Recent updates

An update on Majid

An update for Syrian refugee Majid needs to learn English and dreams of becoming an Engineer

May 29 2017

Dear all,

Thank you so much for your donations to Majid's fundsurfer page. I thought it was high time I sent out an update. 

With the money we have recieved so far, Majid had completed three months at the language school. He is taking a break for the month of May and is starting again on June 5th. His English is improving all the time and he is very popular at the school. They have even gone so far as to offer him one month free which will make our donations go further.

He has a long road ahead and it is not easy for him. But he has been so overwhelmed that people have backed him and he is very grateful, as am I. 

We are currently exploring options for scholarships at Bristol university and we are definitely getting a step closer to getting him where we wants to be. 

If you would like more specific information or you want to know more about a larger project we are working on that will give others the opportunity that you have all given to Majid then please get in touch. 

All the best,

Celine

Contactless giving is here

An update for Safer off the Streets - Help Bristol's homeless night shelters

May 27 2017

Hi everyone,

I am so pleased to be able to share some news which you may have already seen on social media or the news. This week we launched two new contactless donation points in Broadmead, marking a new approach to supporting homeless people in Bristol. The project has been possible with thanks to the Broadmead Business Improvement District (BID) who are supporting SOS Bristol by donating the use of these podiums for the campaign.

You will now be able to ‘touch’ your bank card to give £2 direct to the #SOSBristol fundraising campaign. There is nothing else (that we are aware of) like this in Bristol. This will make donating easier for everyone who may not carry small change but who feel compelled to take action to support people they see rough sleeping. It is simple, immediate and will directly pay for bed spaces across Bristol’s homeless night shelters.

We hope that you think they are a good idea. Please do us a favour and visit St Mungo’s Facebook page to share the information that is available on this with your friends. This is a new and innovative way to support the campaign and we are so pleased to offer it as another way to directly help homeless people be safer off the streets.

You are a fantastic city Bristol!

With thanks

SOS Bristol

Listen to album sampler here!

An update for Life and Other Songs charity album

May 25 2017

You can hear excerpts of three of my favourite songs from the album. Two of the songs feature The Penny Brohn Community Choir so listen out for them! I would love your feedback. Please keep sharing and telling people about this project. Thank you so much!

https://soundcloud.com/sally-larkin/mrs-jones-company-3-song-album-sampler

Sunshine & delight

An update for A safe haven for refugee and asylum seeking children

May 25 2017

The sun shone on BRR’s little garden today and the children rushed outside to make the most of it. Difficult for members of staff to say thank you when presented with a plucked flower whilst simultaneously discouraging the three year old from picking any more! 

It’s always heartening to see a newcomer to the Early Years Project moving from shyness, even fear, to growing self confidence. Today two year old, Sayed, pulled out the box of wooden rails and worked out for himself how they joined together; then grinned with delight as he moved a train and its magnetically linked trucks over its little bridge.  

There was a fire drill this morning and the children were quickly and efficiently swept up and moved out. To most of them it was an additional moment of excitement; only one boy burst into tears and he was soon reassured by spotting his mum with the rest of BRR members and volunteers in the assembly point in the car park. 

How to fill a pot up

An update for A safe haven for refugee and asylum seeking children

May 23 2017

Thanks to your support 34 children were able to have fun in our Early Years Project last week. Please spread the word so that we can keep filling the pot and ensure that these children can keep having fun and others will benefit too.  Thank you!

SHORT FILM COMPETITION

An update for Outdoor Cinema in Teignmouth

May 22 2017

We are offering an opportunity for film makers to make a film to submit to our competition. Winners films will be chosen to play at the open air cinema at the Outdoor Cinema

see this link for details

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIRvKk6hdkA&feature=youtu.be

A MASSIVE THANK YOU TO YOU!

An update for 23 Free Birthday Cakes for 23 Orphaned Children

May 21 2017

WE did it! Thanks to you, we raised a whopping £1,719!! Thank you very much for pledging, sharing and writing about our campaign. It's been an amazing experience and we can't wait to share updates about how your support has enabled us to grow and continue giving free birthday cakes to orphaned children in Nigeria. 

The past few days have been pretty exciting. We gave a birthday cake to little J who'd just had a major stomach operation. Although he was tired, the cake made his day. His house mother wrote to us to say thank you and to let us know that "the cakes themselves are a big deal and genuinely make a difference, every child in this house looks in hope to the next cake. Hope is a very important thing." Thanks to you, we're going to keep giving hope to these children. God bless you! 

We also made our first wedding cake this weekend! What an epic adventure. Photo below :) 

Finally, we will be in touch in the coming weeks with details about how to claim your rewards (for those who selected rewards). In the meantime, we want to offer you all a lifetime 10% discount on any order you place with Good Cake Day. Simply mention the code CROWDFUNDME when you contact us to place an order. 

Once again, thank you for your support! Together, WE are Good Cake Day! 

Warm regards, 

Chinelo 

Fantastic first response!

An update for A safe haven for refugee and asylum seeking children

May 19 2017

In the two and a bit days since launching our campaign we've had over 60 people back us and raised over £2000. So we're 10% of the way there! 

Thank you for helping us get this far! 

Now the hardwork really starts - we need to keep the momentum up and reach out beyond our current friends and families. 

So, if you haven't already, please share your support for this project with your networks. 

A quick post on Facebook after work: 

"The Early Years project at Bristol Refugee Rights needs help to stay up and running. Please like, share and donate if you can: https://www.fundsurfer.com/refugeerights"

Or an email to your friends, or people you went to school with and haven't seen in years... 

"Hi 

The Bristol Refugee Rights Early Years Project provides a safe place for kids to play while their parents access ESOL, computer classes, advocacy services, or just have some time to themselves. But more than this it is a place for the children to develop, experience messy play, explore in the garden - things which are not possible in most asylum seeker accommodation - supported by experienced, specialist multi-lingual staff and volunteers. 

The project is facing the prospect of limiting it's services and needs to raise funds to stay open at current levels. 

The evidence says that the best way to support this kind of fundraising is to share by email, so even if you can't chip in at the moment please fwd this email on!

Find the crowdfunding campaign here: https://www.fundsurfer.com/refugeerights"

Thanks again - we've been blown away by your support!

Thank You

An update for Empower Youth Voices

May 19 2017

Happy Friday everyone!

As you know, the campaign came to an end at midnight on Wednesday, and although the green bar was not full, I actually exceeded my target thanks to a number of offline pledges.

I want to thank you all so much for your support throughout the 35 days - thank you for pledging, sharing the word, offering encouragement and everything else.  It genuinely means a lot and as I've said before, I could not have done it without you.

Your rewards will be coming over the course of the next few months, so I hope you're excited for those.  Also, keep looking out for more great things coming up for Young People Insight over the course of the year and please come down to one of our events if you can, I would love to have you there.

Have a good weekend and thank you again.

Please please pleease please help us reach target!

An update for 23 Free Birthday Cakes for 23 Orphaned Children

May 17 2017

Thank you so much for your support!  Words can't express how grateful we are to you for getting us this far in our campaign:)

We now have less than 3 hours to go before our crowdfunding campaign ends but we have £461 to left to hit target. Would you please please please consider increasing your pledge and or sharing with a friend? It's the final cuntdown and we believe together we can do this. 

Thank you!!!!