Destiny Children News 2012
Christmas Lunch and Gifts - 24th of December 2012
Destiny Garden School held a Christmas lunch for all its students. The students were treated to a rare meal of pilau (Spiced rice) and goat meat and were given gift packs funded by the Destiny Charity Christmas fund; many thanks to our supporters who contributed to this. The students were excited and grateful as most of them would not have otherwise received presents during Christmas.
Christmas Black Tie Dinner Dance - 1st December 2012
A very successful event which raised over £3,000 for Destiny Garden School and was
enjoyed by all - many have asked us to do it again next year!
The event was held at Mykita, Macclesfield, decorated beautifully, with grateful thanks to Michael King. Our thanks also go to the Caterer, Oliver’s of Knutsford, who provided the three course meal.
Dancing was to the fabulous live 9 piece band – Not Quite Jazz -
http://www.notquitejazz.co.uk/
The proceeds of the event will help Destiny Garden School enormously and are very much appreciated by them.
Elizabeth's Coffee Morning - 16 November 2012
Over 30 friends of Elizabeth's attended a morning at her house. Lots of laughter over coffee and cakes as well as browsing through the large variety of designer goods on sale - handbags, jewellery, scarves, boots etc. These were provided by her friend Lindsey and 10 % of her sales were donated to Destiny Children. This is the 3rd sale Elizabeth has held and once again it was an enjoyable way to spend a morning; and it raised over £200 for Destiny Garden School.
Pub Quiz Evening – 11 October 2012
A successful Quiz Evening was held at the Weaver, Thornton Square, Macclesfield, with about 50 people attending. This was organised by Val and Chris, both keen supporters of DGS.
Chris compiled the questions which were varied and challenging. There was a successful raffle and a very silly game of ‘Heads and Tails’.
At half time there were sandwiches and cake – more than enough to go round the entire busy pub!!
Everyone enjoyed the evening and over £200 was raised for the charity.
Val and Chris would like to thank all who attended and made the evening a success. Special thanks go to the Weaver staff who were fantastic.
Simon and Michelle film DGS - see their YouTube clip
Simon and Michelle, both keen supporters of Destiny Garden School, visited the school in August and filmed the children and staff. Simon operated the camera whilst Michelle interviewed Jacob, the School Director.
For a clip of the film please see this link to YouTube
Val holds another Paperback Book Sale - Saturday 22 September 2012
Friends and family dropped by for a cuppa and a piece of home made cake, bringing and buying paperback books. This raised over £140 which will go towards the school’s feeding programme.
Destiny Children Classroom 7 Fund - 2012
In January 2013 our oldest children, currently in class 6, move up to class 7 but have no classroom to move to! A new classroom will cost £7,000 to build. With fundraising, particularly our Christmas Dinner Dance, and donations we now nearly have £4,000; can you help us achieve our target? For more details please see Classrooms Fund.
Eyelashes for Cars!
What have eyelashes for cars got to do with Destiny Garden School? For every sale of car eyelashes, Destiny Children receives a donation which goes towards the shortfall in the running costs of the School. So, if you would like to help DGS, buy some eyelashes for your car! Check out their website - http://www.eyelashes-for-cars.com
Matt's 'Three Peaks Challenge' raises £1,000 for DGS
Matt Mcguinness, our keen DGS suporter, climbed the highest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales and raised £1,000 for Destiny Garden School!
Matt's challenge raised over £800 and with gift aid this will take it to £1,000! have a look at Matt's Report.
Matt visited the school in Mombasa in November 2010 and you can read his full report on the School website via this link. He knows first hand just how little the children have, and how important every penny is to them.
Teachers' Aids and Tracksuits Donated to DGS- August 2012
Thanks to Simon and Michelle who visited DGS in August, we were able to get some children's tracksuits and some teacher's reading aids over to DGS. These were kindly donated by two of our sponsors.
The 2012 Kenyan Music Festival - 6th July 2012
Destiny Garden School has done exceptionally well in this year’s Kenyan Music Festival competitions with the nursery group qualifying for a place in the National Finals in Meru later next month – we wish them well!
Our thanks go to DC committee members, Nadine and Adrian, who have helped to fund the event and made it possible for DGS to enter. Nadine raised funds at her Pub Music night, see the entry below on 25 February, and Adrian bought the traditional drum set for the school and provided further funds to help pay for the costumes.
This has been a fantastic opportunity and experience for the DGS children, one they will remember for a long time.
On seeing the traditional dance students on this YouTube link , committee member Debbie said "their energy and co-ordination are amazing; the children, and their teachers, obviously worked extremely hard".
For more details and photos please see this link to the DGS School website.
Matt completes the 'Three Peaks Challenge' - June 2012
Matt Mcguinness, one of our UK sponsors of DGS, has climbed the highest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales to raise funds for Destiny Garden School!
Matt set off in the morning of the 23rd June at the foot of Ben Nevis, and completed the climb of Scafell Pike and then Snowdon the following morning. This was a great achievement - see full report.
Matt loves to help the children at DGS and this challenge has raised over £600. He is still collecting from the friends and colleagues who have supported him, thank you all for helping DGS, and there is still time if others would like to contribute to his fund.
Matt visited the school in Mombasa in November 2010 and you can read his report on the School website via this link. He knows first hand just how little the children have, and how important every penny is to them.
Guy helps Destiny Garden School – May 2012
An old friend stepped forward earlier this year to give the feeding programme some much needed security. Guy Tolhurst, a businessman and entrepenuer from London, visited the school during Christmas 2010 and has been a supporter of DGS since.
