Wider effect of mum's slum business

[Social media for charity Child of Hope]

Even more Namatala kids are now getting an education – and it’s all down to our business start-up programme!

Everything that Child of Hope does is focused on helping children. And we know that children thrive best when they live in a good home environment. That’s why we help our parents to start businesses because we know that bringing up children well requires money.

There are so many needy and deserving children in Namatala but a place cannot be found for all of them at our school – we are only able to take one (occasionally two) children from each of the very poorest families. While boosting the income of our parents obviously benefits all of their children, it is always sad when siblings of our children cannot go to school.

However, our Income Generating Activity (IGA) programme is even helping to tackle this situation. As the income of our parents increases, they are then able to send one or two additional children to other local schools. While the standard of education and support may not be so high, at least these children are at school and benefiting from some education.

Latest figures show that 77 of our IGA parents are now able to send at least one other child to school. This means that – on top of all the 360 children at our school – a further 216 children are attending local schools through the help of Child of Hope!

Please help us by donating a £25 business grant or by helping to sponsor one of our IGA workers!

• Pictures by Alexander Rhind

Furniture for retail interiors

[Social media for high-end joinery Kirolite]

Point of sale displays, counters, storage units, reception areas, display units, shop fittings and more – natural wood and sold surface fabrication provides premium – quality products for retail interiors.

We use only top-quality natural and man-made products, surfaces and veneers that are practical and hard-wearing even for high-volume retail trade. But they are also flexible enough to be made into any shape or design and come in an endless range of colours to match store and company brand values.

As we have our own fabrication facility, we efficiently and effectively handle the whole process, from conception, through design to installation – providing a service as seamless as the ones on our high-tech, solid surfaces.

It's a toilet thing...

[Social media for slum charity Child of Hope]

We thought you’d like to see pictures of how the new toilets are coming on!

They are much bigger than old toilet block and the builders are working hard despite the rain… and the usual sort of problems that occur in Africa – like an underground council water pipe where it shouldn’t have been.

The pipe forced us to change our design and build two small blocks rather than one long block. Our builders have been brilliant and very flexible, coming up with lots of possible ideas for us. It’ll all be great when it’s finished!

Then, once it’s finished, we will break down the old pit latrine to recover the bricks (because they’re only stuck together with mud) and roofing sheets. We'll use them to make a small building that will house our new generator. It will be secure to prevent theft and will also deaden the noise. More pictures...

Top table

[Social media and photography for high-end joinery Kirolite]

We produced this gorgeous table top – among other items of furniture – for the interior refurbishment of a 55m superyacht in the south of France.

Featuring a granite inlay in the centre, book-matched veneer and solid wenge edges with inlaid stainless steel edge, the top will be mounted on a pedestal of stainless steel and leather.

Combining materials has a great effect to overall design, bringing a unique style to the yacht’s interior. Granite and Wenge was used throughout the boat to bring all pieces of furniture together.

Net profit – from self-storage with free goods-in

[Social media and photography for Store & Secure self-storage]

When Liam Palmer started his internet business L-Labels two months old, he had planned to store stock in his garage, but realised he couldn’t be there for deliveries and sending goods, as he works full time.

Then he discovered that Store & Secure self-storage provides a free service for goods-in and out, enabling Liam to call in after work to check everything in. Now he runs his limited company from his home office, selling sports shoes and clothing on eBay, and stores his stock with us.

He said: “It has saved me a lot of time and effort – in fact, without Store & Secure’s service, I couldn’t run my business and work full-time.

“The cost of renting a room is cheaper than hiring premises with all the add-on costs of business rates, utilities, parking and security – which has enabled me to sell goods at very competitive prices.”

Liam’s future plans are to get fully established on eBay, then spread to Amazon and eventually sell online from an eBusiness website. And he knows he can expand or contract his storage area at Store & Secure to mirror his stock requirements easily and with no fuss.

“I’m an avid internet buyer myself, I rarely go to shops. I play a lot of sports and mostly wear sports clothing and have good knowledge of the products I’m selling.”

His first product lines were a selection of clothes and shoes that he researched as popular lines on eBay and found suppliers for them. He said: “I was fortunate and managed to find items that all sold well, right from the start. I am gradually extending the range, testing each product to see if they sell well and that I have got the prices right. It’s going very well!”

So, if you’ve been thinking of launching an online business, talk to us today… and let’s do it!

LIAM’S TOP TIPS FOR NEW EBAY SELLERS: 

• Use very clear photography – he hires a professional photographer to do his,

• Fine-tune each product description, researching how other successful sellers are describing each item,

• Check in completed listings to make sure that an item is already selling successfully and at what price,

• Do everything that eBay recommends to help you appear high in its listings.

