Sell your unwanted stuff on eBay and raise funds for Child of Hope!

[Online PR for slum charity Child of Hope]

Did you know there’s a way you can sell unwanted gifts and possessions on eBay and raise funds for Child of Hope?

It’s called eBay for Charity and it’s easy to do! You can decide what percentage of your final selling price you'd like to give to Child of Hope and what percentage you'd like for yourself. 

Charity listings are the same as any other eBay listing, except for a blue and yellow eBay for Charity ribbon in search results and our mission statement and logo in your listing. Your listing can be seen by everyone who searches through eBay.co.uk and will also get extra visibility through the eBay for Charity pages.

To learn how, click here for either an online guide or video. Or for a quick guide on how to list an item for charity on eBay, please click here.

Slum Christmas party pictures

[Online PR for slum charity Child of Hope]

We had a very colourful and fun party at the slum-based school – along with our 610 kids and a parent/guardian and sibling each, there were local community leaders etc, and the total number of people fed exceeded 1,400!

There were dances, drama, loads of presentations, speeches, gifts to the children, along with clothes and shoes… it lasted for hours.

Huge thanks to everyone who donated to help make the party such a success, we couldn’t have done it without your help. Families in the Namatala slum don’t really get the chance to celebrate Christmas in any way at all, and their faces said it all as they joined in the fun and food.

To see more pictures, click here

What you really, really want…

[Online PR for Groveley Precision Engineering]

We’ve been out and about with customers doing customer perception surveys – because we’re keen to determine what our clients really value so we can provide best service and sustained continuous improvements for them.

Some of the questioning will reveal exactly how we perform in comparison to our direct competitors and market leaders.

Many thanks to everyone who has helped with the process… we’re extremely encouraged with the positive findings, which we will now pull together for some statistics – and we’ll report back soon!

Have a really great Christmas!

[Online PR for Store & Secure self-storage]

With best wishes from Brian, Lucy, Sophie and the team.

Project management pilot scheme

[Online PR for Groveley Precision Engineering]

Groveley has been awarded funding for an innovative Project Management pilot scheme – a Government project supported by Airbus via WEAF. The scheme has commenced and will run until late March 2016.

The Employer Skills Programmes scheme highlights development opportunities and provides accredited PM qualification. Intervention is intended to be bespoke and tailored to each target company’s PM needs/gaps to improve areas such as procurement cycles and regulation.

It’s part of the Aerospace Growth Partnership (The AGP), a strategic partnership between government and industry, established to secure the future of the UK aerospace industry for the next 20 years and beyond. It was set up in 2010 as a vehicle to tackle barriers to growth, boost exports and grow the number of high value jobs in the UK. 

The scheme was originally developed for the northern defence industry by Northwest Aerospace Alliance and is now being rolled out around the UK.

Fantastic response… thank you!

[Online PR for slum charity Child of Hope]

We’ve had an amazing number of donations in our Christmas party appeal, thank you so much everyone who has joined in and made the party possible. We have reached our target and the event will take place on December 18. The generosity and support of our friends is hugely encouraging!

We’ve heard from several supporters that they are still sending in donations (thank you!) and we will use any additional money to buy extra clothing, soap, food and other essentials to ensure that each child has a very special day. No donation will be wasted but will benefit the children and their families hugely.

As soon as possible after the party we’ll post up some pictures from the special day. In the meantime we wish you well in your festive preparations!

Child rescue: our welfare team

[Online PR for slum charity Child of Hope]

In a slum where there is no social service or welfare system, Child of Hope’s welfare team does some amazing, ground-breaking work, and is a vital part of how we help slum children and their families.

The five people on the team share pretty much the same duties. Each morning they check the attendance registers; if a child is absent they then follow up that child with a visit – which may mean walking or getting a local motor cycle called a pike (pronounced 'picky'). This often results in the child being brought to school for medicines and treatment if unwell and then being taken home again.

Sometimes parents move house without informing the school, which also makes follow up difficult. And in the rainy season it is difficult to follow the children up because of the muddy unmade paths.

If a family is struggling, team members decide how to assist them so the circumstances don’t affect the child's health or well-being or cause him to miss school. This may mean providing a new roof, or helping with essentials when a family loses everything, perhaps through a house fire. Read more...

Environmental improvement: oil, swarf and coolant separation

[Photography and online PR for Groveley Precision Engineering]

We have installed a clever piece of kit that removes oil and swarf from machinery coolant – an Abenaki Chiperator chip and coolant separation system – which saves money on CNC coolant (‘milk’) and reduces environmental risk.

It’s part of Groveley’s ongoing drive for continuous environmental improvement under ISO 14001.

The air driven Chiperator vacuums and filters old cutting fluids loaded with chips from machine sumps, tanks and parts washers, while the coolant is cleansed of tramp oils, allowing it to be re-used.

Helping the wonderful Lewis Manning Hospice

[Photography and online PR for Store & Secure self-storage]

We think Lewis Manning does an amazing job with its hospice and seven retail charity shops – so much that we’ve loaned them storage space to hold their donated furniture items.

It helps the charity because its stock level – which varies from crates of stock to a 12-seater dining room set – fluctuates throughout the year and the space we provide is flexible to meet their needs.

It operates seven charity shops in the area from Blandford, Ferndown and Wimborne to Bournemouth and Poole, all of which stock furniture. And it’s been doing this for 21 years!

Lewis-Manning Hospice in Poole, is a charity that provides free specialist palliative nursing day-care for local people living with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses, including Parkinson’s and Motor Neurone disease. Four years ago the hospice made the decision to build a new facility that would allow for the care of patients overnight and, having moved into a new building, it is now phasing the opening of the bedrooms.

The hospice promotes acceptance, hope and peace of mind in a safe and calming environment, helping people live well through their illness and beyond. It aims to ensure that local people are given access to the support they may need to help them cope with their illness and the changes it may bring.

Its seven shops provide a significant income to help people whose lives have changed dramatically because of illness. For details of its furniture collection and house clearance service, call (01202) 760574.

A Dorset cuppa for charity

[Online PR for Groveley Precision Engineering]

We helped WEAF raise £4K for charity at its gala dinner, thanks to kind support from Dorset Tea which supplied us with a year’s-worth of tea (1,100 tea bags) as a raffle prize.

WEAF has split the funds raised between two great charities: Pancreatic Cancer  UK and fly2help.

Thanks for your generosity, Dorset Tea – and we think your tea is great!

Slum kids' Christmas party appeal: day 1

Day 1...

Today is the start of our slum kids' Christmas Party Appeal 2015! Last year was a great success with kids and guests from the community having a fantastic time.

This year we want to do the same, so today we’re launching our advent joke appeal; each day we’ll be posting a corny Christmas cracker style joke or cartoon and we want you to share the post with your friends and loved ones — while at the same time clicking on the donate button! It costs just £4 to provide each Child of Hope child with a present, party food AND a new pair of shoes!

We’ll post up a totaliser to show how we’re doing — we are aiming to fill Santa’s sack with 600 Santa hats (try saying that after having a sherry!), one for each donation of £4. Please help us give the kids a day to remember!

Check it out!

Good King Wenceslas phoned Domino's for a pizza.
The salesgirl asked him...

'Do you want your usual? Deep pan, crisp and even?’