News Update 12

1 Mar 2005

News Update 12 – 1st March 2005

www.friendsofunawatuna.org.uk

Update on Friends of Unawatuna

Matt Rose and Nick Keegan have been invited to be trustees of the Friends of Unawatuna. The work already done by Matt on the ground in Unawatuna and Nick, in charge of the PR on behalf of the Friends of Unawatuna made this an easy decision.

Over the last weeks we have been in contact with a number of individuals and organisations looking for funding to enable them to start various projects in the Unawatuna area. We have now agreed to release funds for projects including:

 The Ruhuna Orphanage. This is a state run orphanage that is suffering from a lack of funding, compounded by staff and resource shortages after the tsunami, and an influx of recently orphaned children. Friends of Unawatuna will be funding a number of individual projects at the orphanage to the tune of £15,000. We will obviously be following progress and reporting back….
 Unawatuna Maha Viduhala School. In addition to the work we have completed here (opening and furnishing new classrooms and providing internet access to the English department) we will be funding a new classroom for drama studies (which will hopefully also incorporate some form of counselling/therapy service), a new perimeter wall to keep out the cows and other unwanted intruders, and a badly needed new toilet block. We are currently finalising building estimates.
 We will be providing a number of fishing boats to replace some of those lost in the Unawatuna/Galle area. We expect to be able to follow the progress of individual boats and report back on their new owners once they have been built and delivered (there is a long waiting list!).
  An initial sum has been provided to the Disabled Peoples home in Unawatuna. This is in a very bad state and has suffered terribly due to staff shortages and lack of funding after the tsunami. Mosquito nets and mattresses were provided by us over the last couple of weeks. We are looking at funding significant improvements for the residents of this home.
 There are other projects that the Friends of Unawatuna are discussing with our local contacts, most of which need more information before we can release details, but include a new Nursery School facility in Unawatuna.

Although we will not be managing any of these projects on a day to day basis, we do intend to keep as close an eye on their progress as possible, reporting back through the newsletter and website as we go.

The TV documentary “Tsunami: The Day the Wave Struck” originally shown on Channel 5 with Jake Zarins and Nick Keegan , will be shown on National Geographic, at the times shown in this link:
http://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/watch/ProgramDetails.asp?UniId=1334
 

Fundraising

Amongst many others, thank you to …

Chris Blackham of “Layton Blackham” for the extremely generous donation of £10,000.
www.layton-blackham.com

Mark Stamper ran the Hong Kong marathon on Sunday 27th February, finishing in less than 4 hours, and has raised HKD45,000 (that’s about £3000). Well done Mark – here he retells those agonising 3hrs, 58 minutes…:
Well that was a lot harder than I expected! I finished in 3 hours 58 mins and 16 secs, but that is not the whole story. My 2nd half was 20 mins slower than the 1st half, and even the first half was 10 mins slower than in training, with a higher heart rate and feeling worse. My target time went out the window within the first 3kms as it was so crowded at the start, and I had to go to the toilet after only 2kms as I had ensured I was so well hydrated beforehand. The weather was dire - cold, raining for lots of it, and very windy - a headwind all the way it seemed. I had my first walk at halfway - my legs were very sore and heavier than in training - and for much of the 2nd half I ran a kilometer, walked for 10 seconds and so on. I was just trying to finish, but 4 hours was a big target as so many of the sponsorship pledges were conditional on breaking that time. Towards the end I managed to string several kilometers together, but by then I wasn't so much running as shuffling. I was fine for water and energy though, I drank at every station and had several magic gel packs en route for an energy burst. It was just the leg pain that got to me.

I really enjoyed parts of it though - running across the Tsing Ma bridge was amazing (huge suspension bridge), and the 2 tunnels were strangely enjoyable too, especially as they were a break from the wind and rain. Almost no spectators though as the majority is on closed motorways, which is a real shame, although the marshals dotted along the course were fantastic and always switched from Cantonese to English as I dragged myself past them. The finish must be almost the worst in any marathon - you come out of the Western Harbour tunnel with a steep uphill, then the last 4kms are on the main road into Central - which goes up overpasses and down underpasses, i.e. hills all the way. Very nasty. But coming to the finish and still seeing the time under 4 hours was the highlight given how I had felt for the 2nd half of the race.

See the pictures of Mark at http://www.friendsofunawatuna.org.uk/PicturesMisc.html

The children at a Hackney primary school, where Edie (8yrs), Dorothy (7yrs) & Joe (5yrs) McDonald attend, had a sponsored 'rainbow day'. This entailed wearing as many colours as possible and were sponsored per colour. Thank you to all of you involved

Sarah Cook & her band 'Crushdeluxe' have donated the door money from their latest gig and sent a cheque for £195.

The Oscars Night organised by Lynne Fairchild for Barclays Bank employees raised £2250 on the night, which consisted of entry tickets, raffles and the auction of the services for a day of an area manager. (he enjoyed the shackles apparently).  Barclays Bank will match this amount pound for pound (therefore total raised will be £4500). Many thanks to Lynne for organising this, and Barclays Bank for their generous donation.

Thanks to the village of Linton near Ross on Wye who sent in
£1,378 raised through 'open house' coffee mornings entitled 'The Big Wave'
and customers of the Alma Inn in the village

Penny Locke has sent £210.50 from a collection box at The Queens Arms pub after reading about Matt Rose in the Newbury Weekly News

Marchwood Yacht club, of which Matt is a member, diverted funds from their tsunami appeal to us after hearing of Matt’s involvement and held a raffle, raising £361.

Mrs Little, whose son Michael and partner Vicky were in Unawatuna has raised money from the people of Carlisle and sent a cheque for £315. We’re especially touched since the town is still recovering from severe flooding in early January.

Katie Posner writes: “The Gig in Northwood arranged by was an amazing success. I think we raised somewhere in the region of £4500. Loads of people filled out gift aid forms also so that should bump the final figure up as well.
We danced the night away and a good time was had by all.” Photos of the gig can be found on http://www.friendsofunawatuna.org.uk/PicturesMisc.html

The Lewes Town Hall Tsunami Appeal Music Festival had a bar, the proceeds of which were donated to the Friends of Unawatuna. Tanya Smart, one of our trustees did a talk, which apparently moved many to tears. She also had the honour of sharing the stage with the god of hellfire himself, Mr Arthur Brown!

Many thanks to the constant flow of donations from friends of Henk Jan Boer and Siestke van Harte.

Forthcoming Events:

Saturday 5th March – 2 – 5pm. Tsunami Relief Fayre, Telscombe Civic Centre, East Sussex. Please see flyer: http://www.friendsofunawatuna.org.uk/articles/TelscombeTsunamiReliefFayre.jpg

Louisa Bain writes:  “We have started a raffle to be drawn on 11th March at a Virgin V party in Leamington Spa. We have had donations from Obsessions in Birmingham for an Ayurvedic treatment, JoJo Norris who offers work place massages, Di Sinclair who runs yoga classes and we are donating a couple of House of Fraser vouchers”. If you would like your name to be entered into the raffle, please contact Louisa at louisa@heartengland.co.uk