capital grant to cover the building works (providing we are successful at the final stage of the grant process). This week we have had our first 4 supporters via the crowdfunding campaign and raised another £330 to add to the pot! Massive thanks to you - I can't tell you what it means to have your support. It is somewhat daunting to put this project out there and sit back to see whether people are going to engage with it especially when we've worked so hard on it over the last two and a half years. I continue to feel excited and hopeful that we will bring a well-needed and well-regarded preschool to Down Ampney. Other news this week includes a pledge from the Rotary Club to help out with painting and decorating and other small jobs which is fantastic. We have also had an interview with the Glos and Wilts Standard this week so watch out for an article in the paper next week. Thanks again all - and please do share our campaign with others you think might be interested. Karen :0)
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Four weeks in and over halfway
An update for Nuts Over The Atlantic - Movember Fundraiser
Jan 14 2018
We are over halfway across the Atlantic and have just 1,100 nautical miles to go. In the last four weeks we have faced storms, seasickness, sleep deprivation and breakages on the boat. This has been tougher than we ever could have imagined, especially the night shifts when you can't see the waves coming towards you!
After hearing that the first boat arrived in Antigua and smashed the current world record we couldn't be more motivated to row as hard as we can to dry land to see our families and supporters.
Our biggest challenge throughout the whole experience has been to raise the funds required to get the boat ready and transported to La Gomera. With that complete we are now up against our next expense which is shipping the boat back to the UK, sadly we do not yet have the £6,000 required for this.
We have some great rewards on offer in return for your backing so please take a look and share with your family and friends.
Many thanks,
Team Nuts
@bythehundred
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Tee Update... Apologies for the Delays
An update for #SaveHamiltonHouse: Saving the House One T-Shirt at a Time!
Nov 17 2017
Hi All,
Just a quick heads up. A few of you have been in contact regarding whether your orders have been received and whether the t-shirts have been sent yet.
If you've filled out a form or been in contact with your order, then we have it and it's in the process of being printed.
We've had a couple of delays mainly due to:
- It taking a lot longer to get the 300 tee shirt orders in from everyone
- The printer sadly having to move from their studio at HH with quite short notice
We are thankfully now back on track, the orders have been taken, the designs and blank tees have been delivered and the new studio has been set up south of the river. We are hoping to get all the orders now fulfilled by the 10th December.
Massive apologies for any confusion and delays and thank you for your patience. We know everyone is super eager to represent the campaign with their amazing new tees.
#savehamiltonhouse