As the first step and as her project in Landmark Education’s SELP, Goyal arranged a movie show for 180 children from Bangalore, which took place on 1st April at the Galaxy Theatre. The movie shown was Care of Footpath, which was chosen to relate specifically to the lives of the children attending – it’s about a child of humble beginnings who learns to excel in school and become educated.

Read about this initiative in more detail in at article from Bangalore’s Citizen Matters.

‘Dream a Little Dream’ Art Camps launched

A series of art camps titled ‘Dream a Little Dream’ was launched in the city on Monday. The camps are aimed at touching the lives of hundreds of underprivileged children. The first art camp was held at APSA – Dream School, a voluntary organisation for underprivileged children at HAL. About 200 children participated in the one-day camp. The project is an initiative of Reena Chowdhury, an IT professional who wants to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged children.

Kai Tahu hui

By Dani McDonald

Wellington will be hosting a substantial hui (meeting) for a predominant South Island tribe this weekend. The hui, Our Pounamu Pathway, will be held at Tapu Te Ranga Marae in Wellington on September 4.

Organiser James Muirhead says it is a chance for the 3,000 Kai Tahu descendants currently living in the greater Wellington region to learn about their culture and to connect with other descendants of the iwi (tribe).

With the support and guidance of community leader Angela Wallace, Mr. Muirhead’s project has become bigger than expected.

“It’s a hui, a real whanau environment with stories and songs of the past and of ancestors, spoken by a number of speakers coming along.

“It will be looking at what it is to be Kai Tahu today and how we can all be a contribution for the greater good of the iwi” he says.

Iaean Cranwell, leader of Aoraki Bound in Christchurch, is also expected to attend.

But for Mr. Muirhead, an exploration geologist, getting to know his culture hasn’t always been easy.

“I sort of came to realize that I haven’t recognized my Mari heritage.

“I was brought up Pakeha, and never really got myself involved,” he says.

As part of a 3-5 month programme run by Landmark Education, in which participants undertake projects with a community-based focus, Mr. Muirhead created the hui for himself and others to experience the culture of the south.

“I’m really excited about it when I share about it. I’ve got the opportunity in an environment that’s new to me.”

He says he is inspired to be involved in a Kai Tahu community in Wellington and to open up the opportunities of learning about Kai Tahu protocol to other whanau members.

“There is an expanded community that could be involved in this. For myself I really want to get an enhanced feeling of my Kai Tahu taka (essence).”

Mr. Muirhead hopes this becomes a yearly event to occur on the first day of spring.

“I’m hoping to really strengthen the Kai Tahu community – to expand it and to help people know what’s available through the runaka (tribal council) and what’s available through the community.”

The hui will run from 12pm to 6pm.

The following article was written by Agnes Ginestet in August 25th Cook Strait News in New Zealand – it’s about the project Charlotte Clark created in Landmark Education’s Self-Expression and Leadership Programme to appreciate grandparents by having a Grandparents Day established in New Zealand.

Appreciating Grandparents

A 24-year old Thorndon resident is hoping to gather 50,000 signatures on a petition to create a National New Zealand Grandparents’ day.

Charlotte Clark says like Mothers’ and Fathers’ Day, this would be an opportunity to celebrate who our grandparents are for us, to call them, to visit them, to let them know how amazing and how loved they are.

“That would just be amazing if we had something like that for grandparents. It is really big and exciting for me to think about something and think I can actually give it a go.”

She started this initiative as part of a self-expression and leadership programme at Landmark Education.

“We get to choose a community that we want to make a difference in, and create and lead a project in the community.”

She says grandparents play a role in communities by doing a lot of volunteer work, and they play a huge role in the families in terms of supporting their children and grandchildren.

“It is easy to forget to really acknowledge them for how amazing they are.”

Charlotte has one grandparent left, Helen, who lives in Tauranga and whom she sees twice a year.

“I just love her so much. Her and my granddad were always there. Grandparents are so warm. They are just so loving.”

Charlotte says she has contacted Grey Power Wellington and other organizations such as Girlguiding NZ and Scouts NZ to let people know about the petitions.

She would love that young people go in the community, and tell their friends and families about it.

“The more people hear about it, the easier it will be to happen.”

Sign the petition online here.

Motorcycle display puts transport museum into gear!

A vintage motorcycle has roared into a shop to help promote ambitious plans for a new transport museum.

The 1956 Ariel Red Hnter 350 is currently on display in the window of Serendipity on Biggleswade High Street.

And it is hoped that the bike, which is on loan from Stotfold Engineers, will encourage more people to get involved in the project and show their support for Transport Autism.

