Sunday 30 November 2008

Charity Jazz evening goes with a Swing!

Friday 14th of November saw the roof raised at Ottery St Mary Football Club when the City Steam Jazz Band played to an enthusiastic and appreciative crowd to raise money for The Colour of Hope. Here's a report of the evening from the Charity Chair, Margaret Stevens:

"We were packed to capacity, but still found room to dance. The audience gave terrific feedback to the band in response to a mixture of hot numbers, blues and super vocals from David Martin and Ron Hurst. We had hearty audience participation during a rendering of "You are my Sunshine", dedicated to the people of Ottery who have suffered hardship as a result of the recent flooding. It was particularly pleasing to see such a wide age range from young to young at heart!

Thanks to all the local people and businesses who donated raffle prizes, we raised a wonderful £93. We raised a further £172.50 on the craft stall, by selling a range of beautifully hand-crafted items from Peru. In total, we made £691!

Thank you also to our hosts for the evening - Ottery St Mary Football Club - who were so helpful and supportive throughout, providing us with a lovely venue for our family evening. Thank you to all those who helped with promotion by selling tickets and advertising the event.

Our biggest debt of gratitude is to The City Steam Jazz Band without whom this wonderful evening would not have been possible. We are sure that Jazz lovers in the Ottery area will be eagerly awaiting their next local performance."

Read more about the evening's success in this Sidmouth Herald article: "Jazz concert trumpets £700 Peru charity bonanza".

Thursday 6 November 2008

Local Peruvian volunteer runs drama classes for our young people

Last training session, (Tuesday) our fourth group of young people were able to enjoy their first drama session with local volunteer, Katherina. Although shy at first, they all opened up eventually and were able to put themselves into the mindsets of the roles they were given to play.

The Colour of Hope is very grateful to Katherina for the time she is dedicating to the young people. It is very important that they work through past and present conflicts in order that they continue to grow and prosper as healthy and successful young adults. Drama is an excellent way of expressing hidden emotions, thoughts and feelings and really helps the young people to give voice to their fears within a protective environment.

Tuesday 4 November 2008

News from The Colour of Hope’s Star Fundraisers

The Colour of Hope's star fundraisers, Jess and Rosa Batten Stevens, have now completed all this year's East Devon Carnivals. Their proud mum, Mary, has written in with news of the last two carnivals and their final fundraising total -


Honiton Carnival's "no wheels" policy proved a challenge, but after a few adaptations, Beaky the Totem Pole was transformed into a walking entry! It was unfortunately too heavy for Jess to carry, so I made my debut appearance as a stand in and Jess became a very encouraging cheer leader for the night. I made it (somewhat red in the face!) to the finish line, but the undisputed star of the show was Rosa, who danced the entire carnival. The judging was done on route and points were awarded for crowd interaction. Please check out her stunning performance here (best viewed with Internet Explorer). A very well deserved First Prize.

Despite the terrible consequences of last Wednesday's bad weather in Ottery St Mary, our home town carnival went ahead and we were proud to part of an amazing show of community good will. The residents of some of the worst affected houses were seen out enjoying the parade and participants put on a great show despite the freezing cold and rain. Many thanks to our wonderful cheer leader, Matty, who did a marvellous job of boosting spirits. Another well deserved First Prize.

This marks the end of the East Devon Carnival circuit, but just when you thought it was all over...
Sat 22nd Nov (time to be confirmed) Jess and Rosa will be taking part in the Exeter Santa Parade in brand new Christmas outfits! And on Sat 5th Dec they will be participating in Honiton Christmas Carnival. Please come and support them if you can. The girls have raised a final total of £1350 for The Colour of Hope. Many thanks to all those who've supported them so generously this year, and as the curtain falls on carnival 2008, work has already begun on next year's entries....

Best Wishes,

Mary, Jess and Rosa