Newsletter 01 - July 2004
This is the news… My Lords Ladies and Gentlemen,
Albeit slightly belatedly, this is the first One Percent Newsletter
which we hope to send out quarterly after each distribution just
to keep everyone informed about our progress.
Firstly, a huge thank you to everyone who has joined the scheme. Obviously things have taken a little while to really get off the ground and the first few months have been more focused on developing the basic infrastructure, but things have moved on steadily. We made the first distribution in early April and the three causes we’re currently supporting (PEP Aids, Rwanda Development Trust and the White Cross Mission) received thirty pounds each. The main limitation was obviously the fact that we had only contacted a small number of people about the scheme, although that said, the two rubber cheques donated by myself didn’t help…I assure you I feel deeply ashamed and have subsequently rectified the situation! Now around twenty people now involved there certainly is cause to be optimistic about our prospects. We are developing a wide spectrum of members from students (or should we say graduates!), people working, parents, friends of friends etc and consequently we’re expecting increased turnover in the coming months. We’ve also had lots of people expressing an interest in what we’re starting here and hopefully the completion of our website will help boost or numbers and profile still further.
Finally free from the stress of exams we have a meeting scheduled with a web designer for tomorrow so hopefully things should be up and running within the month. Of our more long term goals, we have to be turning over around £1000/year to be eligible for the financial benefits of registered charity status so we’re to start putting the wheels in motion for this transition in the autumn sometime.
We fully appreciate that this is a transitional time for most people, jetting off to every corner of the globe, overcoming the horror of actually having to look for jobs etc but we hope that the infrastructure we’re laying down is flexible enough so that as we keep everyone informed with what is going on from time to time you can get in contact as and when you’re working. For understandable reasons we’re trying to move away from taking cheques now that most of us have left university and looking more towards setting up a standard standing order system, although of course we’re still more than happy to accept one off donations as and when they may be preferable. If you are donating by cheque however please be responsible, we haven’t got the time to chase everyone up individually and we hate doing it – we want everyone to feel involved and willing to be a part of the scheme. There are still some donations outstanding from our last student loan so please send them in – you know who you are. (information about how to donate will be on the website but for the time being please send cheques to The One Percent Scheme,8, Peckmill Lane,Cumbria, CA27 0EJ.
Below is some information to keep you updated about the causes we are supporting. We decided not to attach any photos or feedback letters so as to spare your valuable mailbox space but they’ll all be posted on the website. Thanks again so much for your time, enthusiasm and support. Hopefully we’re well on the way towards creating a democratic, proactive and sustained effort that will significantly improve the lives of some of those less fortunate than ourselves.Marcus Fairhurst PEPAIDS
Two of the trustees for PepAIDS, Helen & Mike Cottle, have recently come back from a trip out in Zambia working with the SAPEP programme. I spoke to them last week and summarised the main points below.
SAPEP are currently setting up facilities so that students and volunteers can go out and visit the programme. This will help raise funds and increases SAPEP’s credibility locally – as well as being an amazing opportunity. With the programme constantly growing an increasing number of staff are being employed. Mike & Helen spent time helping formalise a new pay and training structure – rewarding long-term commitment to the programme. · Plans for setting up a hospice/orphanage catering for the homeless affected by HIV/AIDS have had to be put on hold with the potential major donor, Comic Relief , declining the application. There is definitely a real need for something like this and PEPAIDS plan to reapply next year with a different approach. From what I could gather they are planning to create smaller, de-centralised facilities with more input from individual communities – which to me sounded much better than the previous idea of some whopping big hospice.
SAPEP have recently received funding to broadcast radio shows with an anti-AIDS message. Shows are being aired weekly on 2 radio stations, (broadcast over most of southern Zambia) discussing different topics on the subject and promoting SAPEP.
Other than that the programme continues to run successfully – and it is encouraging for me to hear the very open dialogue between PEPAIDS (the main donor) and SAPEP continuing. For more info on all this or about SAPEP/PEPAIDS generally email me (johnarnold700@yahoo.co.uk) or visit the website, www.pepaids.org.
John Arnold Rwanda Development Trust
We’ve been in touch with Maria Jones, one of the RDT Trustees, who has written to us confirming that they are happy to channel any funds we donate direct to the AGHR, the English translation of which is ‘General Association of Disabled People of Rwanda.’ She also enclosed some photographs of some of the people we’ll be helping. We’ll post these on the RDT page on the soon to be completed web site. As many of you will be aware, April this year marked the tenth anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda and there were lots of articles in the various newspapers and pieces on the news. The Panorama documentary was harrowing but extremely interesting and served to remind us of the almost unparalleled nature of the brutality that took place. As, although under different circumstances, history seems to be threatening to repeat itself in the Sudan it is important that our governments are not simply allowed to forget these issues and brush them under the carpet.
Marcus Fairhurst White Cross Mission
Our first payment was received gratefully by the WCM, and has gone towards the maintenance of one of their cooperative farms in Romania, where orphans from the villages of Remeti and Bratca who cannot be integrated back into society are guaranteed work and, more importantly, a home. In the long term, we hope to set up one specific beneficiary within the White Cross Mission, so that we can chart exactly where our money is going and what difference it is making. Among our options is to donate to Crucea Alba (WCM’s sister charity) to enable them to buy and renovate a much-needed farm for children in Oradea. This would be a fantastic opportunity for the scheme, since it would enable us to see the tangible effects of our donations as we followed the progress of the farm. For the time being, however, it is still comforting to know that our money is being put to wonderful use.
For more information of exactly what the White Cross Mission do, please visit the website www.whitecross.org.
Ross Dickinson