New video - a day in Child of Hope's nursery class

NAMATALA SLUM, UGANDA: A new short video of a day in the life of our nursery children - these are the youngest in our slum school in Uganda. It shows a little girl called Favour from the time she walks to school with a couple of friends until going home.

Around 40 children from the Namatala slum join our school each year and the cost for running our school (where everything is free for the kids) is helped enormously when supporters sponsor a child like Favour – who isn’t sponsored yet, by the way!

Could you help us by sponsoring a child through school? It costs just £15 per month. You can write to them if you like and you will receive school reports and letters from the child each year. The main thing is, it will help us give them a serious lift-up from the worst excesses of slum poverty.

#childwelfare #socialimpact #nursery #forthekids #supporters #give #child #school #join #slum #uganda

Please visit our website for more information: https://www.childofhopeuganda.org

Child of Hope's slum kids' full Christmas Carol!

It’s here today… the entire Child of Hope kids’ Christmas carol with plenty of great dancing! Not quite like any other Christmas Carol you may have sung… it’s certainly got an African flavour and stars a bunch of kids that have never seen snow!

Child of Hope's Christmas video: episode 6

The 6th episode of Child of Hope’s 2019 Christmas video - our slum school kids having a lot of fun starring in their very own Christmas carol.

Watch out for the final episode appearing on Christmas Eve, when you can see the whole Christmas carol in one go, with loads of ham acting and great dancing!

Child of Hope's Christmas video: episode 5

NAMATALA SLUM, EASTERN UGANDA: Here’s the 5th instalment of Child of Hope’s kids' 2019 Christmas video. Not sure if Jesus ever got dropped from the football team, though...

(You can catch up at any time with all the videos on our website here)

Child of Hope's Christmas video: episode 4

Namatala slum, eastern Uganda: Today’s the day of our slum kids’ Christmas party!

And here’s the 4th instalment of Child of Hope’s 2019 Christmas video; we knew some animals would be creeping it at some point...

Today it's our whopping Christmas party for all 600+ pupils and members of their families - it’s a huge affair and they are having a whale of a time! We haven’t yet raised enough money to cover the costs of the party, so if you’d like to help us with a donation (it costs around £5 per child), please click below to donate on our JustGiving page. Thanks!

JED Art's Italian range; new ceramic additions soon

Jan Dowding's first Italian range pots went down so well that she is now making a new batch. They take two days to make, starting with cutting the shapes, leaving overnight to leather harden; then joining together the body; attaching a neck and carving ’til it is nice and smooth. Each one unique.

https://jedart.co.uk/2019/12/10/new-additions-to-my-italian-range-coming-soon/

This is how the first batch looked before selling pretty fast…

Child of Hope's fun Christmas video: Episode 3

Ugandan slum kids continue to star in their Christmas Carol video... here’s the third instalment of Child of Hope’s 2019 Christmas video

You can catch up at any time with all the videos on our website here: https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/home/what-we-do/videos/christmas-videos

Child of Hope is arranging a special Christmas party for all the 600+ kids pupils and members of their families - it’ll be a huge affair and they'll love it! If you’d like to help with a donation to the party (it costs around £5 per child), please donate on CoH's JustGiving page. Thanks!

Squashed home at Christmas?

Self storage is so-ho-ho useful during the festive season when your home can get a bit cramped! No worries… you can hire a locker or small storage room for as short a time as you like, from just £5 a week at Store & Secure in Bournemouth or Basingstoke!

https://www.storeandsecure.co.uk/self-storage-news/self-storage-festive-season/

Christmas video episode 2

Here’s the second instalment of Child of Hope’s 2019 Christmas video! Hope you’re enjoying it.

There will be seven short videos between now and Christmas Eve, each with a verse of our children’s very own Christmas Carol. Enjoy!

Christmas storage for students: quick and easy

Student can easily store their stuff over the Christmas period, because self-storage is a very simple solution with Store & Secure in either Bouremouth or Basingstoke.

https://www.storeandsecure.co.uk/self-storage-news/students-quick-easy-storage-christmas/

Christmas videos and slum kids' party

CHILD OF HOPE, UGANDA: It's December and time for the slightly daft Child of Hope Christmas videos! There will be seven short videos between now and Christmas Eve, each with a verse of our children’s very own Christmas Carol. Enjoy!

And now the children are preparing their party dances, because the COH slum kids Christmas party is nearly upon us!

All it takes for a great COH Christmas party is the equivalent cost of a dozen mince pies and a couple of glasses of mulled wine, around £5 per child! So, this Christmas time, as you enjoy some festive fare, please could you also donate to our Christmas Party and bless not just our children but their families too?

