Owen Smith MP drops in

[Online PR for slum charity Child of Hope]

This week our Ugandan school was privileged to host Owen Smith MP, the British Labour Party MP for Pontypridd. He had a tour of the slum, visited a few homes of Child of Hope children and saw a couple of businesses started under our IGA scheme. Finally, they had a tour of the school and our kids performed some dances for them.

Owen was accompanied by three other guests, including Roger Neuberg, who funded our playground equipment through his rotary groups, and two members of Welsh twinning organisation PONT. It was great to see you all, thanks for coming!

Chan’s mum (we helped save her leg)

[Online PR for slum charity Child of Hope]

Chan is a young boy in the top class of our nursery school. Some years ago, his mum Joyce broke her leg and, although the leg seemed to have healed, Joyce continued to have pain and regular ulcers on it. Recently, the pain and ulcers became very severe. The local hospital believed that there was a serious infection and even gangrene in the bone and said that the leg would have to be amputated.

We were extremely keen to try and see if we could save her leg as it would make things extremely tough for Joyce to survive in the slum with only one leg, especially as the dad is not on the scene. So, we arranged to take her to an Orthopaedic Hospital in Kumi (about an hour’s drive away).

After quite a complicated operation, costing around £750 and paid for by Child of Hope, Joyce’s leg has been saved and she is due to come home from the hospital at the end of this week. Chan is eagerly looking forward to seeing his mother again!

Moving? You’re going to need some boxes

[Online PR for Store & Secure self-storage]

Here at Store & Secure Self Storage in both Bournemouth and Basingstoke, our Box Shop is full of packing supplies to help home-movers like yourself. From boxes and packing tape to bubble wrap and furniture covers, we’ve got you covered.

If you’ve received a flyer through your letterbox with a special offer of £10 off when you spend £25 in our Box Shop, all you need to do is present the flyer when you call into our store.

We’d also be happy to help with any storage needs you have, such as decluttering your home to help move it off the market. Contact our friendly team today to find out more!

Dancing Cows expands with crowdfunded business loan from Go2

[Online PR for crowdfunder Go2 Business Loans]

Hampshire craft distillery and brewery Dancing Cows is increasing output of its spirits and beers, thanks to a £21,000 crowd-funded business loan from Go2 Business Loans.

The Lymington-based company – which produces a range of gins, malt liquors, rums and fruit brandies, as well as cask ales and bottled beers – has just won the Hampshire Life Best Drinks Product of the Year for 2016 for its Lymington Gin.

The funding was obtained through local Go2 Business Loans within just two weeks and will also enable Dancing Cows to expand and raise its brand image with improved packaging.

Director and founder Richard Baker said: “The loan process was easy and very fast – now we can get on with what we need to do without worrying about cashflow.

“We’ve been able to appoint a sales agent which is increasing our volume of sales through a growing list of wholesalers and sales outlets.

“We already supplies pubs, clubs, restaurants and hotels directly throughout the local area and we’re growing rapidly as consumers increasingly look for local products with interesting stories behind them.”

Go2 director Rob Bennet said: “It’s a very simple and fast process to apply for a loan. Go2 is a peer-to-peer lending network, so Dancing Cows’ loan was provided by various local small investors – local money supporting local business.

“It’s purely a business loan; investors are at minimal risk as they do not take shares or get involved in any other way.”

Bring a smile to sick youngsters with this terrific Toy Appeal

[Online PR for Store & Secure self-storage]

Our Bournemouth storage facility is helping a great Christmas toy appeal this year by becoming a drop-off point for donated new toys – which will give a special surprise to sick children forced to stay in hospital over Christmas.

This year the Daily Echo’s Toy Appeal – now in its 20th year – has teamed up with our friends at Amelia’s Rainbow Fund to provide gifts to ill youngsters.

The charity was set up following the death of eight-year-old Amelia-Grace Cooper in 2010, who died after battling an aggressive form of childhood cancer called neuroblastoma.

Every year, Amelia-Grace’s parents Chantel and Karl take gifts to the children’s ward at Poole and Dorchester hospitals on Christmas Day and Boxing Day – and to the families of children the charity has supported over the last two years who remain at home over the festive period.

The Toy Appeal is asking for gifts of new toys for all ages, but particularly for babies from newborn and teenagers. Sensory gifts are alway useful.

So, please drop off your new toys with us, or at any of these locations, until Friday, December 16:

- 4Com - Aviation Park West, Christchurch
- Top Cat Media - The Creative Quarter, Scotter Road, Bournemouth
- MK Estates & Lettings - Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth
- The Funky Peach - Ashley Road, Poole

This appeal will put a smile on so many kids’ faces this Christmas… please help if you can!

Child of Hope: team wedding

[Online PR for slum  charity Child of Hope]

Here are some photos from a wedding that took place over the weekend… our welfare deputy manager Pius married his beloved Ruth. The wedding ceremony took place at the nearby City Victory Church, with the reception at Child of Hope school.

Pius wanted to celebrate his wedding with the community, so he gave out an open invitation… and there were over 800 people at the reception. It was beautiful!

New statistics: rise from worst poverty for slum mums we start in business

[Online PR for slum charity Child of Hope]

We now have 162 of our parents benefiting from our highly successful Income Generating Activity (IGA) programme. New statistics from a survey of our IGA parents and their families reveal how our children are gradually moving away from abject poverty, thanks to the businesses of their parents.

• 95% now live somewhere better than a hut. (2015: 89%)

• 100% eat at least two meals a day. (2015: 100%)

• 52% have at least two pairs of shoes. (2015: 48%)

• 75% sleep on a mattress rather than on the ground. (2015: 46%)

• 100% have access to clean water and a working pit latrine. (2015: 100%)

• 69% of the parents are now able to afford to pay school fees for another child to go to a state school. (2015: 61%)

You can see two videos filmed in the Namatala slum of some of the mums who have benefited from the scheme, and how that has influenced the lives of their children.

To read more about our IGA scheme, please click here.

If you'd like to help a young mum start her own small business with a £25 start-up grant, please click here.

And to part-sponsor one of our IGA staff for £10 per month, please click here

More production space

[Photography and online PR for Groveley Precision Engineering]

We’re increasing the size of our production area by moving our production offices into a new, bigger office suite – freeing up an extra 108 sq metres.

The space rationalisation is partly to enable us to increased precision engineering work following Groveley’s success at Farnborough Airshow this year, with new customers in defence and motorsport.

We have attracted other new customer interest, so the changes will allow us to grow into the increased space as that work arrives.

Vaughan Gething visit

Great to host a VIP visit from the Welsh Assembly this week and to meet Vaughan Gething, cabinet secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport.

Vaughan came with Jon Townley, who’s the head of International Sustainable Development at the Welsh Assembly. Out in the slum they visited one of our IGA ladies who runs two businesses (a hair salon and a shop), the (very poor) home of a new baby class child, and then our children’s home to hear about our new respite/rehab programme and fostering programme.

After that they came to the school and saw the roof, which had been partly paid for with a donation from the Welsh Assembly… a nursery class and heard a nursery song from all the nursery kids… the health department and the IGA office (including crafts made by IGA mums)… and on to the vocational class to see their carpentry, sewing and jewellery items. They also visited a couple of primary lessons and then our assembly hall for songs and dances by the primary children.