Community H.E.A.R.T. are pleased to announce our fundraising dinner in Glasgow raised £10,000 for our projects in South Africa.

The evening started with a Civic Reception hosted by Baillie Jim NcNally of Glasgow City Council. There was excitement from the very beginning of the evening in the wonderful surroundings of Glasgow City Chambers. After dinner the guests listened intently to Denis Goldberg, one of those sentenced along side Nelson Mandela. Denis thanked those assembled and supporters unable to attend for the solidarity they have shown the people of South Africa in the struggle against apartheid and the struggle to overcome apartheid’s legacy. Speaking of the continued need to vercome the legacy of apartheid Denis said,  “In many ways the struggle was the easy bit when we all had one common enemy. Building a country is much more difficult.”

The rest of the evening we were back to the fun with a public auction and music from MOSSAKA. There were lots of other options to win prizes with a special raffle and silent auction.

Community H.E.A.R.T. would like to thank all those who sponsored tables and provided auctio and raffle prizes: Glasgow City Council,Encore Hospitality Services, UNISON Scotland, FBU Scotland, Glasgow Credit Union, FBU North West, ACTSA Scotland, Glasgow Flowers, The Co-operative Scotland & northern Ireland, Glasgow City UNISON, Zulu Nyala, Print Matters, St Brides Free Range Poultry Farm, UNISON GHA Branch, UNISON Scottishe Electricity Branch, J.R.’s Hair Studio, Jill Furmanovsky, Denis Goldberg, Glasgow Caledonian University, UNISON City of Edinburgh, Eleanor Bruce, Nat & Elsa Perez, Strvaigin, UNISON Aberdeenshire, David Burt, Dave Prentis & Liz Snape, Mmapula Tladi Small, Sheila & Davie McGeoch, Outdoor Trax, UNISON North West Region, Seori & Pauline Burnett of the Peatcutters Croft B&B, Brian Purdie and finally thank you to everyone who helped make this event happen.

We, at Community H.E.A.R.T., wanted to let you know about this event which is an opportunity to visit an award winning garden and support Community H.E.A.R.T. at the same time. 

Sir Alec Reed, founder of the Big Give, will open his award winning Manor House Garden to the public for one day with all the proceeds going to charity. Tickets are £5 each. On entry each visitor will be given a £5 Big Give voucher to support the charity of their choice. This is a wonderful opportunity to see these wonderful historic gardens.

The gardens will be open from 2pm to 5pm on the 21st of August. The location is The Manor, Little Compton, Nr Moreton-in-Marsh, Warwickshire, GL56 0RZ. You can buy tickets at www.thebiggive.org.uk

Community H.E.A.R.T. are please to announce “A Night for the Children of the Rainbow Nation”. The fundraising dinner will take place on the 17th of September 2011 at Glasgow City Chambers.

The guest of honour, Denis Goldberg, was one of those sentenced to 4 life sentences along side Nelson Mandela. A life long campaigner on human rights and anti-racism, Denis, is a trully inspiring speaker. This is one for the few experiences of meeting and hearing from one of the heroes of the struggle to overcome apartheid and it’s legacy.

The evening will start with a Civic Reception, followed by a dinner and a chance to hear Denis speak of the projects changing the lives of people in South Africa and the what still needs to be done to create Nelson Mandela’s vision of the Rainbow Nation. During the evening there will be chances to bid on auction prizes and take part in a special raffle with lots of chances to win a prize.

Tickets cost £50 per head and tables of 10 can be purchased at a cost of £500, part tables can also be booked. Please contact Isobel McVicar at books@community-heart.org.uk .  

 You can now make donations up to £10 by text. It’s easy just text COMH18 and the amount you want to donate to 70070. So if you want to donate £3 text:

COMH18 £3 to 70070.

School library already set up with books from Community H.E.A.R.T.

Th books left Awesome Books on the 14th of April 2011 and are now on their way to Gauteng in South Africa. 

Awesome Books, which is an on-line book seller, also plan to go to South Africa and film the distribution of the books to the schools, so we should be able to put a clip on the website later in the year.

For the third year running we have registered fr the Small Charity Car Draw run by the Foundation for Social Improvement (Registered Charity No. 123384) and sponsored by Zurich insurance. 

Thr prize is a Fiat 500 1.2 Pop. Here are a few reviews: 

“The Fiat 500 is both stylish and fun. The modest running costs complement the engaging handling. So, this nimble little city car can be enthusiastically thrown into corners and it should emerge grinning like a Cheshire Cat.”  Motoring.co.uk

 “I love my Fiat 500 1.2 Pop from the moment I drove off in it. Great fun to drive on the motorway and in town for parking into slots others can not!”  What Car?

 “It’s absolutely fantastic. It drives like a dream. Everybody admires it.” Fiat Forum

This is a wonderful opportunity for small charities like Community H.E.A.R.T. Each ticket costs £2.00 and we will receive £1.90 for every ticket we sell! this means for every 2 tickets we sell we will be able to send 19 books to South Africa to set up school libraries.

Buy tickets on -line by clicking here http://www.smallcharitycardraw.co.uk/tickets.php?id=cheart

On-line book company, Child’s Play, decided to support our Book Campaign as the Christmas charity. The company donated new books that we can send to South Africa and a generous donation of £200. Maggie Dunn, Community H.E.A.R.T. Vice-Chair welcomed the donation, “It is wonderful to receive new books which will brighten the lives of children in South Africa.”

Community H.E.A.R.T. are pleased to announce Baroness Jean Coussins has joined our group of sponsors. Baroness Coussins entered the House of Lords in 2007 and is a crossbencher. She has had a long interest in South Africa and supported Community H.E.A.R.T. for many years.

One of the schools in KwaZulu Natal.

Three Co-operative schools  are teaming up to send 50,000 books to their linked schools in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. The three schools, Aire Valley School (near Bradford) Campstown Technology College (near Doncaster) and South Axholme School (Epworth) are going to encourage the public to donate books for the campaign. The three schools in South Africa Makhasa High School, Kwa Giba High School and Malabela High School, all in KwaZulu Natal, will use the books to set up school libraries. Isobel McVicar, Community H.E.A.R.T. Director said, ” This is a wonderful way of students cementing their links. Though school buildings have vastly improved since the end apartheid, many schools have no school library and students have little or no access to books. A school library is a practical tangible way of changing the outcomes for young people in South Africa.

The project is supported by the Co-operative College and Co-operative Group.

Matt Smith and Mike Kirby join Denis Goldberg at the book launch in Glasgow. (Photograph by Brian Purdie)

Staff from UNISON Scotland (the public service trade union)  donated £443 to Community H.E.A.R.T. to mark the retirement of Matt Smith, former Scottish Secretary. Matt is a long standing supporter of Community H.E.A.R.T., having visited South Africa and some of our projects in October 2000. Thank you to Matt and all the staff who contributed. We would also like to thank Matt for his support and wish him a happy retirement.