" I am pleased I have found such a worthy cause to support where ALL of the donations help the children directly. A little help goes a very long way."
Guy's company, Intelligent Partnership, are now committed in ensuring that the feeding programme continues by sponsoring 30 children a month, and Guy is also personally sponsoring 5 further children.
Judy Roper, Chair of Destiny Children says “Intelligent Partnership and Guy Tolhurst have been a godsend for Destiny Garden School; it is just wonderful to now be able to give all the DGS children a school lunch, for many this is the only proper meal they get in the day. It is going to make a huge difference and has given me real hope that we can now achieve our Charity’s aims.”
See this link for Guy's report on his visit to DGS - Guy’s Full Report and photos
Solar Panels installed at DGS - April 2012
A grant from the Marr-Munning Trust’s ‘Joan Honour Tribute Fund’ enabled the school to install 4 solar panels which will generate enough electricity to run fans, lighting and two computers in Classroom 6, together with 2 security lights and a water pump. See the entry below, February 2012.
There has been great excitement all round, electricity being a rare commodity that most of the children do not have in their homes.
Now DGS has lighting in one of the classrooms, it plans to introduce some adult education classes in the evenings to give something back to the local community.
The Great Egg Race - Sunday March 25th 2012
On a beautiful summers day in March!! The Macclesfield Rotary club, through our Trustee Adrian, organised an Egg & Spoon race during the monthly Treacle market day. The race 
attracted around 50 racers, mainly children but also some intrepid adults. All entrants paid an entrance fee and were rewarded with a cream egg for their efforts, the winners receiving an Easter egg.
It was a fun event which appeared to be enjoyed by all who took part and some who officiated. The financial rewards may not be the greatest, however the publicity and interest shown in DGS certainly made it very worthwhile.
Destiny children are very grateful to the Rotary club and particularly Adrian Ramsden for organising this event and thinking of DGS.
Ladies Lunch - 14th March 2012
A fundraising lunch was held on Cheltenham Ladies Day at Fina Bar and Grill. All proceeds were in aid of Destiny Garden School. The school has been built, with the aid of fundraising, in a poor suburb of Mombasa, Kenya and accepts poor and vulnerable children, many of whom are orphans. The money raised at the lunch will go directly to the feeding programme for the children.
The lunch had a racing theme with the ladies entering into a sweepstake with wonderful prizes. Some of the winners can be seen in the accompanying picture. The lunch at Fina was delicious and a very enjoyable time was had by all.
Our thanks go to Mandy and Valentino, to all the local Macclesfield businesses who donated prizes - Roccos Shoes and Mimi’s Handbags, Miles Daniels Hairdressers, Fina Bar and Grill, and of course to everyone who attended the lunch.
Charity Music Night- 25th February 2012
The Charity Music Night was a great success. Held at the Pack Horse pub, on Chelford Road, the event in aid of Destiny Garden School. Over £300 was raised which is a great amount for a small scale fundraiser.
Some great bands played to a much appreciating crowd who packed out the Pack Horse. The five great local acts who performed were - Jimmy Lynch and Liam Ward, Maisie Johnson, Dinosaur Attack, Service of a Villain and One Week Behind.
“A fantastically organised night with live music. The artists and bands were so good and the atmosphere brilliant, can’t wait for the next one” Jeanie Robertson 
“The place was busting at the seams! A stunning quality of acts all round, proud to have played there and help raise some money, superbly organised...can we go at it again?” James Keep – Service of A Villian
“Memorable night, privileged to play for such a good cause” Sam Brooks – One Week Behind
“Huge thank you to the musicians and singers who donated their time to help the fundraiser become the massive triumph that it was.” – Nadine Lear
Marr-Munning Trust Award for Solar Panels - February 2012
The Marr-Munning Trust has awarded us a grant of £5,000 from the Trust’s ‘Joan Honour Tribute Fund’. This was in response to our application to install solar panels at Destiny Garden School and the main criteria of our application was -
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Give the older children experience in the use of computers.
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Enable adult education classes to be offered in the evenings.
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Improve classroom environment.
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Improve security by installing security lights.
Adult education was encouraged by the local government officials as being a good community thing to do. A very high proportion of adults in the area missed out on education and many are keen to learn. With the £5,000 grant from the Marr-Munning Trust, we can now install solar panels to give the school some lighting and introduce a few adult education classes in the evenings.
The Marr-Munning Trust Website: http://www.marrmunningtrust.org.uk/
Judy's Visit to DGS - February 2012
Judy Roper, Chairperson of Destiny Children, visited Destiny Garden School for 3 weeks during February 2012. Her principle job whilst there was to update the Charity's records and the School Business Plan, and also to review the information of all the 300 children now at the school in connection with the sponsorship programme. 
Judy says "The visit was hard work but very rewarding. It was great to see all the children again and they are so appreciative of all the school does for them. The staff are dedicated and work well together as a team.
The school continues to develop but still has some way to go. Jacob, the School Director, works hard to ensure the school's success and is very well respected by the people in the local community. Victor, the School Manager who joined us in June last year, has been a great help to the Charity. He helped take the photos of all the children and update their profiles for the sponsorship programme."
January 2012 - Class 6 Children Move into their new Classroom
The new classroom 6, which was built from a generous grant given by the Kitchen Table Charities Trust, see article below February 2011, has nearly been kitted out thanks to the funds raised at the Christmas Dinner Dance. The school year starts in January in Kenya and pupils from class 5 were promoted to Class 6, and moved into their spacious new classroom. Five new children were recruited into this class - these are the children pictured without uniforms as we managed to get uniforms for all the DGS children last year as a Christmas present!