Corporate funding opportunities with Child of Hope

[Social media for slum charity Child of Hope]

Companies and organisations wanting to invest in CSR, strategic philanthropy, or social investment, can have a charity involvement with enormous social impact through Child of Hope. We’re a young and expanding charity with a big vision to build and manage high-quality schools and vocational facilities in slums, providing free education to the most vulnerable children in Uganda.

Really, our social impact is huge… reaching past the child to his/her whole family and wider into the community. Please see our social impact page for more detail. By providing a quality education, welfare service, healthcare, clothing and food – all free – these children can avoid the most likely outcomes of slum-dwelling – which are abject poverty, scavenging on rubbish tips, ill-health, corruption, crime and prostitution. Read more…

50% turnover boost and other news

eNewsletter for Store & Secure self-storage, Bournemouth

Butties and advice to start the day

[Social media & photography for Store & Secure self storage]

Family business owners from around Dorset met at our premises early this morning for bacon butties and to hear about some of our experiences – both in the family removals business and Store & Secure self storage. It was a meeting of the popular Family Business Club, run by Frettens, Princecroft Willis and Natwest.

Family businesses, of course, form a big chunk of businesses based in Dorset, and it’s terrific to see such great support and advice for them, both from professional legal, banking and accountancy people, and also from other people facing the same family business issues as them.

The club creates a confidential forum, to hear from other successful family business leaders and to discuss issues and challenges specific to the family business. The hosts are passionate about family businesses and act as a sounding board for attendees, providing support and guidance for every step of the development of a family business.

If you run a family business you would be most welcome to attend future events… call or e-mail Laura Balmer, events@frettens.co.uk, tel: 01202 499255.

Be a micro-volunteer for Child of Hope... tomorrow!

[Social media for slum charity Child of Hope]

Could you please help Child of Hope tomorrow, April 15, on Micro-volunteering Day?

Micro-volunteering can be described as easy, small-scale, actions that take a few minutes to complete. We’ve lined up a very quick and easy thing you could do, that will help us reach out to lots of new people. And that will benefit the slum kids of Namatala!

So if you’d like to help us tomorrow, please would you simply visit some of our social media pages – whichever social media you use yourself – and like/share/retweet a couple of our recent posts? That’s it!

Here are some tips: with facebook, you can like our page, like our posts and, even better, share the posts (all three is best of all!).

On twitter, you can follow Child of Hope and retweet our tweets.

And if you use LinkedIn, you can follow our page, like and share our posts (again, all three would be brilliant!).

Here’s a list of our social media pages: facebook, twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, tumblr and Pinterest.

Still growing

[Social media for Store & Secure self-storage]

Store & Secure self storage continues to grow, with a marked 50% increase in turnover over the last 12 months.

Since virtually doubling our size with another 27,000 sq ft of storage space for businesses early last year, that second phase of our business is now almost fully booked with business customers. Many are benefiting from our new, larger rooms and the fact that there are no extra business costs such as electricity and rates.

Much of the expansion is due to being able to offer businesses what other self-storage companies cannot provide. The package we have developed for businesses allows them to operate with minimum of fuss, expanding and contracting with their space requirements to fit their stock requirements. And they love our free services such as goods-in and out which frees up a lot of time for them.

We are particularly helping start-ups and expanding small online businesses, selling on the likes of Amazon and eBay. We have expanded, because they have.

Another plus that has helped expansion is undoubtedly the recognition and publicity that came from winning the EU self-storage facility of the year award in 2014… even as a small company ourselves.

Thank you child sponsors!

[Social media for slum charity Child of Hope]

The faces say it all… a huge ‘thank you’ to all our children’s sponsors – many who have faithfully sponsored their child for several years – and great to welcome the recent new sponsors!

Out of the 360 children at the school, 249 are now sponsored… and there will be a new intake very soon of around 30-40 nursery children. So, there are plenty more still to be sponsored if you’d like to help.

It costs just £15 (or €20) per month to give a slum child a new future through education. If you’re interested, you can find more information and sign up here!

Family business experience

[Social media for Store & Secure self-storage]

On April 15, we’ll be sharing our business experiences at the Family Business Club, run by Frettens, Princecroft Willis and Natwest.

We’ll be touching on how, after 35 years in the removals industry, Brian Maidman sold his business to develop the Store & Secure brand of self-storage which is run with daughters Lucy and Sophie. All the ins and outs of setting up a new family business, developing a multi-site operation and our plans for growth and succession.

The event includes a breakfast, starts at 07.45am for 08.00am start (finishing around 10:00am) – and is free. If you run a family business and would be interested in attending, you’d be most welcome… call or e-mail Laura Balmer, events@frettens.co.uk, tel: 01202 499255.

Venue: Store and Secure Self Storage, 5 Yeomans Way, Castlepoint, Bournemouth BH8 0BL

The club creates a confidential forum for family businesses, to hear from other successful family business leaders and to discuss issues and challenges specific to the family business. The hosts are passionate about family businesses and act as a sounding board for attendees, providing support and guidance for every step of the development of a family business.