Tuesday, 28 October 2008

Special Events at The Darling Trust in November

Good afternoon!

November is just around the corner and it is filled to the brim with exciting events! Below please find a list of upcoming events...

On 1 November, the Kitchen Kabinet (the fundraising arm of The Darling Trust) will be holding "The Groot Wit Olifant Sale" at the Rondebosch Craft Fair. We are going to be selling secondhand designer handbags, costume jewellery and great books! Come and join us on Saturday morning (9am - 12pm) for a great bit of shopping.

On 14 November, we will be holding our 9th annual Talent Show. We can't wait! Omnia has been working hard lining up Darling's talent getting them ready for the big show in November. There are going to be pieces from all genres - dance, music, drama, everything! Tickets are available from our offices and cost R10.

On 26 November, we will be holding our first Music and Art Evening. Basically, we are giving the children who receive art and music lessons at The Darling Trust, a chance to show off what they have learnt throughout the year. Both the music recital and art exhibition promise to be a very special evening. The children are excited about sharing their talent with their parents and friends! For those who would like to watch the show and are not involved with the music and art lessons or have children in those classes tickets are available from our office and cost R10 each.

We look forward to seeing you in November!

Monday, 20 October 2008

What a week! Studying, playing music and making art!

It is from an overcast Darling, that I write this Monday morning. It has been such an incredibly busy (and sunny!)week with a number of exciting events.

Last week, we ran our first Study Week, in partnership with Darling Fokus. Volunteers gave their time to sit with children and help them with any scholastic problems that we might have. As with anything that runs for the first time, there were a great deal of surprises in store for us. First, we had anticipated that the study week would be more popular with high school learners. This was not the case, however, as it was the primary school learners that attended in numbers. Overall, it was an excellent exercise, both because children were helped and because of the lessons we learnt in running a study week.

Something that was very clear throughout the week was the need for extra input into the education of Darling's children. We are currently looking at ways to expand our educational projects. We already run a number of literacy-based projects, but there is such a great need in Darling for this kind of support, that we are looking at other possible projects and programmes that can be run. Keep an eye out in future for new developments!

I attended the West Coast Community Foundation (WCCF) Indaba for 2008. The WCCF have generously put money towards our percussion band. The percussion band has only been running for a few months, but they are growing in leaps and bounds. The classes are run by Judy Woods (a very experienced music teacher with endless patience!) and are enjoyed immensely by the children. We will be holding a Music and Art Evening on 26 November to celebrate the progress made by the music and art students. It promises to be a very special evening.

Speaking of special evenings, our much-anticipated annual talent show will take place on 14 November. We are currently in the planning phase and auditions will take place soon. Although it is still early in the process, this year's talent show promises to be an extra special one!

That is all for now from us at The Darling Trust. Take care and enjoy summer!

Thursday, 9 October 2008

Welcome to The Darling Trust Blog!

The purpose of this weekly blog is to keep you up-to-date on the various happenings, events and developments at The Darling Trust. The Darling Trust is a relatively small NGO situated in the town of Darling in South Africa, but do not let our size fool you. We are pas-sionate about our work and play an active role in our community.

This week we have been busy preparing for the Study Week to take place next week. Be-tween 13 and 17 October, every afternoon from 14h00 to 18h00, at Darling Fokus, volun-teers will help any learners in need of extra assistance before exams start. It is the first time that we have coordinated such a programme and as such along the way we are learning a number of valuable lessons. Our future plans for The Darling Trust include ex-panding our educational projects - something that all of us at The Darling Trust are very passionate about. I will report back on the Study Week next week and fill you all in on the details!

Last week, the newly formed Rotary Club of Darling held a fundraiser in Cape Town. We were celebrating a truly magnificent occassion - Evita Bezuidenhout’s birthday! What a great event! Fun was had by all and we are very appreciative of the Darling Rotary Club’s hard work in putting the event together. A big thank you must also go to Pieter-Dirk Uys for so generously giving of his time.

Well, that is all for this week. Take care and remember to check back here next week for more news!