NEWSLETTER APRIL 2011

On page 2...a tax boost for

MAD4Africa...how we are looking to

improve sporting facilities in Kiyonza...and

details of our recent media coverage!

Together we can make a Kiyonza Professional Training Centre - Open for Business!Our Project Manager Eileen Gilbey reports from January's first day of school...

Welcome to our April newsletter! It's been a busy few months for MAD4Africa, in Rwanda and in the U.K.

Our Professional Training Centre in Kiyonza is now up and running, while fundraising events continue apace over here. We're also forging some exciting new partnerships to increase our exposure. Read on for the details - and thanks to everyone who's contributed!

Difference!

It was certainly an unusual New Years Eve, spent 35,000 feet up in the air with a load of strangers who were all asleep - except for a young lad who was scared of flying - so we sat there high-fiving each other at midnight UK time. Once in Rwanda I obtained the name and number of our new Centre Manager (Diogene). It was here that I ran into a major problem, as he does not speak very good English. Luckily Yvonne (another MAD4Africa committee member) was out in Rwanda visiting her relatives, and she managed to sort out a meeting in Butare, acting as my translator.

Following this we hopped on motto taxis to Kiyonza, and within a few minutes of our arrival several people came to say hello. It was big hugs all round and I was completely overwhelmed by their reception. One guy had walked for two hours to come and say hi - I felt like crying it was so touching. Fast forward to Monday 17th – and the big day had arrived. By 8-30 there was a steady stream of students arriving, many of whom I recognised. Every time I had been back to the village I had been bombarded with questions about when they could come to school and they were clearly as excited as I was about the opening! The numbers continued to grow and we ended up allowing more than 80 in, which was as many as we possibly could! We had to turn away at least 35 more students which made the success a little bittersweet. It is clear that we will have to raise lots more money and build more classrooms! The plans don't stop there; we also want to find land to develop into a pig farm, to provide income for the centre and help it become self sufficient, and discuss bringing electricity to the village. I foresee lots of work and fund-raising ahead! All in all it was another successful trip and once again I left my friends with a tear in my eye - but I will return.

"One guy had walked for two hours to come and say hi - I felt like crying it was so touching."

A massive thank you to the Witham Brownies in Essex, who have donated £100 to MAD4Africa and will be holding their own fundraisers after choosing us as their charity for the year! Photos

of the event coming soon...

MAD4Africa Newsletter April 2011

Above: The girls are introduce to sewing

Above: The 80+ students who registered

Above: Students get to grips with carpentry

See more photos of Eileen's trip at www.mad4africa.org.uk

Page 1

Budget Boost for MAD4Africa!Chancellor George Osborne's first Budget may have been criticised for the continued heavy spending cuts, but within his plans there was some great news for MAD4Africa. The Gift Aid system has been simplified, and now small charities will be allowed to claim on up to £5,000 of cash donations a year without the need for declarations.

Gift Aid is a tax relief scheme which enables charities to reclaim basic rate tax from HMRC on donations made by UK tax payers. This means the value of the donation to the charity grows by a quarter.

Until the recent reforms, Gift Aid could only be claimed where there was a declaration from the donator to validate that they are a UK tax payer and that the donation was not in return for a good or service. You may have seen this declaration when using the JustGiving website to make donations.

The declaration could be difficult to obtain in situations where a donation was not specifically recorded, for example, in collection tins, so it was hard for small charities such as MAD4Africa to benefit from Gift Aid to the full extent of their fundraising.

The move is a huge boost for MAD4Africa; A large proportion of our funds are raised through the generosity of our supporters, friends and family during events, and through Gift Aid your donations will have an even greater effect on the communities we support in Rwanda. Under the new reforms, for every £100 of small cash donations, £125 will go to Rwanda. That could help buy tools for our training centre, employ a new teacher, or purchase uniforms for our students.

The Chancellor also announced a number of other reforms in the charitable sector, including a promise to reduce bureaucracy by introducing a new system of online filing, and exploring how to increase the current relatively low take-up of payroll giving. This allows individuals to donate through their pay and reduce their income tax bills. We look forward to more good news like this in the future!

Not all doom and gloom from The

Chancellor's battered briefcase!

Partnerships Latest - Football Crazy!

As well as helping young people in Kiyonza shape their future by learning skills at the training centre, MAD4Africa is also committed to developing facilities for the whole community to use and enjoy. With that in mind discussions have been taking place to set up an official partnership with the Essex County Football Association, to help bring better sports facilities to the village. Plans have been drawn up for players, clubs and referees across the county to donate money in any way they choose, from match day fees to sponsored challenges. The aim is to move towards a number of targets – with kit being purchased once each is hit. The targets could look something like this:

FUNDRAISING TARGET PACK DETAILS£100 Basics – footballs, pump, whistles etc£200 Basics 2 – bibs, cones etc £500 Competitive Pack – shin pads,

gloves, nets etc£1000 Pitch Pack – money to flatten pitch,

put up corner flags, paint lines etc

£2000 Construction Pack – money to buy materials and build better goalposts and other facilities

£3000 Legacy Pack – money to invest in an inter-village tournament, to be used on trophies, admin and other official items; money to invest in football books, which could in turn be used in English lessons

Talks between MAD4Africa and the Essex F.A. are ongoing.

