AMBULANCE - LIVERPOOL

Liverpool Principal, Tracy Shirley, and her husband, Steve, put the 'fun' into fundraising yesterday when they hosted a barbecue for Helen O' Grady students as the Village Africa ambulance stopped by!

The ambulance has now raised over £4,000, and still has lots of stops to make! Please visit http://www.villageafrica.org.uk/ for more information and to donate.

AMBULANCE STOP 9

The ambulance stop in Manchester saw a friendly ambush by students of the Academy. Principal, Gill Hollis, had no chance to drive the vehicle as it seems to have been taken over by Oscar the dog!

So far over £3000 has been raised on the journey and still the fun continues!

You can donate at www.villageafrica.org and you can follow progress of the charity's group on Facebook and Twitter.

Photos back to normal size today after a little hiccup with yesterdays pics!

AMBULANCE STOPS 7 & 8

At Leamington Spa, the ambulance met with Thare Machi, a Village Africa Partner. Thare Machi sends health DVDs to Village Africa and the charity sends them Kiswahili translations.



L to R in picture - Tina Freeman, a past volunteer and 'knitting queen' of Yamba, Caroline Johnston, Liz Collyer, Bev Pettle from Thare Machi.


Stop 8 was a visit to the Helen O'Grady branch in West Midlands. Principal, Jane Evans, arranged an African themed lessons with her class. We love the rabbits ears!

http://www.villageafrica.org.uk/

AMBULANCE - STOP 5

Late Monday afternoon, the ambulance moved on to Brimscombe Primary School in Gloucestershire where Lesley Young teaches Helen O'Grady classes. She was joined yesterday by Helen O'Grady National Training Manager, Margaret Darley. A class full of very excited children climbed in the ambulance, in their animal masks, pretending to drive but, more importantly, sounding the siren! Margaret said: "The children listened intently while Caroline explained about the work she and her team are doing in Tanzania and very generously threw lots of loose change into the collection tin!" Over £100 was raised in this very short visit.

Contact National Director, Caroline Johnston, at info@villageafrica.org.uk

AMBULANCE - STOPS 2, 3 & 4

Bournemouth Principal, Susana Ayala - who just happens to be eight months pregnant! - was the first host stop after Portsmouth. She really did the Academy proud with lots of colourful and delicious fruit and face painting for the children.
















In Exeter Principal, Abbe Martin, dressed in African clothes and provided lots of materials for the students to make props and display them on African cloths. They were joined for the photo shoot by Oscar, a very non-African animal!


Stop 4 was in South Wales. Principal Becky Goodfield and her teacher, Gemma Carter, obviously enjoyed their ride in the ambulance! The stop was at the Welsh Assembly. Roy Gee, a past volunteer, is seen in the picture in his African shirt.


Liz Collyer, who is driving the ambulance, has a son who attends Helen O'Grady classes in Portsmouth. She is seen here (R) with the director of Village Africa, Caroline Johnston, and also with Chris Franks who is a member of the Welsh Assembly.

To learn more or to make a donation visit http://www.villageafrica.org.uk/

VILLAGE AFRICA AMBULANCE - ON ITS WAY!

In Waterlooville Market with Cartridge World Stig, passers by donated £86.44!

Portsmouth Principal, Andrea Ward and Village Africa Director, Caroline Johnston, took their ambulance on the road on Friday, starting off with a bucket collection in Waterlooville Market, followed by a pre-launch visit to Mill Rythe Junior School and finally the official launch at Queen's Inclosure School.


At Mill Rythe Junior School, where the drive finishes in two weeks time, with Cartridge World Stig and head teacher, Mrs. Queripel.
















The official launch was from Queens Inclosure School, where students presented an African theme day, with younger students wearing animal masks and older ones playing a bucket game!

Donations can be made at http://www.villageafrica.org.uk/ and you can follow the progress of the drive on this blog. Please feel free to leave your messages of support here too!

VILLAGE AFRICA/HELEN O'GRADY AMBULANCE SET FOR DEPARTURE!

Today, Friday 11th June, sees the launch of the Village Africa sponsored ambulance drive.

After months of preparation, Portsmouth Principal, Andrea Ward and her sister, Caroline Johnston for Village Africa, are delighted they can now start their journey. This week, they have been interviewed by Quay radio in Portsmouth (see below).

They will be joined at today's launch by Alan Knight MBE and Cartridge World will be there with their Eco car, along with The Stig. Their first stop this weekend is Bournemouth before they head north to Exeter, detour through South Wales where they will be meeting the Welsh Assembly, through Gloucestershire and the Midlands to the North West and then on to Scotland, spending next Saturday in Edinburgh before heading back to York, on to Sheffield and then to London.

On the way they will meet up with more than twenty Helen O'Grady Principals and, of course, hundreds of drama students, arriving back in Portsmouth to a special reception on Friday 25th June.

The Academy is proud to sponsor the drive, and we are certain there will be many more donations on the way. They have already raised in the region of £2500 before they even leave.

We will include pictures and information on here as the journey goes on. For more information and to make a dontaion visit the Village Africa website You can email Andrea on portsmouth@helenogrady.co.uk and Caroline on info@villageafrica.org.uk

We all at the Academy wish them safe journeys and all the luck in the world with this amazing trip.