Wow, half way through the year already, time flies, we thought it was time to get in touch and let you know what we have been up too since our last newsletter in January!
Progress...
In our January newsletter we updated you on Gabby's time in Uganda. This was a great opportunity for us and has given us greater confidence in our ability to understand the community and has deepened the relationships we have there. The needs assessment gave us an insight into what the community values and aspires to, what initiatives have worked and not worked in the past and what the potential training and resource needs are in order for individuals and groups to pursue and achieve their ambitions.
We continue to have fantastic and committed volunteers in Uganda and it is thanks to their dedication that after months of meetings and preparation we are now registered as a Community Based Organisation. This gives us the legal status to work in the community so now we can continue full steam ahead!
One thing we have realised over the last few months is that our plan to develop a comprehensive training programme covering a huge range of topics may be a little ambitious. The development of a high quality and impactful training programme is still very much the long term vision but we have decided to take a different approach and develop and deliver one module at a time. We feel that this is a very positive step and will enable the training development to be a more organic process informed by our on-going relationship building and engagement with the community in Bunambutye. This will also enable us to take the time to effectively monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of each module and respond accordingly.
We continue to work with Jenga who have agreed to partner with us to deliver a number of training sessions to community groups in Bunambutye. We are excited about this development as Jenga have a lot of experience in this area and their savings groups in Mbale are thriving! We are also having discussions with Sawa World who offer a wide range of training in local solutions to livelihood challenges. These relationships enable us to share best practice, to understand what works and ultimately means that we are more likely to provide meaningful and impactful support.
Fundraising
For the third year running we had a stall at the Cwmbran Big Event on Saturday 10th June. We are planning some Christmas events so if you are having a clear out this summer and have any children's books or soft toys needing a new home then please get in touch.
We would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to Cherille and Heather for all of their hard work sourcing and pairing the toys and books. Their ongoing commitment and support has helped us to raise vital funds over the last few years.
In other news, our trustee Clare has decided to set herself a running challenge and will use this to raise money for Blossom Africa. She will run 5 half marathons in 5 months and started the challenge in June in Swansea. Her second run was on the 29th July in Stratford-Upon-Avon around a race track. To find out more please visit her MyDonate page - https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/claresage2017
Good luck Clare!!
If you would like any further information about the work of Blossom Africa then please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Thanks for reading and for your ongoing support!
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