Economic Growth United Kingdom Project #8016

Uniting Communities, Tackle Global Issues

by Action Change (Formerly GVI Trust)

Uniting Communities, Tackle Global Issues

Project Report | Feb 7, 2017
2017, we're ready for you!

By Kate Robey | The GVI Trust, Operations Manager

We're looking forward to a busy 2017!

Dear Supporters,

Wow, we can't believe that January has already come and gone!

We have had a very busy start to the year and are looking forward to a successful 2017 for all of our project partners, al over the world.

This January we continued our support to Fiji. If you recall, in February 2016 Fiji was devastated by Cyclone Winston and we raised over £40 000 to assist them in their relief efforts. You can read more about that specific project here. In January we disbursed the last of our available funds to Fiji for the following projects

Digger Hire. The rainy season is once more upon Fiji and it has exposed some problematic areas in the newly re-located village in terms of drainage. The village, which was relocated to higher ground, further away from the ocean, was starting to show signs that it was in danger of flooding with the onset of the heavy rains. So we used funds to hire a digger to come in and dig drainage trenches to prevent possible flooding.
Food Bank. A major issue that was exposed in the months after the cyclone was food security. Crops were wiped out and it was difficult to replant with so much chaos and other challenges to deal with. With community consultation, we decided to set up a food. The food bank will provide supplies to 33 households in the village (109 adults and 80 children). In conjunction with the food bank is a community garden and seed program that we will be rolling out in the coming weeks.
Kindergarten Rebuild. We have finally been able to focus on rebuilding the kindergarten classroom that was destroyed. It has been challenging securing supplies because there is such a high demand, but we are finally able to start with this project!
School Books. Most children lost all of their school supplies in the cyclone and families cannot afford to replace them (loss of income due to failed crops), so we have allocated funds so that all of the children can start school with all of the necessary resources.
Water Tanks. The village has been relocated, which means that access to clean drinking water is a challenge. We have used funds to purchase and install 2 new rainwater harvesting tanks in the relocated village.

We are pleased to let you know that we have secured enough funds to be able to provide another 6 months of dog therapy for the special needs children we work with in Mexico. These therapies make a huge difference to the children and it is wonderful to see them interacting with the dogs and getting so much joy out of the experience.

Staying in Mexico, we have also been able to donate £785 to be used by ProjectAWARE, one of our local partners, for their Dive Against Debris project. They are in the process of developing an app for this amazing citizen science project, and we are very pleased to be able to contribute to this project.

In Africa, we have been able to offer support to our community project partner, Ikhayalethemba, in Cape Town. They are in the process on applying for government assistance, and while they are waiting on this process we are assisting them with nappies for the special needs children, their snack programme and staff wages.

Thank you for your continued support of our work! Your support helps so many projects, communities and ecosystems all around the world!

With Gratitude,
The GVI Trust

Dog therapy in Mexico

Thank you!

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Nov 27, 2016
The highs and lows of 2016

By Kate Robey | The GVI Trust, Operations Manager

35 bicycles for 35 girls!

Dear Supporters,

We can't believe that 2016 is already drawing to a close. With the onset of December, we always take a moment to sit back and reflect on what has been made possible during the year.

2016 got off to a bit of a bumpy start when Fiji was hit by a massive tropical cyclone that almost completely destroyed the village that we work in. Along with that disaster came so much hope as hundreds of supporters donated to our relief and recovery efforts. Your donations made it possible for us to provide Silana Village, as well as surrounding communities, with so much to relieve their suffering. As well as basic need support in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone, we have been able to help with waste removal, delivery of goods, hiring and repairing of equipment to rebuild the village and funds are still being used! In the next few weeks, we will begin to completely rebuild the school library that was destroyed.

Over on the other side of the world in Costa Rica your donations have enabled us to create a beautiful, functional and essential community area in El Cocal. This project was initiated by our local community partners who identified the need for a safe, secure space for all members of the El Cocal community to gather. It has been a huge success! Your donations have been used for a playground, which the children love, for the centre itself as well as a fence and a garden. We are so proud of what has been achieved in El Cocal and it is amazing to see the community come together and utilise this space. We can't wait to see how this continues and grows into 2017.