Donate here:
https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/slum-kids-party-2019?utm_term=wRnvAyNzN

Budding slum entrepreneurs

CHILD OF HOPE, UGANDA: Following their primary leaving exams, Joseph and Sunday had a great idea for earning pocket money towards a better Christmas. Instead of staying at home or wandering the slum, like many of their peers, they pooled their resources and bought a tray of twenty-four eggs.

After boiling their eggs, they took them around in a transparent bucket to sell, first to school staff, then to other customers they found around Namatala. Their investment of 9,500 Ugandan shillings for the eggs brought them an income of 12,000 shillings by the end of the day. They are learning the culture of Child of Hope, where effort and investment bring rewarding returns!

At Child of Hope, it's exams again

End-of-year exams have started at our slum primary school in Uganda. The children know this is their most important annual exam, determining whether or not they progress to the next year’s curriculum after Christmas. It is set externally, ensuring the teachers work hard to help the children reach the required national standards.

Students - easy storage this Christmas

Store & Secure self-storage says that University and college students can benefit from fast and flexible short-term self-storage at its Bournemouth and Basingstoke facilities – without a deposit and with no need to give notice before completing. Easy in, easy out.

Self-storage can be a great help over the winter break, or if you’re changing accommodation. It enables you to keep things safe and have easy, fast access to it. It’s ideal for just a few nights or even the whole holiday period.

https://www.storeandsecure.co.uk/self-storage-news/easy-storage-students-christmas/

JED Art: expanding Italian range

Some new pots I have made in my Italian range. Because of the way these glazes work, I never know how they are going to look till I open my kiln; how exciting!

Slum secondary school construction: update 3

Child of Hope Uganda: construction is progressing on the charity's secondary school in this 2-minute video, due for completion in time for the new school year in Jan/Feb.

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/secondary-school-construction-update-3

Extra Christmas storage space for retailers

Bournemouth and Basingstoke retailers, if you need extra space for storing your Christmas stock, come and take advantage of the great business benefits of flexible business storage at Store & Secure!

https://www.storeandsecure.co.uk/self-storage-news/retailers-extra-storage-space-christmas/

Exam prep... in an African slum

In Uganda, Child of Hope's Primary 7 pupils are preparing to sit the leaving exam in two weeks time, which will determine their future educational pathways. For the first time, they will sit the exam at Child of Hope school, following its approval as an exam centre by the Inspector of Schools.

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/preparation-leaving-exam

Flourishing as a tailor

CHILD OF HOPE, UGANDA: After successfully completing business training, Sarah was enrolled in our Income Generating Activity (IGA) programme, receiving a grant that enabled her to buy new material. She already owned a sewing machine and had been mending and patching clothes in her slum community for small amounts of income. The grant and her IGA training enabled her to move her business to another level.

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/flourishing-tailor

Child of Hope's young slum farmers

Child of Hope, Mbale, Uganda: These five good friends love working together as a group called Young Farmers in their free time. During weekends and holidays, they spend time helping on the school farm with our cows, goats, rabbits, turkeys, chickens, guinea fowl, pigeons and ducks.

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/young-farmers

Zebra: New pencil drawing

JED ART, DORSET, OCT 8, 2019:  Dorset artist Jan Dowding said: "My pencil drawing of a Zebra; such a pretty animal, and lovely to draw."

https://jedart.co.uk/2019/10/08/zebra-2/

Suzan is grateful

Following Child of Hope's slum primary school, Suzan enrolled in the local school of vocational studies last year for a diploma in Fashion & Design and passionately loves everything about it. She is now doing well in her final semester and will graduate at the start of 2020.

She is very happy to have reached this far with the support she has received from Child of Hope. In this short video Suzan tells of her appreciation to all the stakeholders and supporters who have helped her get this far.

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/thanks-suzan

Extra support

Child of Hope School, Namatala slum, Uganda: Additional individual support was given to Hope, a child in the nursery class, by her class teacher. The teacher has given her additional time outside of class to help her get to grips with phonics, so she is now able to write down sounds that previously baffled her... more...

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/individual-support

Lessons under a tree

Learning at Child of Hope's slum school in Uganda is not limited to the classroom! Sometimes pupils and teachers alike enjoy lessons outdoors, which gives a flavour of traditional African learning where classes took place under trees.

These Primary Three children had a great time learning outdoors about Primary Health Care and Personal Hygiene. Usually the lesson begins with games and other exercises which engage the children well. They are then ready to listen to their teacher talking – enjoying a welcome break from books and pens.

