MARCH 2018

It has been a truly memorable three months in the life of Mango Tree. As you will read, on top of the continuing good work on the ground and ongoing support, our Christmas Challenge was an amazing success, our eagerly awaited promotional video arrived and we received a literally life changing legacy. Back in November we could not have imagined what the next three months would bring. What they did bring reminds us always to have hope as we never know what might be waiting round the corner.

CELEBRATING ROGER FREDERICK DAVEY WHOSE LEGACY WILL CHANGE LIVES

Back in November we received an email from Emma who explained that she had a legacy from her father who, having had many happy times travelling in India but had observed first hand the poverty, wished it to be used to build a school or part of a school. The sum of money involved was around £30,000 and we were simply asked what we would do with that sum. Not daring to hope we answered the question asked and after further correspondence we received the astonishing news that we would receive a share of the legacy. Amazingly, towards the end of February we received the truly staggering sum of £36.900 to be used to build the downstairs classrooms at the planned Mango Tree House. Roger Frederick Davey was a man who chose to make a difference. His legacy will change countless lives for the better. We say a huge thank you for it and thank Emma (pictured here with her Dad) for finding Mango Tree and trusting us to make her Dad's dream a reality.

OUR INCREDIBLE PROMOTIONAL VIDEO

Many of you will know that we have been eagerly awaiting sight of the promotional video which our supporter Julie Dawson Wills produced and funded through her media company Mixed Up Media. On seeing the first version there was nothing we wanted to change - it was perfect. We could never have afforded a professional video but even if we could we would never have got such an amazing result. Julie so obviously made her video with love and care to get across what Mango Tree is all about. Please take 4 minutes to watch our video by clicking here. We have the video in lots of formats so if it would be of use to you for a presentation, fundraiser etc please let us know.

CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE SUCCESS

As many of you are aware our Christmas Challenge ended on 31st December. Our challenge was to raise £5,000 in the month which would then be matched pound for pound by a generous couple in the UK. The Christmas Challenge fundraiser is a vital part of our income and its fair to say that we approached the start with some trepidation, particularly as it was a real struggle to meet the target last year. We are elated to announce that we flew past the £5,000 mark and received a staggering £8,476. Your support was amazing and to each and every one who supported the Challenge in any way we say a sincere thank you.

THE MANGO HOUSE CHRISTMAS PARTY

The Christmas party is a highlight of the Mango House calendar and we were delighted to hear that a local school made their Hall available for the event. This year in addition to traditional games a cultural programme was arranged to show case children's talents. Having practised for several weeks children performed folk, traditional, Bollywood and Salsa dances and took part in a fashion show featuring traditional dress of various regions of India. Later there was a dance session, tasty lunch and games before the highlight of the day when Father Christmas arrived to give out presents.

32 CHILDREN FROM CHIMBEL TO JOIN 1ST STANDARD THIS JUNE

We were very pleased to see this photo from our Chimbel project recently. The photo shows all the children who will leave Pre-primary this March and join primary school from June. The numbers are particularly high this year as changes to the age of admission cut off point means that in addition to all of Upper Kindergarten half of the children in Lower Kindergarten will be promoted too. We look forward to hearing more about the children in the new school year.

AN OUTING TO OLD GOA

If children are asked what their favourite thing about Mango House is there are some standard responses - birthday parties, playing with their friends and, above all, outings. With that in mind younger children had a fabulous start on the first day of the new term in January with an outing to Old Goa and the older children had an outing to the Movies later in the week to see "Tiger Zinda Hai". We say thank you to Afghanistan based Jason for making the trips possible.

THE MANGO HOUSE NATIVITY SCENE

Everyone who has visited Mango House at Christmas time will know that it is a tradition to build a nativity scene on the veranda. The scene is made by our older boys with assistance from John, the Mango House social worker. As is traditional in Goa the whole landscape is built up in good time to allow the grass go grow and cover the "fields" and "mountains". This year's creation was an extra special Nativity scene covering two tables and with a running waterfall in the mountains!

A FABULOUS SPORTS DAY WITH OSSUR INDIA

We were very pleased to learn that a team from Ossur India, a global company providing prosthetic limbs, would visit in January and conduct a Sports Afternoon at a local track. The event was a huge amount of fun and included races like relay and sprint, not just for children but for Ossur and Mango House staff too. Back at Mango House children enjoyed snacks and prize giving too. We say a huge thank you to Ossur for their time and generous donations.

THE COLVA PROJECT

Located well away from our other projects our Colva project is a relatively simple in terms of the services it provides. It provides 20 children, who are all the the children of beach sellers, with afternoon tuition classes and school bags. Despite its simplicity it makes all the difference to the children it helps. Support through afternoon tuition classes means children have a place to do their studies and help with subjects they are finding difficult. As a result children will do better in school and are more likely to stay in school longer. We were very pleased to see this recent photo which alongside some relatively new admissions shows lots of children who have been there throughout the five years the Charity has funded the project.

