Cecily's Fund Summer Newsletter 2017

Summer Newsletter

2017 Twenty Years...

One Big Day

20 20

Join us on Cecily's Day on September 2 to celebrate two decades of changing lives

20 20

2 | Cecily’s Fund

Welcome to our Summer Newsletter!

Social | Keep up with us on Twitter, Facebook

and

YouTube

at

/

cecilysfund and on Instagram at cecilys.fund

About and Contact | Cecily’s Fund is registered charity 1071660.

Our

work

makes

education possible for orphaned Welcome to the last newsletter before our very special 20th anniversary

and vulnerable children in Zambia.

celebration at Cecily’s Day on September 2. We are hugely grateful to

Email

those of you who have been fundraising for this milestone in 2017, and

admin@cecilysfund.org

we hope that you can join us on the day.

Phone

You’ll find all the latest Cecily’s Day details on page 3, including how to let us know if you’ll be attending. Also in this issue, you can read about the early days of Cecily’s Fund in the words of our co-founder Basil; meet two teachers at Southborough High School who are taking on the London 10K for a third time; and find out about exciting events coming up in June and September.

It’s the perfect time for you to spread the word about Cecily’s Fund and help raise the funds that make our work possible. In this newsletter, there’s all the

01993 358 089 / 186 Post Ground Floor, 6 Church Green, Witney, Oxon, OX28 4AW Website www.cecilysfund.org

information you need on why the work we do is so important - and what you can do to help.

In this issue Cecily’s Day: 20 Years, 20,000 Children Helped Community: Schools Warm Up for Summer Fundraising

3 4-5

Community: Swim Serpentine 2017: We Need You!

5

Features: Co-Founder Basil on the Origins of Cecily’s Fund

6

Features: Meanwhile in Zambia - How Our Work is Changing Lives

7

Get Involved: Become Our Social Media Champion

8

New Video Now Online | Cecily’s Fund is excited to present our new video, packed with brandnew stories from Zambia. Please share widely: http://bit.ly/ cfvideo2017

Summer Newsletter 2017 | 3

20 Years, 20,000 Children! Celebrate With Us on Cecily’s Day

CECILY’S DAY

St. Mary’s Church, Witney, September 2nd Communion Service of Thanksgiving, 11:45am Bring Your Picnic, 1:15pm

We’re gearing up for the biggest Cecily’s Day yet - and we’d love for you to join us!

Over two decades Cecily’s Fund has had a dramatic and vital impact on orphans and their communities in Zambia. On Cecily’s Day, we’ll be celebrating our work over 20 years with:  All the latest inspiring stories of our work in Zambia, told through new displays, photos and videos We’re creating a special Cecily’s Fund

Supporters

raise

funds

Cookbook

for

our

to

20th

Anniversary year and we need more recipes!

If you have a recipe that’s a family favourite, one that your friends enjoy

 The chance to hear about our projects first-hand from staff and trustees, as well as to meet other supporters  Gifts of Hope, new 2017 Christmas cards, and more available to buy Cecily’s Day 2017 will be an inspiring and emotional celebration of our two decades of changing young lives in Zambia. We look forward to seeing you there!

or even a dish from your travels, we would love for you to submit it for our new cookbook.

Please email your dish (starter, main course

or

dessert)

to

georgina@cecilysfund.org by the end of May, along with a quote on why it is such a tasty treat! You can also post your recipe to us (see address on page 2). The book will be sold on Cecily’s Day as well as online.

To RSVP, email stableyardalison@gmail.com and georgina@cecilysfund.org

4 | Cecily’s Fund

Southborough High School and Burford School Warm Up for Summer Fundraising

COMMUNITY

Southborough High School to Take On the London 10K Once Again Ten of the school’s staff will be taking part in this year’s 10K on July 9, including

headteacher

Niall

Smith

(right) and his colleague Matthew Iles (centre right). The teachers took time out from training to discuss the special relationship that has built up between the school and Cecily’s Fund.

CF: How did Southborough High School first became involved with Cecily’s Fund?

NS: We became involved several years ago via a colleague who was inspired by the Cecily’s Fund story. We are delighted to be associated with such an amazing charity and haven’t looked back since!

CF: Why do you think it’s important for schools and teachers to be involved with an international education charity like Cecily’s Fund?

MI: I just think it is important for people advantaged as we all are to get a sense of what it is like elsewhere. So many have it hard and in so many ways we do not. Let us not forget that! Furthermore, being actively concerned for others is part of what being human should mean. We are often happier when we help others. Helping Cecily's Fund makes us happier and helps towards making us all better people.