Meanwhile, MAD4Africa has secured media support by linking up with two stations in Essex, Southend Radio and Chelmsford Radio. As a former employee himself, our Vodafone World of Difference winner and Media Manager Martin Harris has acted as a useful link, setting up a diary blog of his placement on both station's websites. The news team also interviewed Martin in March for a story on getting more young people into charity work and fundraising, further boosting our profile. Nick Hull, Station Manager of Southend and Chelmsford Radio, has committed to help us by putting our logo on their sites, and advertising any future events where possible.

Got an idea for a fundraiser? Visit

www.mad4africa.org.uk to contact us!

On page 3...how we've been helped by Vodafone World of Difference...and the

latest on our fundraising efforts!

MAD4Africa Newsletter April 2011 Page 2

The donations keep coming - Tools With A Mission in Ipswich

have supplied us with four laptops from their huge

warehouse of items - a massive thank you to Martin Humphries

for his help!

Media Placement Makes The World of Difference!In January, Martin Harris won a two-month, paid placement to work with MAD4Africa, thanks to the Vodafone World of Difference Programme. Working as Media Manager through March and April, Martin was set the challenge of creating a DVD promoting MAD4Africa's work, which can be used to access more sponsors, grants and donations. Martin has also been networking with potential partners and meeting other charities and groups to learn more and swap information.

This year, a record 11,000 people applied for World of Difference places, with just 500 being offered two-month placements. MAD4Africa was lucky enough to actually get two winners – and Martin's keen for the charity to be successful again next year:

Martin said: "The great thing about World of Difference is that it gives smaller charities the chance to have full-time employees for two-months – something that from my experiences can make a real difference. It would be brilliant if MAD4Africa could receive winners again to keep moving us forward, or even try and get one of the even more sough after year-long placements!”

"It would be brilliant if MAD4Africacould receive winners again next year to keep us moving forward!"

A big “thank you” to all those who came to our Traffic Light fundraiser at Anexo bar in Farringdon in February. We raised a whopping £1125, which will go towards our amazing training centre in Rwanda. For those of you in the dark about what a traffic light party involves, let us shed some red, amber and green light upon it! Match your clothing colour to a traffic light signal depending on your relationship status: red = taken; amber = uncertain; green = available. Guests came in an array of colours, making for a night of vibrant attire enhanced by a group of surprise visitors in pirate outfits! Girls arriving in green were given a lock, boys a key. Over the course of the night, green boys were tasked with reconciling their key with said padlock. We’re still awaiting figures on the success rate of this game! Same story with the Date Auction (hazily remembered by all as it happened when the night was in full flow). We auctioned off dates with several boys to a few lucky ladies, who were given cinema tickets and a meal at Anexo. Clearly we at Mad4Africa fancy ourselves as the charity equivalent of Cilla Black… Cocktails were free-flowing and, with £1 from each sold coming to Mad4Africa, our drunkenness did great work for charity. The night climaxed after the raffle with our two excellent DJs Dan and X playing a mixture of dance, funk and soul until the early hours. Highlights included the Mad4Africa committee showing off their questionable dance moves to Robyn S.

To see more of what we got up to check out https://picasaweb.google.com/makeadifference4africa/TrafficLightParty#slideshow.

Traffic Lights...Camera...Action!

MAD4Africa Newsletter April 2011 Page 3

For more details of our fundraising events, head to

www.mad4africa.org.uk

Future Fundraising

Here's what's coming up from MAD4Africa...

The time has nearly come for the annual Day on the Green fundraiser. This event travels around pubs in Parsons Green and has been on the MAD4Africa calendar since 2009.

We are pleased to announce that the wonderful organisers of Day on the Green will once again support MAD4Africa this year. The

date to keep free in your diaries is Saturday 11th June 2011 where 100 people will once again take on the challenge in West London. For more information please contact Troy – troy@mad4africa.org.uk or visit www.mad4africa.org.uk

It promises to be another wonderful afternoon so make sure you come along and support us and meet some new people.

Smile if you're having fun!

Kathleen Stock, Mike Kasar, Luke Hulme, Kieran Fitzgerald, Carl Wilson and Troy Aitken will be attempting to climb Mont Blanc from Monday 27th June 2011 over the course of five days.

If you would like to donate towards their cause please see http://www.justgiving.com/montblanc2011challenge.

This challenge is known to be one of the hardest in Europe. So please support them on their mission!

Here's the challenge that awaits!

On behalf of everyone at MAD4Africa, thank you for your continued support and we hope to see you at our events soon!

MAD4Africa Newsletter April 2011 Page 4