 

OUR THANKS TO SUMMER AND THE ORANGE DAY NURSERY

It was lovely to welcome Summer, Davidson and Violet to Mango House again recently. Summer brought along drawings from Violet's nursery which were exchanged with drawings from Mango House. Once again Summer had been fundraising through her Just Giving page and raised a wonderful £590 whilst Violet's nursery, The Orange Day Nursery, raised £44 from a cake bake too. We say a huge thank you to everyone for their support.

THUMBS UP FOR CHRIS

We say a huge thank you to Chris Murphy who chose to fundraise for Mango Tree whilst completing the Athens Marathon in November. Despite the course being mainly uphill Chris completed it in a good time of 3 hours and 23 minutes. As you can see he looked amazingly relaxed afterwards! We say thank you to Chris and everyone who supported his fundraising which raised £150.

NICK'S PLACE FUNDRAISING

The customers at Nick's Place Arpora continue their wonderful support for the fundraising evenings. Since our last newsletter three additional events have taken place raising an amazing £2,968. We've had fun guessing the number of bottletops, playing bingo, taking part in raffles and lots of special fun quizzes including the special Elvis We Love you Quiz in honour of the anniversary of the King's death. We thank all of those who supported the evenings in any way and as always special thanks to Linda, Bob and Nick for choosing to support Mango Tree.

THAMESIDE ORION CUBS & SCOUT PACK CAROL SING FOR MANGO TREE

We were delighted to receive a donation of £200 from the Thameside Orion cubs and scout pack in December. The funds were raised through carol singing which benefited not only Mango Tree but other charities too. We say a huge well done and thank you to the pack and all those who supported them.

SPORTSMAN BAR RISES TO THE CHALLENGE

When Max and Jane at the Sportsman Bar in Calangute were asked if they could help with a fundraiser for the Christmas Challenge they sprung into action with not one but four fundraisers in the Challenge period. Funds were raised through horse racing, auctions, guessing Neil's sweets in the jar, raffles, Kiran's shop and special home made mince pies. The nights were a staggering success raising £3,284 with a further £1,000 being pledged and later received. We thank everyone who supported the fundraising in any way and especially thank Max and Jane for choosing to help.

MERCI ENCORE GILL AND RICHARD

It was lovely to welcome Gill and Richard to Mango House early in the New Year. Always good friends to Mango Tree Gill and Richard arranged a number of fundraising events at home in France throughout the summer. As well as arranging car boot sales they held a plant fair which was well attended despite terrible weather. We were delighted to learn that the events raised an amazing 700 Euros and we say "merci" to Gill, Richard and all the lovely friends who supported them.

CONGRATULATIONS MIKE & SHIRLEY

It was wonderful to welcome our friends Shirley and Mike back to Mango House and to help celebrate both Mike's birthday and the couple's 35th Wedding Anniversary. It was almost 6 months to the day since we had celebrated Shirley's birthday at the start of their 6 month travels and we were delighted to celebrate with them again shortly before they headed back home.

EMMA PATRICK HAS A CLOSE SHAVE

We were saddened to hear that our friend Emma had been diagnosed with a brain tumour and requires an operation. The op meant that she had to shave the hair on the front of her head. A fierce charity promoter and always one to change a negative into a positive Emma decided to shave her whole head to raise funds for both her own charity Communities and Cultures Together and Mango Tree. We send our gratitude and respect to Emma for turning a tough personal challenge into support for others and send our best wishes for a speedy recovery.

OUR WEDDING CONGRATULATIONS FOR KARISHMA AND ALEX

We sent our warm wedding day wishes to Karishma and Alex on their wedding day in February. In place of providing wedding favours for each of their guests this kindhearted couple bought bricks in support of our Brick By Brick Appeal. We said a huge thank you for including Mango Tree in their wedding celebration.

SUPPORTING MANGO TREE

There are lots of ways to help Mango Tree to transform the lives of disadvantaged children. You could

  • Donate
  • Sponsor a Child
  • Organise a Fundraiser
  • Shop Online using the Give As You Live Scheme
  • Take Much Needed Items to Mango House
  • Spread the Word

You can make a one-off or regular donation by visiting our BT MyDonate page here. Please do not be put off by thinking you can only afford a small contribution. Every little helps, so be assured that if you can make a gift of any amount that gift will make a difference.

CONTACT US

Mango Tree Goa

12 Black Horse Drive

Silkstone Common

BARNSLEY

South Yorkshire

S75 4SD

Email : info@mangotreegoa.org

Facebook :

http://www.facebook.com/

mangotreegoacharity

Copyright 2017 Mango Tree Goa : Charity Registered in England and Wales : Charity Number 1148049