Transport Autism, the brainchild of Mark Ty-Wharton, is a project that hopes to bring a transport museum straffed by people with Autistic spectrum disorders to the town.

Anyone interested in finding out more is encouraged to drop into their shop and sign up to the new mailing list for the latest news about the project.

The bike has been in storage for 15 years, and was the first restoration project of Stotfold Engineers’ Terry Ives.

For more information visit the website at transportautism.org.uk.

It’s Your City, Keep it Clean

Faridibad residents put up an excellent example of fulfilling their duties towards their city when an NGO, “I Love My City,” Market Welfare Association, and RWA jointly took the initiative to clean one of the most popular but messy markets of Sector 15.

The venture was held on Sunday by almost 50 people where they themselves swept the market clean and shouted slogans like “Mera market kaisa ho, Mere ghar ke jaisa ho.” They talked to shopkeepers and vendors about how they were responsible for the upkeep of the market. They received a positive response from the locals when shopkeepers voluntarily started to clean the garbage near their shops  and promised to do the same.

PP Singh, the founder of the NGO, said “I ardently love Faridibad and it is every resident’s responsibility to take care of this city.”

Manohar Puniani, MWA president, said “It is actually our responsibility to keep the market neat and clean and today we have taken the first step.”

The NGO has been associated with many more welfare projects in the past where they undertook the construction of a road in Sector 23 and repaired potholes in Sector 28.

[Find out more by looking up I Love My City on Facebook.]

The event will run from 2-10pm not far from Brighton’s West Pier. The entertainment for the day includes live bands, jugglers, magicians, stilt walkers and other interesting acts.

At the same time, the event will screen short films by people telling of the impact of drugs and alcohol on their lives, and local support groups on charities will be on hand to provide further information. Dozens of local groups have pitched in to sponsor the event.

Bryman, in collaboration with poet Neil Sykes, has written lyrics for a song about the issue and is offering a contest for young songwriters to write their own melodies to fit the song. Three winners from the contest’s three different age categories will have their songs played the day of the show, professionally recorded by Warner Music studios and played on local radio – Juice 107.2, an event sponsor.

Bryman is passionate about the issue, having been personally affected by the death of her brother-in-law and the breakup of her marriage for reasons relating drugs and alcohol. To find out more information about the August 1st event, or to discover how to enter the melody writing contest, please visit the Clued Up Brighton site.

The Croft Christian Fellowship Celebration Day was, according to the article, held to celebrate 25 years of a powerful, connected community in Swindon town.

Croft was a church in Swindon that came into existence in the late 60′s from the house church movement. At first the church was simply a house on Croft Road where people came together to share their faith. It grew into larger and larger locations, eventually ending up at the Churchfields School Hall. The church had about 100-200 regular attendees at any given time, and existed for more than 35 years, making a difference in thousands of lives.

The July 17 event was expected to draw hundreds of people, and was created to allow old friends to come together and reunite – while the church isn’t there anymore, the friendships live on. A talk was given by Mike and Ann Ranstead, who owned the first house where Croft Church was located.

Worthing-Davies and Jamie Stapleton ran the event – Both grew up in the church. Stapleton said about the church, ‘I really don’t think I would be the person I am today if it wasn’t for Croft. The Church was like a big extended family and we both feel that it has shaped our lives and who we have become immensely. We want to celebrate this and all of the people who have been a part of it’.

Megan Worthing-Davies noted the influence of Landmark Education in the event’s creation: ‘Landmark has encouraged me to think about the contribution I am making to the world around me, and we were asked to take on a project to positively impact a community that was significant to us. The idea came to me straight away, because although Croft as an organisation no longer exists, it has left a truly wonderful legacy which I think it’s high time to celebrate!’

Read the original article at the Swindon Advertiser.

The project, which was featured in a wide range of media outlets such as the Polish Observer, a Polish language news weekly released in the UK, involved a charity concert held June 27 at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in London. With entertainment provided by a gospel choir, attendees were encouraged to contribute to the cause.

Zmorzynska’s project, which she titled ‘Music for Bethlehem in Vyatka’ (Vyatka is the old name for Kirov) was designed to support a Roman Catholic priest, Father Grzegorz Zwolinski, in his efforts to aid single mothers. According to the Polish Observer, there are very few social services provided to aid mothers and their children.

Currently Father Zwolinski aids 11 mothers with food, lodging, clothing and supplies – through the project Zmorzynska is seeking to raise enough money for Zwolinski to set up a home for single mothers and their children to safely live in.

For more information, go to http://catholic.mainsolution.ru/ or email Zwolinski at annazmorzynska@hotmail.com.