News Index Jan-Mar 2016

 
Thank You Gatehouse School 28-Mar
Many of you may know that Gatehouse School in London chose Mango Tree as their Charity of the Year. During the last term fundraising focussed on providing things that children need like underwear, uniform, footwear etc. We were delighted to receive a further £794 and thank everyone involved in yet another fundraising effort.
Mango House and Chimbel Teachers Train Together 23-Mar
The Mango House and Chimbel projects employ 10 teachers. They play a crucial role in preparing children for mainstream school and supporting them to help them stay there. This week they spent some days together. It was a great opportunity to exchange ideas and learn from each other. Everyone really enjoyed the experience and left inspired to put some new ideas into practice.
Jona, Olly & Johny Donate £1,085 to our Brick by Brick Appeal 22-Mar
We were delighted to receive £1,085 from our Jona, Olly and Johny today in support of our Brick By Brick Appeal. We last saw these generous guys in early January when they took time out of their Rickshaw Challenge, which involves driving from Cochin to Jaisalmer, to distribute footballs and tops to all the Mango House and Chimbel children. They completed their challenge successfully and were able to donate the balance of the funds raised to our Brick By Brick Appeal. We say a huge thank you not only to Jona, Olly and Johny but to all their family and friends who supported their fundraising.
Nick's Place Final Fundraiser of the Season Raises Over £650 09-Mar
Tonight Linda, Bob and Nick held the final fundraiser of this season at their restaurant at Arpora. We had a lot of fun horse racing, playing bingo and family fortunes and partaking in a picture quiz and raffle. From funds raised since the last fundraiser and on the night we received a whopping 52,123 rupees. It was also revealed that whilst the fundraiser had been going on their friends Max and Jane at the Sportsman Bar had supported their fundraiser with a raffle and a further 10,000 was given. The funds raised brought the total for the season to approximately £2,320 – an incredible amount which will make a difference in very many ways.
March Newsletter Published 01-Mar
We have now also published our March 2016 Newsletter..... View the Newsletter here
Glenmark Supports Mango House 27-Feb
Usually Mango House is closed on Saturdays but last week we had some very special visitors. Around 70 staff from Glenmark (a local pharmaceutical company) volunteered a day of their time at Mango House. Amongst many activities they taught pre-primary children all about the importance of hygiene, helped with their nail cutting, served a special lunch and gave out slates and books to all. In the afternoons the older children arrived and were served lunch before a fun programme of outdoor games took place. Before leaving every child was given a school bag, fruit and chocolate. We say a huge thank you to all the Glenmark team for giving up their time and to the Glenmark Foundation for their very generous donations.
Further Donations from the Sales of Mind Rewind 1 & 2 25-Feb
We are delighted to have received yet another generous donation of £1,000 from DAT Records raised by the sales of Mind Rewind 1 & 2. For those who don’t know the CDs contain past music from the Goa scene which was previously only on vinyl with all the musicians. collaborators, designers etc giving their contributions free of charge so that all the profits can benefit disadvantaged children. It’s a wonderful collaborative effort by so many with a selfless aim for which we are very grateful. To date sales of the CDs have raised over £7,400 which has made a real difference to many children's lives.
Mind Rewind Continues to Help Mango Tree 22-Feb
We have been very lucky in the past to receive funds raised by the sales of Mind Rewind CDs which are released by DAT Records. The CDs contain past music from the Goa scene with all the musicians. collaborators, designers etc giving their contributions free of charge so that more of the revenue from sales comes to Mango Tree. We are delighted to learn that a third volume, Mind Rewind 3, has been released and is available to purchase. As ever we say a big thank you to all of those who choose to help with the project. You can read more about Mind Rewind 3 or purchase the CD here.
Simon and Laura's 24 Hour Dartathon 19-Feb
It was lovely to welcome Simon, Laura and their children Sophie and Mollie back to Mango House recently. Simon and Laura run a very busy B&B in Blackpool - The Valdene Hotel. Once the main tourist season was over in December instead of putting their feet up they decided to fundraise by holding a 24 hour Dartathon to raise funds for Mango Tree. We were very grateful to receive 35,000 rupees (£350) which the couple donated to our Brick By Brick Appeal.
