Sabre News June 2010 by Sabre Charitable Trust

SABRE NEWS

Sabre Charitable Trust Registered Charity No. 1105489

June 2010 Issue 3

World Cup Fever

t’s been a busy few months since the last newsletter dropped into your inbox with all sorts of things going on both in Ghana and the UK. The new kindergarten in Dwabor has seen its first full term of use and is proving to be the fantastic success we hoped it would be. Plans

are underfoot for the next two, one in Ayensudo and the other in Bronyibima, with building starting in September. Volunteering opportunities are now available for these so if you or anyone you know would like to get involved then please do get in touch on. Alternatively, if you’re after an

adventure with a difference, why not consider joining our road trip from Ghana to Morocco in September? More details overleaf with guaranteed sunshine and excitement - here’s to a great summer!

Sabre launches new Literacy Programme Tomorrow’s Stars partnership moves forward

May saw the launch of Sabre’s new Literacy Programme in collaboration with Tomorrow’s Stars - an Elmina based education charity which shares many of Sabre’s goals and objectives. Having identified a pressing need to increase literacy and numeracy levels in basic education, an agreement was reached with the Municipal Education Office to begin a trial programme at Bantuma school. Encompassing all kindergarten, primary and junior high school classes, the programme runs on a timetabled basis, with specific sessions given over to each class. The programme has been jointly developed by Sabre and

Tomorrow’s Stars, with Sabre supplying volunteers to support the successful implementation of the programme. Two Ghanaian senior secondary school graduates are employed by Tomorrow’s Stars to take responsibility for the overall running of the programme, with regular assurance and monitoring checks from both charities. Participating pupils will benefit from structured learning and play sessions in the Bantuma school library. The scheme also inlcudes a project to completely refurbish and resource the Bantuma school library. Reinstalling pride in this facility and equipping the students with access to a much improved learning environment will be an important step forward in the

success of the programme. With new seating, desks, shelving, books, toys and games being supplied, as well as active encouragement to maximise the library’s use both during this school term and throughout the summer holidays, expectations are high about the impact this will have on the level of education of children in the village. Volunteers will be involved between 9am and 4pm Monday to Friday across all age groups and will supplement the Literacy Programme with activity based games, songs, storytelling and group reading circles both inside and outside the classroom. Please email volunteer@sabretrust.org for further information about how you could get involved.

The FIFA World Cup is less than two weeks away, and as the first African nation to qualify for this spectacular event, as well as being runners up in CAN 2010 (African Cup of Nations), we think Ghana stands a pretty good chance. In Group D, alongside Germany, Australia and Serbia they have a bit to prove, but with the might of the African nation behind them in the group stages we expect to see them pull through to the finals. Good luck Black Stars, we’re with you all the way!

Team Sabre FC Sabre now has it’s own fully fledged football team, rapidly becoming the talk of the town. Friends of Sabre FC has a tough looking season playing the likes of the Health Service, Fire Service and the Ghana Electricity Company to name a few. All volunteers are invited to play and applications from professional players are looked upon favourably! We’re currently 2nd in the league. Team manager Mike Agbetepey from our Ghana office would like to hear from any sponsors ready and willing to help out with team kit! In return we will of course put your logo on it and send you season tickets to all our games... Although if you are in Ghana for any of them you’ll probably be asked to play! Look out for our dedicated section on the new website (expected soon) for all match reports, photos and news.

Spirit of Sabre photos for sale Thursday 20th May saw the Spirit of Sabre photo competition results decided. With over 200 entries, whittling them down to a shortlist was no easy feat. The winners were announced at our Celebration of Dwabor event by Sabre’s patron Kwame NkrumahAcheampong, each winning a signed copy of Max Milligan’s fantastic book Ghana: A Portrait. You can see all the shortlisted entries on the competition website at www.spiritofsabre.zzl.org and even order a canvas print of your favourite by emailing trust@sabretrust.org with the details. Each print is roughly 33 x 50cm and costs £100. Sabre will get 37% of the proceeds from each sale. Helle Iversen - Work

Angela Blair - Community Life

Narelle Millard - Culture

Taming of the Beast On 22nd May, nine brave runners including Sabre’s own Dom and Tom took part in a 10km cross country at a MotoX circuit in Kent. ‘Beast in the East’ is Grim’s latest addition to their charity event calender and is by no means a walk in the park! Well done to all those who joined us, the tally so far is close to £2, 500 and climbing! If you haven’t yet got round to donating you can do so here.

Ghana to Morocco by road? An adventure you’ll never forget... This September we will be running our now ledgendary Bus Run once again, however, this time there is a twist. It’s backwards. That’s not to say we’ll be doing the whole thing in reverse, that would just be silly. However, we will instead be starting in Ghana and driving to Morocco over five adventurous, exciting and action packed weeks. Taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the length of Ghana and Burkina Faso, the breadth of Mali and Mauritania, and the exquisitely beautiful desert scapes of Western Sahara before enjoying the colours, food and atmosphere of Morocco, we’ll be on the road every step of the way. If this sounds like something you would like to do then please drop us a line or email busrun@sabretrust.org - there is no better way to experience West Africa.

Sabre increases support to sports teams Over the years Sabre has run various sports training programmes and donated kit to local teams, the Municipal Education Office and promising individuals. Recently, however, we’ve had something of an upsurge in our kit supply as we’ve become more involved with sport throughout the central region. Off the back of a UK school sports tour we ran last year and with Ghanaian football gaining greater recognition on a global scale, we’ve certainly noticed a renewed excitement surrounding sport the country over. One of our most recent donations has been 25 rugby balls to the Central and Western region rugby team with the hope of spearheading interest into what is currently a marginal sport. We have also given new kit and balls to the PSK Soccer Queens Academy - a women’s team of great potential and talent but who are sadly underfunded.

Recent fund raising news

Shane Parrish - Education

Edwina McKechnie - Spirit of Sabre

Corporate partners

The summer is always a fantastic time to get outside, get active and do something that you feel good about. Thankfully, we’ve been on the receiving end of lots of this goodness and are delighted to highlight some really fantastic efforts that will keep our projects moving over the coming weeks and months. First up is Sue Capell and Estelle Lee who put themselves through the Fleet triathlon in order to raise enough money to send a container of nursery school equipment from the Montessori school in Church Crookham out to us in Ghana. We really appreciate their

efforts and are pleased to announce that they are a third of the way to their target of £4k. If you would like to help out, please visit their JustGiving page here. Another exciting personal challenge is that of Jeremy Horner and son Edward, who will be scaling the dizzy heights of Kilimanjaro in July. For more on this inspiring story and to donate, please see their Virgin Money Giving page here. Jeremy is Davis Langdon LLP’s Chief Executive and is looking forward to an even greater challenge than admitting to his own half century. A huge thank you to all who are doing their bit for Sabre, you really are making a difference, thankyou!

Dragon Boating On 13th June, five teams will be taking part in the annual Dragon Boat racing event as part of the Marlow Town Regatta. This has been a regular in the Sabre calender over the last few years and is always a lot of fun. If you’re in the area and would like to come and watch, we would love to see you. All donations will be helping to fund our kindergarten roll out programme.