Morning all! As you may or may not know, here at 500 Reasons we are a very broad and diverse bunch doing all kinds of things for jobs, doing all kinds of beautiful stuff for charities and living all over the world. Our member Barry Hedges is the pilot of some of the biggest aeroplanes in the world and wherever he jets into his heart (which is almost as big as the planes he flies) compels him to help out. If you remember he wrote a beautiful nomination of how we can help a school in Ghana and now he tells us of a child he’s sponsoring and visiting in a different school and how they desperately need our help. Well, I’m proud to say we have, as a team, sponsored a little girl called Florence. I’ve added a photo of her here (what a beautiful smile!) and will update you over the course of the year. I’m sure you’ll all be very proud to be Florence’s “Machine” this year.
Hello everyone at 500 Reasons, I would like to nominate a cause which is close to my heart partly as I am lucky enough to actually visit these places and see the benefits of these nominations first hand. You may remember one of the first donations the group made was at a school in Jamestown, Accra, which was nominated by me. That school continues to do well although it recently had to move as developers were moving in to build on the ground and invest in the future for the local community. On my most recent visits there I have found another school which is giving the same incredible opportunities to the children in the local community. They have the same challenges but the economics are actually quite simply. The more money they can raise the more children they can accept onto the school roll. They currently have to turn children away each year. The school is called St Nicholas Preparatory School and is located in an area called Tema which is within a fishing community in Accra, Ghana. I have recently visited the school to see the good work they are doing. I also visited the area where these children live and was able to see the living conditions there. I have started sponsoring a child at the school. The cost for this is about £500 per year. Although the donation I make is to the school as a whole I do have a nominated child and I am updated as to her progress during her time at the school. I would like to ask if 500 Reasons would be able to make a similar donation to give another child access to the amazing opportunities this school offer their children. To be clear I am NOT asking for 500 Reasons to commit to sponsoring a child over a period of more than one year although I hope to convince everyone that this would be a worthwhile cause and I will look to renominate each year, I will undertake to seek to nominate another child at the school on behalf of 500 Reasons so that everyone can see the positive contribution they are making to the school and the children who are educated there. Below is are some quotes from some of their own publicity material along with a photo of some of the children at the school: "Children living in abject poverty in the port town of Tema New Town, close to Ghana’s capital city Accra, are given the opportunity to obtain an education. Without St. Nicholas these children may never receive any formal schooling". "St. Nicholas is run entirely by voluntary donations and receives no state funding. The first school building was built with a grant from the Maria Tsakos Foundation on land donated by the Tsakos Group. It was opened in February 2012 with two classrooms." "The St Nicholas Foundation is registered with the UK Charities Commission (Charity No: 1164193). The charity was officially registered in November 2015 to support and oversee the school. St Nicholas is also a registered NGO in Ghana." "The school’s mission is to improve the lives of disadvantaged children living in Tema New Town by providing school education, which will enable them to progress to higher levels of education. Our vision for the future is that the school will expand to cover primary and junior high school education, culminating in the development of a vocational college. The vocational college will help the children acquire practical skills, which will enable them to find a job at the end of their education." I hope that 500 Reasons will be able to support this amazing cause. Many thanks to all of you.Barry
