Miss-Delectable
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Rowan
A FAMILY’S fund-raising drive aimed at aiding deaf children in Uganda is about to get a helping hand thanks to the support of friends and neighbours in the Wing area.
Dave and Angie Varey have spent nearly a decade raising thousands of pounds for charities at home and abroad in memory of their beloved daughter Rowan who died, aged just 12, from cancer in January 2002.
Their selfless campaign, which includes helping a specialist school in Uganda, touched the hearts of those who read it in last year’s LBO. Now friend Jan Weekes, who has supported the couple’s campaign over the years, is hosting a ball next month at her home, Burcott Hall Farm, after running a series of smaller fund-raising events.
More than 120 people are expected at the ticket-only dance which will also feature a luxury raffle with a huge number of prizes donated by very generous organisations and friends.
Said Angie: “More prizes are being offered all the time. There are also two weeks and a week at holiday homes in Turkey and Spain up for auction so there are many ways that people can get involved with offering to give funds no matter how small.”
Angie and Dave, of Vicarage Lane, Wing, have dedicated their lives to helping others since brave Rowan’s untimely death. The youngster spent seven years battling leukaemia, various infections and underwent a heart/lung and bone marrow transplants.
Paediatric wards in the UK, orphans in Chernobyl and Third World countries have benefited from the couple’s fund-raising, which has been supported over the years by the people of Wing.
They have now set up a dedicated website - Rowan Varey Memorial Fund | Directly helping children with health and education - in which updates on the fund-raising and the building work in Uganda is posted. Dave and Angie are also in the early stages of converting the fund into an official registered charity, the sole aim of which will be to continue to help the two schools in Uganda, which they visited.
“The majority of money goes to the deaf unit at Kinyinyara. In this way, we plan to maintain our intent that, as far as possible, money donated will be spent on the children and the school with minimum overheads being taken by anyone involved. Some costs are unavoidable, such as websites like Justgiving, or PayPal, but as a charity we should be able to claim Gift Aid to counterbalance those. Other future events such as a barn dance are being planned, which will ideally be held in Wing.
“On the building side we were very excited to receive a photograph of bricks being delivered to start the building of the walls for the kitchen/dining room which is our next stage of the development and we already have enough funds for the roof to be added immediately.
“Also, importantly, came the news that the local Ugandan Rotary Club and local people there, have indicated their desire to get involved and start to raise some funds themselves.
“The original overall budget for the build was around £25,000 and we are now well over half way to that total and with more to come from the ball.”
The school in Uganda, which has a unit for deaf children, some of who are orphans, was started by the mother of a deaf child. There are now nearly 100 children at the unit. The children come from areas of Uganda, which are many days travel away. The Rowan Varey Memorial fund has contributed money for a girls’ dormitory, mattresses, blankets, books and two large tanks for storing vital rain water.
Sauid Angie: “These seemingly mundane objects have made a massive difference to the lives of the children at the school. The money raised from the dance will go towards finishing a dining room and kitchen block, plus a technical block for teaching them the skills to help them survive in the harsh outside world, when they leave school.
“Also, and more importantly, they will have toilets. At the moment, they have one outside latrine for boys and one for girls and the staff. The things we take for granted in our everyday lives are merely dreamt of by these children. Every penny that the Fund receives goes to help children somehow - there are no overheads.”
There are a few tickets left for the ball that is being held on September 10. For more details, or if you’d like to donate or aid the raffle, go online to Rowan Varey Memorial Fund | Directly helping children with health and education
A FAMILY’S fund-raising drive aimed at aiding deaf children in Uganda is about to get a helping hand thanks to the support of friends and neighbours in the Wing area.
Dave and Angie Varey have spent nearly a decade raising thousands of pounds for charities at home and abroad in memory of their beloved daughter Rowan who died, aged just 12, from cancer in January 2002.
Their selfless campaign, which includes helping a specialist school in Uganda, touched the hearts of those who read it in last year’s LBO. Now friend Jan Weekes, who has supported the couple’s campaign over the years, is hosting a ball next month at her home, Burcott Hall Farm, after running a series of smaller fund-raising events.
More than 120 people are expected at the ticket-only dance which will also feature a luxury raffle with a huge number of prizes donated by very generous organisations and friends.
Said Angie: “More prizes are being offered all the time. There are also two weeks and a week at holiday homes in Turkey and Spain up for auction so there are many ways that people can get involved with offering to give funds no matter how small.”
Angie and Dave, of Vicarage Lane, Wing, have dedicated their lives to helping others since brave Rowan’s untimely death. The youngster spent seven years battling leukaemia, various infections and underwent a heart/lung and bone marrow transplants.
Paediatric wards in the UK, orphans in Chernobyl and Third World countries have benefited from the couple’s fund-raising, which has been supported over the years by the people of Wing.
They have now set up a dedicated website - Rowan Varey Memorial Fund | Directly helping children with health and education - in which updates on the fund-raising and the building work in Uganda is posted. Dave and Angie are also in the early stages of converting the fund into an official registered charity, the sole aim of which will be to continue to help the two schools in Uganda, which they visited.
“The majority of money goes to the deaf unit at Kinyinyara. In this way, we plan to maintain our intent that, as far as possible, money donated will be spent on the children and the school with minimum overheads being taken by anyone involved. Some costs are unavoidable, such as websites like Justgiving, or PayPal, but as a charity we should be able to claim Gift Aid to counterbalance those. Other future events such as a barn dance are being planned, which will ideally be held in Wing.
“On the building side we were very excited to receive a photograph of bricks being delivered to start the building of the walls for the kitchen/dining room which is our next stage of the development and we already have enough funds for the roof to be added immediately.
“Also, importantly, came the news that the local Ugandan Rotary Club and local people there, have indicated their desire to get involved and start to raise some funds themselves.
“The original overall budget for the build was around £25,000 and we are now well over half way to that total and with more to come from the ball.”
The school in Uganda, which has a unit for deaf children, some of who are orphans, was started by the mother of a deaf child. There are now nearly 100 children at the unit. The children come from areas of Uganda, which are many days travel away. The Rowan Varey Memorial fund has contributed money for a girls’ dormitory, mattresses, blankets, books and two large tanks for storing vital rain water.
Sauid Angie: “These seemingly mundane objects have made a massive difference to the lives of the children at the school. The money raised from the dance will go towards finishing a dining room and kitchen block, plus a technical block for teaching them the skills to help them survive in the harsh outside world, when they leave school.
“Also, and more importantly, they will have toilets. At the moment, they have one outside latrine for boys and one for girls and the staff. The things we take for granted in our everyday lives are merely dreamt of by these children. Every penny that the Fund receives goes to help children somehow - there are no overheads.”
There are a few tickets left for the ball that is being held on September 10. For more details, or if you’d like to donate or aid the raffle, go online to Rowan Varey Memorial Fund | Directly helping children with health and education