ROD STEWART tribute night with Stan Terry
25th September 2010
INKBERROW VILLAGE HALL 7.30PM TILL MIDNIGHT
Autographed Rod Stewart Memorabilia Auction
Raffle
DJ
Licensed Bar
All profits in aid of WATERLOO SCHOOLS CHARITY
£10 per ticket (deadline for purchase 11th September)
Email: Laura on info@eco2party.co.uk

Saturday 19th June 11am - 4pm
King George V playing fields near Blackpole Worcester is hosting "UNITY IN THE COMMUNITY" a fun event for all the family with stalls and activities. Waterloo Schools Charity is having a stall - so please come and support - remember £1 can make all the difference!

At the Dolphin Centre in Bromsgrove last night Meg Wardle from Dormston swam an amazing 126 lengths, Sheena Ball did 84 lengths and Glenn Scott, a potential member of the paralympics team for 2012, swam 100 lengths all to raise money for Waterloo Schools Charity. Laurie has known Glen since he was one day old and operated on his bilateral club feet whilst he was still a baby so that he could enjoy increased mobility and is really delighted to see how Glenn has developed and how fantastically well he has done at Bromsgrove & Redditch Athletics Club. Glenn hopes to raise £500 to help cover the cost of sending a container to Waterloo containing supplies and tools for the new technical vocation department and said that this event was ideal for him as it was a mixture of sport and charity work and he "wanted to give something back after all Mr Read has done for me". Sponsorship is still coming in and you can make a donation via our "How to Help" page.

Last night we had a superb fundraising event! Friends in Inkberrow hosted a beef supper for 61 guests and £750 was raised for Waterloo! Our thanks to them and all those who came along.

Christiana - our teacher from the Zoe Carss Nursery School - visited us from 23 November to 22 December. Her visit included time spent at the Evesham Nursery School Four Pools Road, Winterfold House, Madeley Nursery and Mayfield Primary Schools. She learned so much about English teaching methods and has taken home with her many new resources that she can put to use. We are very grateful to all those who joined in so enthusiatically to organise her programme. Christiana's visit - her first outside Sierra Leone - included a train ride to London, sightseeing Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guard, a walk up the nearby Malvern Hills in sub zero temperatures and the arrival of Santa Claus complete with reindeer into Pershore town centre! We all enjoyed getting to know her and look forward to future links and possible visits from other staff at Waterloo Schools.

Our work continues: as many more children complete primary school there is a need for secondary schools of good quality. At present only 22% of eligible children attend secondary school and there is no technical or vocational training in Waterloo District (with a population of nearly 1 million people). A Technical and Vocational Training Department is our next project so that we can offer education leading to employment possibilities to all groups of children within a single school.

Thank you for all your help support and encouragement which has enabled the Charity to make such a difference to these children’s lives. May we appeal to those of you who have not already done so to consider making a regular donation of between £3 to £5 per month by standing order (email us for a copy) as this enables us to budget and plan ahead in this vital work?

Thank you and best wishes for the coming Christmas season from all the children at Waterloo Schools Sierra Leone.

The new Zoe Carss nursery school building is a delight to use as the large, airy but sheltered balconies at each end protect the tots from sun and rain. They really enjoyed the 40 musical instruments sent out by the members of St Nicholas Church Dormston, for which many thanks.

The Science Department has been strengthened by the completion of a large laboratory on the ground floor with two smaller laboratories over it. These will house the 100 computers in one room and a Home Economics and Family Health unit in the other. Donations of equipment from secondary schools in Worcestershire and Sefton Liverpool, have provided a good amount of science equipment and for the first time ever the school was able to run its own practical exams in the West African GCSE this year. From now on all six years of the school will have practical hands on science experience.

There are 100 computers all packed and ready to go so we must fund the building of a generator house and buy a suitable generator by next July when the Great Barr students will take them out and install them.

Laurie has just spent three enjoyable but hectic weeks in Waterloo where our three schools are doing well, thanks to the dedication of the teachers and the help of all our supporters in the UK. The high point was a visit to the Peninsula Secondary School by eight students, three teachers and Paul Leather an independent TV film director for 10 days. Everyone had a great time and all felt their eyes were opened to the reality of life in Sierra Leone. The visit is part of the developing partnership between our secondary school and the Great Barr School in Birmingham. Having seen the need Great Barr is going all out to raise funds to supply, set up and maintain a computer lab for both our teachers and children. You may think this a bit over the top but Sierra Leone is changing rapidly and our children face the challenge of being ready to cope with a future that will include as much IT and technology as here in the UK. Moreover the use of these computers will enable them and their teachers to learn from world wide sources at present unavailable to them. This will be a valuable addition to the 5,000 book library which is a great success already.

Last night Lichfield Cathedral was filled with wonderful African music. Zimbe! written by
Alexander L'Estrange was brought to life by over 200 singers from Great Barr, Lichfield and
St Chads. Photographs of Waterloo in Sierra Leone were projected onto large screens during the concert and the congregation of 500 joined in with hand clapping and some singing of the chorus. The concert was to support Great Barr's "True Colours" project whereby they are raising funds to set up computers at Peninsula Secondary School, with the necessary generators and satellite dishes.