Jumping back across the globe to South Africa- our projects have gone from strength to strength. Our effort to protect the White Rhinos has been fortified with the recent purchase, entirely with donations, of a new anti-poaching vehicle. The community project in Limpopo Province has been a big focus point for our GVI South Africa team too. In 2016 we partnered with a local creche that was in desperate need of assistance. The children there now have an enclosed area to play in and very soon there will be 2 classrooms, an office and shaded veranda area. We aim to have this construction completed by the end of the year for full use in 2017.

Over to Asia and our scholarship support program for Lao students. This project has really taken off this year! We have a record number of students that we are supporting with scholarships to access education. The progress that the students have made is astounding and we know that we are having a huge impact. A highlight from Laos for 2016 was being able to purchase 35 bicycles, helmets and bike locks for the 35 girls who are part of our girl's only lessons. They are now able to attend school more regularly and safely and we couldn't be more pleased!

Thank you so much for all of your donations. None of what I have mentioned above would have been possible without each and every one of you and your generosity, kindness and support!

With #GivingTuesday coming up, we ask if you will share our projects so that we may begin to reach more donors to help us achieve even more in 2017!

With Gratitude,
The GVI Charitable Trust

Cyclone Winston in Fiji

The start of the El Cocal Community Center

Building the walls for Magapane Day Care Center

Our New Vehicle!

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Sep 12, 2016
2015 Trustee's Report

By Kate Robey | Head of Operations, The GVI Trust

Dear Supporters,

We are very excited to share with you the 2015 Trustee's Report. The report is meant to help you, our donors, understand what we are able to achieve thanks to your donations and highlight the successes and achievements of the past year.

The full report is available for download as a PDF, so today we'd like to share a snippet of the report with you:

2015 has been a year of change, growth and renewed- inspiration for the GVI Charitable Trust. During the course of the year we have recruited new staff, had a new trustee instated and raised a record-breaking £279 884, a 42% increase from 2014.

We would like to thank all of our donors for their contributions, without you none of our work would be possible.

Thanks to your tremendous support we have been able to offer support to 22 projects in 13 different countries. The work that we do on is very broad in its focus, but it all serves to achieve our objectives of promoting and contributing to conservation efforts, advancing education and offering relief from hardship, poverty, and distress.

2015 was a tough year in a number of the locations where we have partners, but most notably in Nepal. In April and May a series of massively devastating earthquakes caused widespread destruction. The road to recovery for Nepal is long and we are doing our utmost to offer support where we can.

2015 was also a year of building here at the Charitable Trust. We focused on construction projects in a number of locations. In Costa Rica, we were able to assist a school in Roncador to build a cafeteria, which is a government requirement, re-build a classroom and fix an entire playground. The construction projects in Kerala, India have been extensive. Thanks to generous funding from the Anna Crossman Trust, 14 brand new houses and a playground have been built. We also started on the construction of a toilet block at one of our partner schools, due to be complete in February 2016. On slightly smaller scale, we have completed upgrades and construction in South Africa, Fiji and Nepal.

Our conservation projects have also been well supported this year. In Karongwe, South Africa funds were used to purchase new quad bikes to give the anti-poaching team more mobility. We were also able to help fund a de-horning operation in an effort to reduce the number of rhinos killed for their horns. In Thailand we have continued to provide funding for the elephant project in Chiang Mai and the shark project in Phang Nga.

It has been a wonderful, challenging year and we thank you for your commitment to helping us achieve our goals in 2015. As we embark on a new year and a new phase in our growth plan, we hope that you will continue to support all of our work- by raising your voice and by making a financial contribution.

We hope that you enjoy the full report and we encourage you to get in contact with us if you have any questions or comments.

As always, thank you for your continued and generous support.

With Gratitude,

The GVI Trust

Attachments:

The 2015 GVI Trust, Trustee's Report (PDF)

2 Attachments

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