Sandwell College Sports Students Support Mango Tree 06-Feb
This year the Sports Dept of Sandwell College gave both the children at Mango House and Chimbel a fun filled afternoon of sports and also squeezed a visit in to see the Chimbel pre-primary school too. Despite the heat and humidity the students threw themselves into both days and the children loved the experience. The students and their lecturers raised a whopping £615 and donated lots of sports equipment too. We were also very grateful to receive two netbooks two which were donated by the College. See what a wonderful time everyone had in our two minute view video here.
Sandwell College Travel & Tourism Students Visit to Chimbel 05-Feb
Once again we were lucky that Sandwell College Travel & Tourism Department decided to visit Goa and this year chose to support the pre-primary school at Chimbel. The students planned a range of activities and as the visit forms part of course work an assessment takes place. It's tough to go into any pre-primary school and tougher still when you haven't met the children and they don't speak English but.as you will see the students threw themselves into the task. The morning drew to a close when the students gave every child a wrapped up present, presented Sister Francis with a tablet from the College and donated £280. The children had a wonderful morning and we say a huge thank you for everything. See our 2 minute video here.
The Mango House Wall of Support 31-Jan
Anyone who has visited Mango House in the last 6 months will have seen the Wall of Support which we are building to recognise all contributions to our Brick By Brick Appeal. As buildings in Goa are built by constructing concrete pillars and then filling the gaps with bricks our Wall of Supported is constructed in a similar way. We add a pillar for every donation /fundraiser of £1,000 or more and a brick for everyone who donates £5 or more. Our Wall, or should we say Walls, are really a sight to see. They are a wonderful reminder of how many people have come together to help us and we have had lots of lovely comments about them. If you would like to help and add some bricks to our wall you can read how to do it here.
Brick by Brick Appeal Update 31-Jan
We are delighted to announce that the funds available to construct the Mango Tree House continue to rise. Incredibly with direct contributions to our Appeal and earmarking of other income at the end of January the £25,000 had grown to £60,500 which is about 71% of the total needed. The kindness and generosity of people and organisations has been amazing. We still have a way to go but thanks to all those who have supported us we know we will get there.
Thomas & Dina's Bouncy Castle 21-Jan
Today we met Thomas and Dina, an incredible couple who had brought their enormous bouncy castle overland from Germany with the sole intention of entertaining children both in India and enroute. We were thrilled that we were able to take all the pre-primary and afternoon children to spend time on the castle. The children absolutely loved this new experience and we say a huge thank you to this brave and determined couple for travelling thousands of miles with the sole aim of spreading joy to thousands of children along their way.
Thank You Opie, Robbie, Megan and Anna 14-Jan
It was lovely to finally meet Opie, her partner Robbie, Mum Anna and sister Megan who had planned a trip to Goa and wanted to fundraise but as Opie and Robbie are sports teachers they wanted to put their talents to good use and to develop games and activities with the children. Opie and Robbie had obviously put a huge amount of time into planning their activities and then all the family enthusiastically carried them out with around 300 children. We say thank you for fundraising and donating, for inspiring our teachers and giving our children a lot of fun.
Amazing Christmas Challenge Success 10-Jan
Many of you will know that a very generous couple offered to match every single donation made in December up to a total of £8,000 with all of the proceeds being earmarked towards our Brick By Brick Appeal. It was a huge opportunity and whilst we hoped that it would inspire supporters to donate we thought it was unlikely we would reach the target. We are absolutely thrilled, however, to announce that we received the staggering sum of £10,043 which has brought our goal of constructing The Mango Tree House much closer. We send our sincere thanks to everyone who helped our Challenge in any way
Olly, Jona and Johny's Rickshaw Run for Sports Equipment 07-Jan
It was wonderful to finally meet Olly, Jona and Johny who recently took part in the Rickshaw Run which involves driving an incredible 2,500 kms from Cochin to Jaisalmer in a rickshaw in around 2 weeks with no back up or support along the way. At home in Australia the guys raised funds which provided new goal posts at a local field, 100 t-shirts, 100 football jerseys, 100 footballs and equipment for the children at Mango House and Chimbel. The children had lots of fun meeting the guys and putting a few "finishing touches" to the Rickshaw too. It was an amazing 24 hours which you can glimpse in our 2 minute video here.
Tom Bowcock to Run the London Marathon 03-Jan
We are very excited to have Tom Bowcock running the London Marathon to raise funds for our Brick by Brick Appeal this April. Tom completed the Manchester Marathon last year in 4 hours and 15 minutes and is hoping to finish the London Marathon in just less than 4 hours. We thank Tom for running for Mango Tree and wish him well for the day. You can see Tom's fundraising page here.