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/lessons-under-tree

Little Italy

I have been hand-building new shaped vases inspired by some Italian pottery we have seen there; I really enjoyed working out how to make the shapes. Will definitely be making some more. The pictures show the two sides of the same pot.

https://jedart.co.uk/2019/09/26/inspired-by-italian-ceramics/

Disability is not inability

Disability is not inability for Patrick, one of the children in the vocational class at Child of Hope's slum primary school.

The young people are taught a range of skills including bakery, tailoring, carpentry, embroidery and hairdressing. Alongside these, they continue learning English and Maths.

Despite being disabled, Patrick loves to put into practice all the new skills he is learning. In this short video he is practicing hairdressing on a female head dummy. While most children like to specialise, Patrick loves trying everything. His favourite skill area is actually tailoring and he would eventually like to work in fashion.

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/not-inability

Ladies happy in slum in business

Child of Hold, Uganda: These ladies are very happy with the success of their small businesses, set up under Child of Hope’s IGA scheme. 

Angela and Laira have been running businesses in the school grounds for five and three years respectively – selling local snacks and fruit to pupils and staff at break time. Laira’s wares include avocados, mangoes and roasted groundnuts, while Angela’s include cassava, Irish chips and pancakes.

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/mums-business-school

Child of Hope's Andrew... and the pigeons

Despite having sickle cell anaemia, Andrew (left) loves his new project, taking care of the farm pigeons. He is one of Child of Hope’s ‘young farmers’ who help the farm manager in their own time.

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/andrew-pigeons

Holiday business initiative

During the school holidays, Child of Hope Uganda pupils Peace and Patience showed initiative in setting themselves up with a small holiday business selling sugar cane. 

Between them they had one thousand shillings to invest in buying ten sugar canes from a local farm. Selling them at two hundred shillings a cane, they stood to double their money. Their plan is to use this money to buy breakfast snacks when school resumes.

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/holiday-business-initiative

Enlightened fishing business

Groveley Precision Engineering announces a partnership with Piscario Enlightened Angling that has produced the world’s first titanium fishing centre pin reel.

https://piscario.co.uk

http://www.groveley.co.uk/piscario-enlightened-angling

New Child of Hope video: Be part of our big family

Our pupils know the importance of social media in getting our amazing school seen by the big wide world! We hope you enjoy their message.

If you would like to join our lovely ‘Big Family’ please click through to our sponsor page, where you can find information about our sponsorship programmes - even the smallest regular donation would go a long way to help Mercy, Liz and all their friends at Child of Hope! :)

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/video-join-big-family

Camel with the very flyaway hair

Jan Dowding of JED Art: my new drawing of a camel with the very flyaway hair.

www.jedart.co.uk

Rajab the axe

Child of Hope, Uganda: It looks like he’s got a mean swing on that axe, but Rajab is a humble and quiet man who does great a great job for our school – helping the kitchen staff by splitting firewood into smaller pieces for the stove.

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/axeman

O-level revision in a slum

Child of Hope Uganda: revising for exams during school holidays isn’t always easy in the Namatala slum, especially if your whole family lives in one room, or there’s no electricity. So, when Moses (a former CoH pupil) wanted to study for his O-levels with his friends from Mbale Senior Secondary School, we made a classroom available in our primary school.

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/studying-hard

Slum river dangers

Child of Hope School's local river has been extremely dangerous for children when flooded in the rainy season, resulting in many deaths over the past years. But with extra safety education and awareness in school, this has been prevented for its pupils.

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/vigilance-river-dangers

Rice flourishing

The hard work of Child of Hope's slum resident pupils, along with the help of some rice-growing experts, is yielding great results! Read more: https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/rice-garden-flourishing

Pigeons in love

Dorset contemporary artist Jan Dowding: "I wouldn’t normally choose to do a drawing of pigeons, but I did think these two looked rather cute…"



https://jedart.co.uk/2019/08/20/pigeons-in-love/

JED Art: new painting by Dorset artist Jan Dowding... In Flight

My new, small acrylic painting 12″ x12″ is called 'In Flight' – bet you can see why. I hope you like it. https://jedart.co.uk/2019/08/19/in-flight/

Slum hair salon success!

Child of Hope reports that one of its pupils' mums - helped by Child of Hope to start in business last year, has been able to open a second small business – selling vegetables – and her family is benefitting hugely!

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/hair-salon-success

Top Quality!

