What an exciting and busy year 2013 has been for CARE Youth! Our continuously expanding team focused on raising awareness for our charity which has meant that we have been able to venture into many challenging yet thrilling successful events throughout the year. We hope 2014 will bring us even more success! Below are just a few highlights of the year
SOS Save Our Sisters Vigil – 5th January
On the 5th of January, we teamed up with the Big Hug Foundation to hold a Candlelight Vigil called ‘Save Our Sisters’ in honour of the Delhi rape victim and for women who are abused and assaulted every day. We hoped that this opportunity would allow us to pay respect and make our voices heard. That Saturday, at the Gandhiji Statue in Tavistock Square over 300 people attended to pay respects to ‘India’s Daughter’ and help make a difference.
“The day a woman can walk freely on the roads of India, that day we can say India has achieved Independence.” Mahatma Gandhi
Mothers Day Mehfil – 8th March
The most important woman in anyones life is their mother. A mother is someone who has taught a child what they know today. We wanted to do something special for all mothers out there who all deserve to be acknowledged and shown the due respect. Our talented musician and singer within CARE Youth – Bhavik, put on an evening of ghazals and bhajans.
Mala Shaves Her Head – 15th June
One of our CARE Youth members took an amazing step forward in creating a huge buzz about the charity and what it does by having her head. Yes! She is a woman and she shaved her head! For anyone, shaving their head has a massive impact on how they are seen in public. This was a huge and extremely brave step which raised a lot of awareness for the charity as well as £2000!
Skydive – 5th July
Very few people are crazy enough to jump out of a plane – but thats exactly what 6 members of CARE Youth did on the 5th July. Bhavik, Sachin, Kushal, Janvi, Aarti and Kushan attempted to jump 3 times since March but were denied due to bad weather conditions, these adrenaline junkies managed to jump out of a plane at an altitude of 12,000ft and raising over £3000 in doing so!
CARE Boot Sale – 14th July
The MEGA Boot Sale! This was the largest car boot sale that CARE Youth has ever done! We made teams and entered 3 cars full of anything we could gather from friends, who wanted to get rid of things they have held on to for longer than they needed.
Overall it was a fantastic day, many of us with suntans. Although it was a challenge in teams, we all united throughout and had a good laugh. Its only after something like this that you really appreciate what you are doing for a charity; those children who will benefit, who will smile for your efforts.
Warwick University Students Visit Bhuj Centre – September
For two weeks in September, a handful of inspired students from Warwick University went to visit and teach at the Bhuj centre. They had a fantastic time and did not want to leave. It was a real eye opener and this is what they had to say: “Life changing’ is often a term used loosely and freely, however having returned from the Shree Navchetan Andjhan Mandal School in Bhuj, Gujarat, it’s hard not to say that the experience we had was anything short of life changing. Every volunteer agreed the two weeks teaching, and living at the school were certainly the best of our lives and has left us with beautiful lifelong memories.”
Kilimanjaro – 13th to 18th September
After the success of the Rickshawalas, the CARE Youth team were thinking what we could do next, and naturally climbing mountains came to mind. The plan was formulated to climb the world’s highest free-standing mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro. A team of 35 strong took on the 5895m high mountain over 6 gruelling days and 5 sleepless nights. There were emotional tears, cries of pain, shouts of joy but most of all there was fun, laughter and unity
Midnight Safari – 30th November
After returning from Mount Kilimanjaro, Midnight Safari was CARE Youths way of saying thank you to all who have supported our cause and a chance to show how it has made a change to the lives of many children. It was an exquisite dinner and dance event with some spectacular entertainment from a group of African tribal dancers. A short presentation on the projects and schools visited was followed by a summary of what we plan to do with the mammoth £45,000 that was raised among the 35 trekkers.
The night finished with everyone showing off their dance moves on a packed out dancefloor with the DJ creating absolute euphoria within the crowd. A fantastic event and a huge thank you to everyone for making it such a success!
Ashiana Christmas Party
On the 22nd December a few of CARE Youth members were invited to the Ashiana Christmas Party. Ashiana is a charity that serves the needs of children and young adults with learning difficulties on a volunteering capacity. We had a fantastic dance competition and a good boogy which was followed by a game of musical chairs. Once everyone had danced the soles off their shoes, we sat down for a well deserved meal. We had a fantastic time helping out and dancing with the service users. They were so lively and full of energy, a real boost of motivation!
Thank you for all your support in 2013!
We have had a great year and hope the following year will be even more successful with your continued support. Here are a few things of what is to come in 2014:
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MARCH – Quiz Night
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JUNE – Charity Walk
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SEPTEMBER – CARE Trek to Peru
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OCTOBER – Whist Drive