CF: Can you describe your experiences taking part in the British 10K London Run for Cecily’s Fund in recent years?

NS: Running the London 10k was amazing! I had a great time and wasn’t too disappointed with my time, although I came last amongst the Southborough runners. (I would like to thank Matthew at this point for his mid-race mentoring!). The Cecily’s Fund support team was very… supportive!

MI: It is just great to be surrounded by so many people who can be bothered. It helps you hold on to the belief that good and positive things happen in the world and that ordinary people can be and often are decent and caring.

CF: What are your aims for the 10K in 2017 – are any of your team members looking to break personal bests?

NS: We have a very strong team entering this year: 5 men and 5 women. I am hoping to a) run the distance in less than an hour and b) not come last again!

MI: For me, I just want to ensure that all 10 colleagues walk away from the event, knowing that they have made a positive difference and that we as a staff team can come together every year to support young people we will never meet and whose lives are perhaps more difficult than we will ever know.

The London 10K takes place on July 9 - Cecily’s Fund will be sharing sponsorship pages for all of our runners.

Please donate, and help us break our £4,000 record from 2016!

Summer Newsletter 2017 | 5

Every Donation Counts: Support the Cecily’s Fund Team in the Zam Challenge!

Cecily’s Fund Captain: Simon Isherwood

Burford Sixth Form Captain: Harry Davies

Burford Alumni Captain: Adam Nobbs

Burford School Sixth Form have generously adopted Cecily’s Fund as their charity for the year - and so together, we’re organising a special 5-a-side indoor football tournament on June 9: The Zam Challenge.

A Cecily’s Fund team made up of players who are friends and family of our staff will test their mettle against teams from Burford Sixth Form, alumni, and staff. Only one team can claim the winners’ trophy, but extra rewards will be given to the top goalscorer, best goalkeeper, and Man of the Match.

We need your support! Please donate online via the event’s JustGiving page and let us know which team you want to win! We’ll also be sharing all the match action online, so be sure to keep an eye on the #ZamChallenge

Burford Staff Captain: Bill Williams

How to Donate and Support Cecily’s Fund

1) Visit http://bit.ly/zamchallenge 2) Donate whatever you can 3) Post a comment supporting our team!

hashtag!

We need six swimmers to take on a one-mile swim in London’s Hyde Park - sign up today to help us raise thousands to support our life-changing work!

Swim Serpentine was a great success for Cecily’s Fund in 2016 - it was the first year for this special event from the creators of the London Marathon, and our swimmers raised over £2,000. This fantastic total is enough to send 40 children in Zambia to school for a year, or to train over 25 Peer Educators.

Our 2016 swimmers Verity and Tim had an amazing experience when they took the plunge. This year we have

Swim Serpentine 2017 - We Need You!

triple the number of places, and triple the fundraising potential - contact andy@cecilysfund.org today to request a place!

6 | Cecily’s

How It Began: 20 Years On, Co-Founder Basil Eastwood Relates the Origin of Cecily’s Fund

FEATURES

In 20 years of giving hope Cecily’s Fund has probably enabled 20,000 children in Zambia to complete their school careers, but it all began with a tragedy. Our beloved Cecily was just 19 when she died in a road accident in Zambia on 2 June 1997. She was volunteering with a Zambian charity helping the communities to look after the many thousands of orphans left by the AIDS pandemic. She was about to return to England to go up to Cambridge.

In announcing her funeral in Oxfordshire later that month we said “Garden or wild flowers only please or donations to AIDS orphans in Zambia”. We were stunned to As many supporters will know, Cecily’s Fund was founded in memory of Cecily Eastwood. In this piece, Basil - Cecily’s father

receive £6500 including some donations from people who did not know her or us but who had simply read the announcement. We sent this money out to the organisation where had been working. This was still being run by its founder, Sister Theresa Stapleton, an Irish missionary, who we hope will be with us for Cecily’s Day

and our co-founder - describes

this year.

how the charity came to be and

We then set about organising the first Cecily’s Day mass picnic on our lawn at

why Cecily’s Day remains so

Stonesfield. This took place then as now on the first Saturday in September when

important.