The Bournemouth and Basingstoke facilities of Store & Secure self-storage have renewed their British Quality Standard approvals BS EN 15696:2008 – and after three years it appears they are still the only solely self-storage company to hold the accreditation.

https://www.storeandsecure.co.uk/self-storage-news/ongoing-british-quality-standard-approval/

Groveley Precision Engineering: ATEX certification for 25th year

Groveley Precision Engineering announced that its Anchor Works site had retained its ATEX flameproof certification for the 25th year, following an audit to the Directive 2014/34/EU regulations for manufacturers of equipment intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres.

http://www.groveley.co.uk/latest-news/articles/ATEX-certification-25-years

Child of Hope construction video update 2

A 1-minute video shows the footings dug and commencement of building the walls at our new slum secondary school, due to open in Jan 2020.

For more information on the new school, click here

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/video-update-2

Child of Hope: Relief for Mum after daughter’s surgery

Mum Annet is smiling again with the recovery of her six-year-old daughter, Peace, who has suffered with a swollen umbilical cord since birth. Closer examination revealed a hole in the remaining part of the cord, prompting referral to a specialist health facility.

Surgery was carried out and, after three days, Peace was transferred to our medical partner Joy Hospice for intensive care. Latest medical reports indicate that, despite a cough, Peace is now recovering well. Mum Annet is one of the ladies we have set up in her own small business.

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/relief-after-surgery

Groveley Precision Engineering: new CMM means faster, more accurate inspection

Groveley’s manufactured component inspection time is now quicker and even more accurate following investment in an Aberlink coordinate measuring machine (CMM).

http://www.groveley.co.uk/latest-news/articles/new-cmm

JED Art new painting: Within

New painting from Dorset contemporary artist Jan Dowding, 36″x36″ oil on box canvas – its name is ‘Within’. One of those pictures where people see different things ‘within’ it…

https://jedart.co.uk/news/

Store & Secure sleeping rough

Store & Secure staff staff will be taking part in the YMCA’s Big Sleep Easy on November 16, when they will sleep rough to raise funds to help combat homelessness! And the company will supply cardboard boxes for other participants to sleep on and under.

https://www.storeandsecure.co.uk/self-storage-news/sleeping-rough-others-dont/

New Forest foal

Pencil drawing by Jan Dowding: "A cute New forest foal, seen on one of our walks in the New Forest."

https://jedart.co.uk/news/

Store & Secure: Pip Hare in the Fastnet race

Store & Secure staff are excited that their friend Pip Hare has secured Paul Larsen as co-skipper for this year’s Rolex Fastnet race  – the current holder of the world speed sailing record and a world class ocean racing sailor. The race starts Saturday August 3.

Store & Secure is providing Pip's organisation – Pip Hare Ocean Racing – use of a 20ft storage container for her entry in the gruelling Vendee Challenge for the next two and a half years. That’s to cover the length of the build-up, campaign and post-race activities... read more

https://www.storeandsecure.co.uk/self-storage-news/pip-hare-fastnet/

Checking slum kids' health

Child of Hope's slum-based health team, together with workers from nearby JOY Hospice, is currently undertaking a four-day health survey to assess the benefits of a new nutritional program – introduced this year to enrich the children’s diet with fortified maize flour, fish and super beans.

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news

Training for inter-school sports

It's been a busy week of sport at Child of Hope's slum school in Uganda. An excited team of thirty boys and girls have been training hard for a competition this Friday when they will represent the school in various sports including football, netball and volleyball.

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/annual-sports-competition

Basingstoke self-storage deals

So much expansion going on at our Basingstoke facility, there are some great new deals on our 100 sq ft self-storage rooms… interested?

https://www.storeandsecure.co.uk/self-storage-news/great-new-deals-100-sq-ft-self-storage-basingstoke/

JED Art: Eye of the Storm

Latest painting from Dorset artist Jan Dowding - a 36"x36" acrylic on box canvas called Eye of the storm... "I started painting and this just happened. Sometimes I have an idea what I am going to do and my hands just seem to do the rest."

www.jedart.co.uk

Child of Hope: building its own slum secondary school

Construction work has commenced at the site of our new secondary school! Watch this short, 2-minute video to see the site (and the security fence being built around it) before groundworks commence. The school will open in time for the next school year in February 2020. 

