Build Workshop for Physically Disabled Burkinabes

Fundraising

Rotary Club of Crowthorne and Sandhurst

On the 18th July I delivered a presentation about the construction project to the Rotary Club of Crowthorne and Sandhurst. It seemed to be well received and the Club was able to make a generous donation of £100. I am on the International Service Committee of this Club and am trying to promote a micro-finance project for some of TN’s members. I need to get back to them with concrete figures if anything is to be approved.

Rotary District Council

I have been in touch with members of the Rotary District Council including the District Governor and the Grants Chair who were both able to give some very helpful advice. A suggestion has been made that I present at the next quarterly District Council Meeting where over 30 clubs attend. Should this be possible, there is a potential for other clubs to make donations.

Parallel 10k

Four volunteers including myself are running a disability inclusive 10k race on the 3rd September to raise funds. We are doing this alongside UK charity LAFI (Lasting Action for Inclusion) Burkina. It should be a great day! So far we have raised about £300 thanks largely to the kindness of previous donors- thank you!

Car Boot sales

Another volunteer and I will be doing a car boot sale at the weekend in order to raise funding. Hopefully it will go well! If it does we will do another one the weekend after.

Art Sales

Since July I have raised about £250 from art commissions. I know that this doesn’t seem like much but every little helps and what makes me happy is that all of this money is going to TN.

Global Grant

Myself and hopefully other members from the Rotary Club of Crowthorne and Sandhurst will be attending Grant Workshops in November. I have explored the possibility of applying for a Global Grant through the Rotary Club of Crowthorne and Sandhurst. From what I understand the whole club has to be on board and this year the President has chosen to focus on a small project, possibly helping to provide resources for a nursery school in Zimbabwe - a very important cause. However, the club seems keen to help to promote TN’s art and craft works within Rotary and potentially support the construction project in future years.

Awareness Raising

Gallery of African Art Mayfair

I wrote to the Gallery of African Art in Mayfair and sent them images of Issouf's bronzework. I then visited the gallery and spoke to the owner. I explained that the beautiful work TN creates is made in the toughest of conditions by some amazingly resilient artists. This to me could be an example of 'provenance' which determines the worth of artwork. For those reasons I hope for it to sell as art work and not merely relegated to the domain of African crafts in the future. While the gallery owner didn't want to purchase anything she gave some good advice: to participate in more art fairs/ markets and told me to continue sending images relevant work.

Sales

I participated in an Art Fair in June where I was able to exhibit and sell TN’s work. £55 was made on TN sales which was fantastic. Awareness was also raised locally about the project. More recently £43 worth of sales were made at my local Rotary Club and at a Global Giving gathering I sold £35 worth of jewellery. All of this money goes back to TN via Western Union where 80% of revenue goes to the maker and 20% goes back into the co-operative. A few sales have also been made online.