Boxes of books

The 14 boxes of books sent to Ethiopia by Ahead and EasyUk have now arrived in in the country. Sida, Ahead's representative in Ethiopia, was amazed by the speed and the collaboration that the authorities have shown in collecting and transporting the books, which are in Shakiso at the moment. ... we are very chaffed, said Sida. The bureaucracy used to be a nightmare. It was also very common that parcels go astray. We are really encouraged by this news and are optimistic about sending more items to Ethiopia in the future.

Ahead

Children help Ahead

Three friends, who are staunch supporters of Ahead have decided to raise fund for the charity over two days. Jaalannee, Eebbaa and Gorran who are on holiday at the moment want to give their time to Ahead. They are not planning to raise a large sum of money but just seek to do an awareness raising activities here in the local neighbourhood for two days. Their flyer reads:


Charity Sale
Please come to our sale outside 53 Chester Road
on Wednesday 25 July and 26 July

We have books, teddies, toys, nail care/art, lots more. All the money raised will go to Ahead, a charity that helps people in Africa. The charity's website is http://www.ahead.org.uk/

Thank you for your support
Fundraisers
Jaalannee (9)
Eebbaa (8)
Gorran (8)
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Ahead is grateful to the children for their kindness and efforts.

Ahead

Second Annual General Meeting

Ahead had its second Annual General Meeting yesterday, 15 July 2007. The meeting was attended by Trustees and volunteers. The agenda items included:

- Minutes of AGM
- Matters arising
- Annual report
- Financial report
- Next year's plan
- Elections
- AOB

Various issues were discussed and decisions were passed. Last year's performance (annual report and financial report) was assessed and next year's plan discussed and approved. Andy and Maria resigned due to increased workloads. Ahead is grateful to their contributions as volunteers and members of Board of Trustees. Diane Simcoe, who has many years' of experience in the voluntary sector has joined the Board of Trustees. Welcome Diane. In fact Diane has been supporting Ahead as a volunteer.

We hope that with continued support and dedication of our Trustees and volunteers, our efforts will succeed next year as well.

Ahead

Ethiopian Association of Students and Youth UK (EASYuk)

Ethiopian Association of Students and Youth UK (EASYuk) and Ahead have established partnership with. EASYuk is a social networking group based in London. Elfneh and Milkias.Mollallegn, EasyUK Chairperson met late June 2007 to examine possibilities for collaboration. EasyUK hold charitable projects, sometimes in collaboration with other bodies. In recent months EASYuk has lead a project to donate second-hand educational books to learning centres in Ethiopia. One of EasyUK’s initiatives called Book Drive project which collect books in the UK and dispatches them to Ethiopia for distribution to schools or learning centres. EasyUK has 14 boxes of various books to Ahead’s operation area in Ethiopia. These books will boost Ahead’s efforts to widen educational opportunities in Ethiopian schools. The full costs of transporting the books were generously paid by Thomson Scientific Limited, based in London. As Ahead have already established good working relations with schools and has its own support groups, it is in a strong position to deliver books to where they are going to be used. Ahead is very grateful to both EasyUK and Thomson Scientific Limited for their kind assistance and collaboration. Ahead and EasyUK are working on detailed agreement on their future collaborations.

Ahead

Giraffe Events Ltd Teams up with Ahead

We are delighted to announce that Ahead and Giraffe Events Ltd (Giraffe) have established partnership. Elfneh, Ahead's Chairperson and Lara Bryan, Director, Giraffe Events Ltd, met early June to discuss Ahead's work with a view to identifying an Ahead project that Giraffe could assist Ahead to accomplish. The planned Ahead Community College was found to be an ideal project to collaborate on. Over the next couple of months the tow organisations will closely work together and develop a detailed strategy and programme of cooperation.

Giraffe Events Ltd focuses on ‘events with a conscience’ aimed at performance development for corporate employees. They create bespoke 7-14 days programmes designed to test their teams in an environment that presents worthwhile challenges and realistic team building and leadership opportunities. A major highlight for all involved is the community element which allows the groups to take ownership of a project by funding the materials and taking part in the build, alongside the local contractors or team. In this sense everyone benefits.

Ahead and Giraffe Events Ltd are very keen to see this partnership resulting in fruitful outcomes.

Ahead