Cecily’s contemporaries were back from their travels. In 1997 it was a celebration of her life with contributions from her family, friends, teachers and Cecily herself. It was a mixture of tears and a lot of laughter – especially at the excerpts from her diaries and

Your

support

in

our

20th

letters.

anniversary year can make a

From the day we heard of Cecily’s death we wanted to turn our tragedy into

tremendous

something positive and in January 1998 we went out to Zambia to see what had

difference

in

Zambia.

happened to the money we had sent. We learned that Sister Theresa and her

 Just £5 is enough to support

colleagues had used it to enable all the children on their books to go to school for

our vital feeding programme at BISO community school - which helps

make

sure

vulnerable

children receive a nutritious meal each day.  With a donation of £50 we can support a child to attend school for one year - boosting their chances of a brighter future.  A

bright

future

means

remaining healthy - and £75 is enough to train a Peer Educator who can teach young Zambians the skills they need to stay healthy and fulfil their potential.

one year but had no money for the following year. There and then we decided that our mission should be to enable such destitute children to go to school. We wrote to all our friends that we must continue the work which they had helped us start and that “words and statistics cannot do justice to the frightfulness of the situation we found”.

Over the years we have organised many wonderful events, but few have been as wonderful our first. I was British Ambassador in Damascus at the time, and we held a candlelit open-air ball in the magnificent Roman theatre in Bosra in southern Syria.

There was catering by the Damascus Sheraton and a multinational jazz band under the leadership of a colleague in the Embassy. We took over the one tourist hotel, but many from Damascus and Amman trailed slowly home in the early hours, whilst we slept the remains of an unforgettable night on camp-beds under the stars at the top of the theatre.

From the start therefore Cecily’s Fund, like Cecily herself, has given us memories of joy as well as sadness. We therefore much look forward to meeting old friends and new at our Jubilee this September.

Summer Newsletter 2017 | 7

FEATURES

Meanwhile in Zambia: How Our Work Is Changing Lives In February, our partners Afya Mzuri hosted their annual Teachers’ Zonal Conference at Parklands Secondary School.

The conference brought together all the schools that we work with through our programmes, and focused on priorities, sharing information, peer-learning and discussing challenges.

In all, 56 schools attended the conference, represented by 160 teachers and administrators. The findings will be used to help to improve children’s attendance and attainment so that they have the best possible chances.

In January, our trustee Veronica who is also Cecily’s cousin visited Zambia for the first time in ten years.

During her trip, Veronica saw for herself a wide range of our activities. She met contact teachers, savings groups, young businesspeople, and our partner staff.

Veronica met Lewis, a graduate of our Fresh Start programme. With a grant of just £30, he has been able to start a barber shop which is now turning a profit - a great example of how business skills delivered by Cecily’s Fund change lives.

Former Peer Educator David Chishimba (pictured centre) is just one of the Cecily’s Fund alumni who has seen his prospects transformed by our work.

“Being a peer educator […] wasn’t just about volunteering.” he said. “it was a life changing process which made me focused, live a healthy lifestyle and be determined to realise my potential.”

After his time as a Peer Educator, David attended Copperbelt

University

and

now

equipment company based in Kitwe.

owns

an

IT

8 | Cecily’s Fund

Become Our Social Media Champion

GET INVOLVED

Are you a regular social media user? Then you could really help us spread the word about our work.

Like most charities, Cecily’s Fund uses social media to publicise our impact, as well as the things our supporters do to make our work possible. When supporters share our posts, it makes a world of difference to the number of people we can reach.

We are looking for social media champions to help us do just that. For more information, please email andy@cecilysfund.org!

Donation and Gift Aid Form Help Us Educate More Children in Zambia Bank Standing Order Mandate (please also fill in the left-hand side)

Yes, I want to give Cecily’s Fund £ This time

o annually o or monthly o (please tick one)

o I confirm I have paid or will pay an amount of Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax for each tax year (6 April to 5 April) that is at least equal to the amount of tax that all the charities or Community Amateur Sports Clubs (CASCs) that I donate to will reclaim on my gifts for that tax year. I understand that other

This is an instruction to your bank. Please fill in the form, return it to us, and we will process it for you.

Please pay Cecily’s Fund CAF Gold, Sort Code 40-52-40 A/C no. 00089893 The sum of: £

taxes such as VAT and Council Tax do not qualify. I understand that the charity

o quarter o year o until further notice

will reclaim 25p of tax every £1 that I give.

Each month

Title:

Date of first payment

First name or initial(s):

Surname:

Bank name

Full home address:

Bank address

Name of account holder (s) Post code:

Account number

Date:

Sort code

Signature:

Please contact Cecily’s Fund if you need to amend these details or cancel your Gift Aid declaration

Signature Date

Please return the form to Cecily’s Fund, Ground Floor, 6 Church Green, Witney OX28 4AW Cecily’s Fund is a UK Registered Charity number 1071660 and a member of the Fundraising Standards Board Scheme: FSO137