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/building-secondary-school

Basingstoke Store & Secure expands number of drive-up rooms

Tradesmen can now benefit from extra 24-hour drive-up self-storage rooms that we’ve installed at our Basingstoke facility...

https://www.storeandsecure.co.uk/self-storage-news/drive-rooms-basingstoke/

JED Art new pencil drawing: Penguin

Hoping you like this little fellow, he certainly enjoyed his swim. Pencil drawing.

https://jedart.co.uk/2019/07/10/penguin/

Basingstoke self-store facility: 100-room expansion

The Store & Secure Basingstoke facility has completed its expansion of 100 extra rooms – great for home storage, businesses needing to store seasonal stock or for small online businesses needing somewhere to operate.

https://www.storeandsecure.co.uk/self-storage-news/100-room-expansion-basingstoke/

Meiko in pencil

Dorset artist Jan Dowding: "Thought it was about time l did a drawing from my trip to Kyoto in Japan last year, so here we are; isn’t she beautiful?"

Helping Houndsmill companies beat the car parking problem

To help local companies with staff parking – which is a whopping problem around the Houndmills commercial area where Store & Secure Basingstoke facility is located – the team is now hiring out car parking spaces at very reasonable rates.

https://www.storeandsecure.co.uk/self-storage-news/car-parking-houndmills/

Taking the lesson to the farm

At Child of Hope's Ugandan slum school, Primary 6 class really enjoyed a visit to a Dutch dairy farm on the outskirts of Mbale town. The 50 pupils and teachers walked three kilometres on foot to reach the farm – such commitment!

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/taking-lesson-farm

Child of Hope: skills for future work

Our less academic, more practical pupils are learning vocational skills that will set them up for jobs in the future. Check out our short video (just 36 seconds long) where students are learning to cook a much-loved Ugandan snack called chapati*.

Alongside normal classroom lessons, these children are building life skills like carpentry, cookery, art and crafts and hairdressing. We call it our P8 class... read more...

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/future-work-skills

Latest painting from contemporary artist Jan Dowding

I had two big canvases 3 feet square that have been waiting for ages for me to paint them so this is my first, a big wave. I have called it ‘Deep’, I loved painting it.

https://wordpress.com/view/jedart.co.uk

Global learning live

Classroom learning at Child of Hope took a new twist as pupils’ learning went global – with a shared live maths lesson with a class in Bristol!

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/learning-across-world

How could she resist...

… well, she couldn’t. Artist Jan Dowding said: "I was drawn to do this pencil sketch by the gorgeous look on the ostrich face, so cute. All my drawings are of animals we have met on our travels, some close-up, face-to-face, as with this guy."  https://jedart.co.uk/news/

CoH's new primary headteacher

A new headteacher, Juliet Adeke, took up her post at Child of Hope Primary School during the recent school holidays, immediately getting stuck into her new responsibilities. A qualified, dedicated and determined woman, she is already working to raise standards even higher and to ensure efficient, cost-effective running of the school.

Juliet grew up in Namatala and began her teaching career in Mbale. She has previously been Director of Studies in a school in Karamoja and Head of Lower School and English in Kampala schools, so brings with her a wealth of useful experience. She also has a diploma in special education which will add valuable skills to the school staff.

Juliet’s roots give her good understanding of local needs and she is proud to now be taking responsibility for a school in her own home area.

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/new-head-teacher

Store & Secure staff all gain forklift licences

Forklift service releases customer time: now when our business customers need a forklift facility for moving their stored goods, they don’t need to book a time slot, just simply turn up!

https://www.storeandsecure.co.uk/self-storage-news/forklift-service-releases-time/

Child of Hope staff vigilance reverses malnutrition

5-year-old Maria was barely surviving due to poor health but is now thriving, thanks to our slum school's all-round care system. It kicked in after she entered the nursery class this year, having been identified by our welfare team as a very needy child.

https://www.childofhopeuganda.org/news/vigilance-reverses-malnutrition

Child of Hope's new video: Look at us now

Take a look at our latest 3-minute video that gives a really good round-up of the breadth of Child of Hope’s work and its impact. You’ll see where the children have come from and the entirely more positive futures that education and intervention are producing for them. Lots of very happy children and teenagers!

Soundtrack is used with permission.

Ben helps mum at work

This is Ben, one of our primary 5 pupils spotted helping his mum cooking cassava chips. She sells them every day to raise money to help sustain the family and meet household daily necessities.

He was happy with what he was doing and said: "I am helping mum to make money for us.”

Child of Hope has helped over 300 mums set up a small business in Uganda's Namatala slum over the last few years and most continue successfully to gradually raise the families from the worst extremes of poverty. To read more about this, click here.

Micropack appoints Automatic Systems Engineering its distributor in Poland

Flame detection specialist Micropack has appointed Automatic Systems Engineering (ASE) to distribute in Poland its full range of visual and multi-spectrum IR flame detectors, fire and gas mapping and consultancy services.

micropackfireandgas.com