News Update

NEWS UPDATE 7 – 26th January 2005.

Dear All,

News update from the Friends Of Unawatuna…..

From the ground in Unawatuna:

Jamie is back from Unawatuna, Jake and Matt are remaining there for another couple of weeks, and Aleksis arrived today. The village looks very different to when we left on the 29^th.

Monday saw the first Poya day since 26^th December. For those of you who don’t know, Poya days occur on the full moon and are of great significance to the Buddhist religion. The January Poya was particularly significant bearing in mind the events of the December Poya. On the previous day an abundance of flags and white strips appeared along the Galle/Matara road, followed by a lot of effort in lining the beachfront roads leading to the temple with coconut oil lanterns on bamboo stands. At around 19:30 all the lanterns were lit, and hundreds of candles were set adrift from the beach in paper “boats”. The occasion was very much a mark of remembrance and respect for those who lost their lives last month.

Some tidying up has started, but there is still a very long way to go. No disease has broken out although the old Dutch canal is blocked and stagnant and a breeding ground for mosquitoes, there is talk of a dengue fever outbreak although this is not thought likely. We have met a number of local NGOs, community leaders, local businessmen and organisations to try to better understand what is needed in the long term. In the next couple of days a more comprehensive update will appear.

FUNDRAISING

Below is an update on the fundraising events taken place recently. We have now exceeded the £40,000 mark. Our heartfelt thanks, as always, to all of you who have donated and organised events.

If any events have been omitted, please ensure you send us details of your efforts.

Hearts and Voices Choir sang their hearts out at the Castle Mall in Norwich on Saturday 22^nd, energetically led by Chrissy Parsons West. There was a brilliant atmosphere and young and old dug into their pockets to raise £275.31. Muriel added the sum of £235 from a sale she had organised which raised the total to £510.

Paul and Sharon Harris, the parents of Vicky Harris, one of the survivors in Unawatana, write:

“We organised a raffle to help raise money for the fund.  I go to lots of different line dancing events and classes so my target for the fundraising was these venues. Alan and Pricilla of Select Events Ltd donated a Pontins Line Dance Weekend, Rob from "Masters in Line" donated a Full Weekend Pass to the World Masters.  We also had other donations of prizes from dear friends.  My husband and I also sold raffle tickets where we work.  The raffle was a huge success and we also were given some large donations as well.  In total we have raised to date £605 pounds!  We personally would like to thank the Line dancing people for their support, Staff at St. James's Hospital ICU and Schnieder work colleagues for helping to raise such a grand amount.”

Avenue First School in Norwich has raised £689.14

Mary Carpenter, The Secretary the School writes:

 “The money was raised by giving each child in our school a mini box of raisins to eat and then they were invited to bring the box back with a donation in.  It was a very simple idea which has really caught everybody's imagination and we are very proud of the amount raised.”

Well done to all the children and staff at the school.

Laura Dunham has been doing a lot of fundraising across the pond in New York:  “Next week I start my school presentations to raise money.  A few news channels are interested in filming it so I may be able to promote the charity nationally, which would be fabulous…. I am doing a fundraiser at a comedy club on Feb. 16th.  All the door money will go to the charity - about $5,000 dollars.  

Lastly, the New York Times printed my story (and paid me..)”

You can view this article from the link on www.friendsofunawatuna.org.uk under Personal Stories.

Gerry and Lynette Haycock have raised just over £3500.  They held a Disco/Dance at Helston football club in Cornwall.  There was also an auction and raffle.  They would like to express their thanks to the football club who have bent over backwards to support the event and to ‘Nite Flite’ who supplied their disco services for free.

Helston football club is to also host a fancy dress and Miss Helston competition in the near future with proceeds going to friends of Unawatuna.  Miss Helston entrants do have to be MALE though.  A photo of the winner is a MUST for the website, please!!

The ‘Waste Recycling Group’ personnel (Ricky Haycock’s employers) have held a raffle and dress-down day and have raised a total of £385.  This has been pledged pending charity status.

Ray Guest, Club President of The Junior Rugby Club based in Essex was asked by Steve Haycock one of the players to support the appeal. Ray quotes, “We raised funds at a pre match Lunch and also from donations” and raised £800.

They have now been in touch with 'Rugby World magazine' to ask if they would publish Steve's story and an appeal to the Rugby community to support our Fund raising efforts.

Many thanks to Ray, Steve and the Rugby Club.

Kate Posner writes:

'A big thank you to Shaftesbury High School, Headstone Lane, Hatch End, Middlesex, for fundraising for 'Friends of Unawatuna' they raised £587 by doing sponsored silent reading, cake sales, bric a brac sales, washing staff cars, to mention a few. Well done and thank you!!'

'Monica Burton's yoga class raised £160 – Thank you.'

‘Brian Deighton and the Rugby club in Aberdeen raised £300 - Thank you'

Thanks to all Kate’s friends for your efforts

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

February

Mark Stamper has foolishly decided to run the Standard Chartered Marathon in Hong Kong this February.  He is doing this both to prove to his wife that he can (she the unbeliever that she is!) and also to raise money for a charity called Friends of Unawatuna.

I only have the month of February for this, not an actual date – hopefully this does not mean it will take Mark the full 28 days to complete..!

2^nd February

Lynne Fairchild with her employers, Barclays Bank are holding an Oscars Night.  It is expected to raise at least £2000.

10^th February

Vinehall School, Robertsbridge are having a non uniform day and has allocated all the classes to bring in items to make up hampers and will then be selling raffle tickets for the hampers, Thank you to the Desoutters’ family for organising this.

19^th February

Gig – Northwood. Details can be found in the News Update 3 on www.friendsofunawatuna.org.uk

21st February

Western Road Primary in Lewes has arranged a Bring and Buy sale.  It's been organised by the children, including Jonah and Nat Walter's, two of the survivors from the disaster.

LASTLY

Don’t forget to watch the documentary tonight at 8pm, Channel 5.

Tsunami: The Day the Wave Struck, starring Jake Zarins and Nick Keegan of Friends of Unawatuna

With the communications being unreliable in Sri Lanka at present, Jake is having some problems with receiving attachments. If you are sending mail to his personal account, please keep it brief and paste the contents of attachments directly into his mail. This is NOT the case with mail to support@friendsofunawatuna.org.uk, which is being administered from the UK.

Kindest regards to everyone and keep up the good work!

Jake Zarins

Jamie & Claire Wilkinson

Jon Walter & Tanya Smart.

Tarquin & Tine Desoutter.