International News and Events

Project Gambia

Changing Lives 

Working with a range of partners both in the UK and in The Gambia, Project Gambia has, since 2007, established a range of projects in schools, villages, and farms to provide education, support, and funding to enable people to find a sustainable solution to poverty. Each year Project Gambia organises several trips to The Gambia. This is a vital part of the work we do as it enables students and staff from a number of schools and colleges, along with local community members, to work in partnership with Gambian communities to make a significant difference in a variety of settings to the lives of the Gambian people. This not only changes lives of people in The Gambia but also of those of us who visit The Gambia, so that Project Gambia is consistently achieving its objective of “changing lives...including yours.” We run a range of projects eg putting running water into villages, providing solar lights, building classrooms, distributing clothes and shoes and feeding programmes. Over 30 local schools and community groups support our work through donations of clothes, shoes, school resources, household items, Christmas shoeboxes etc., as well as fundraising for our latest projects and supporting children to attend school through our sponsorship programme. Donations are shipped each year on a 40ft container to The Gambia. Through assemblies and lessons in UK schools we introduce pupils to what life is like for children in The Gambia and support staff to embed global learning into the curriculum. More information on all of our projects can be found on our website www.projectgambia.org.uk or by contacting Bev Hodt: bevhodt@projectgambia.org.uk

International Report

As we begin a new IW year we find ourselves unable to meet at our District Assembly and I have still been unable to take our collection of goods to International Aid but we have a constant dialogue and keep hoping. It has however been a wonderful opportunity for me to see all the beautiful work which is being donated from the clubs.

I have decided this year to keep it simple and just to support the International Aid Trust as my District charity which we all love as they do so much good work. I have attached information about their projects below.

Alongside The Dorcas Tailoring project, teaching ladies to produce their own clothes and helping themselves to be self- supporting, we are also going to support a school in Sierra Leone by collecting exercise books/ note pads and clubs are encouraged to fill pencil cases but also to gather children’s clothing.

We are also supporting Shamim Govani’s charity The Butterfly Tree helping to eradicate

malaria in Zambia by providing funds for mosquito nets.

There are lots of ways to fund raise, even in these times by sponsorship, donations, money

collecting pots, competitions, tea parties in the garden in small numbers, running a raffle so

We will be gathering all our International club information by October of all the

International work this year throughout the District.

We are not sure yet about an International Rally next year so Watch this Space!

Even though we cannot meet as clubs yet, we can gather on zoom or by telephone and still

be proactive so :

“ Don’t Be Slow-Go, Go Go”!!

Pat Pritchard

Your ever optimistic

District International Service Chairman

Pat Pritchard, District International Service Chairman, and her committee have held table top sales called “Pattie’s Pots” selling home produced honey, chutney, preserves, sweets, plants etc. etc. to raise funds for the International charity this year, The Lemon Tree Trust, at every opportunity and the funds are mounting.
The next big occasion for District 6 is our International Rally to be held on 14th May 2020 at the Henley Golf Club, where the speaker will be Jenny Spears from the Lemon Tree Trust and Julie Rowlinson from International Aid. All the clubs will bring all their knitted goods, pasta, rice, stamps, etc. for Julie to load into the back of her van to be taken abroad.
It is always a great social occasion to meet members from other clubs and one we all look
forward to.

Fundraising for The Lemon Tree Trust

We decided this year to have a stall within our Clubs and at District meetings selling pots of :-honey, marmalade, jams, chutneys, sweeties etc to raise money for The Lemon Tree Trust.

We started off at the District  Rally and did very well. We will be holding our next stall at the District Meeting in November. Please come along to support our stall -bring and buy some pots!

Have a stall at your own Club meeting- it's lots of fun(can you think of any other ideas for what to put in the pots)?!

Please also follow the progress of the Lemon Tree Trust and all that they are trying to achieve.

International Projects for District 6

Just to introduce you to our charity as I begin my first year as District 6 International Service Chairman (DISC)

The remit of the International Committee is to foster international understanding and I am a big believer in therapy through gardening and nature. The charity we are supporting this year is The Lemon Tree Trust (www.lemontreetrust.org) which is supporting refuges from war torn Syria by supplying money to buy tools for the refugees to create gardens to grow their own produce and flowers; a place for the ladies to meet and chat and for the children to create a refuge away from war and play happily and to literally ‘Put down roots’. I hope that you will all be enthused by this project as much as I am and will support us accordingly.

To that end my Committee and I will be manning a stall selling jars of jams, chutneys, marmalade and my own home grown honey at each District Meeting and I would also encourage clubs to do the same at their club meetings where possible-any donation for this charity will be appreciated.

We will of course still be supporting International Aid in our usual ways by collecting pasta, rice, stamps, glasses etc and knitted goods and I look forward to seeing as many ladies as possible at our International Rally in May where these goods will be collected and we will also have a talk from a representative from The Lemon Tree.

We look forward to a productive and fruitful year!

Pat Pritchard

District International  Chairman