Essential tips I picked up at the latest T4A event - by Martin Smedley of Act4Africa This Saturday I went to a T4A training meeting together with other small charities working in Africa to learn, share expertise and network together. I am a great believer in networking and in the benefits which can derive from charities working together wherever possible, particularly when working internationally. I am sure we all know the anecdotal stories of villages where several charities discover they are duplicating efforts. I know from my own experience of African towns that have twinned with … [Read more...]
Coventry meet – a relaxed affair
December 1, 2011 By 1 Comment
On 26th November some of our members met for an informal day of training and networking and we want to thank Nobby of Gilead Health Development for sorting out a great venue at a fire station in Coventry. As well as enjoying meeting and chatting to members, we were able to meet a couple of new members and we hope that they enjoyed their first look into our "world". The day was relaxed and useful with a couple of highlights. In particular we were taught the inside out of applying for grants from a slip of a lass with the experience of a well seasoned professional; thank you Amy King for … [Read more...]
Come and meet us in Coventry
November 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Together 4 Africa is holding a meet and training day for its members in Coventry on 26th November 2011. If you are a small charity interested to meet like minded people as well as get some useful training in how to write a grant application, get in touch before 20th November. You are very welcome to come along and find out more about us. Cost is only £10 per person and includes lunch. You can download the agenda and the whereabouts details here. … [Read more...]
T4A does what it says on the tin.
August 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
In response to a funding tip posted on the charities section of the forum by Rita of Mustard Seed Project, Charles Coleman from African Promise wrote the following. "Thank you so much for this suggestion. Following reading your post back in May I made a call to someone at the XXX Foundation and subsequently submitted an initial introductory letter. One of the Board Members was then in touch and requested much more detail about our proposal so that he could take up our cause and propose us to his fellow Board Members. I have just this morning received an email from him … [Read more...]
Expedition Africa 2011
March 5, 2011 By 2 Comments
On 10th March, 4 lads are setting off on an exciting journey from Exeter to South Africa in a converted Land Rover. Prior and during this 4 1/2 month journey they will be promoting Together 4 Africa and raising funds for Ket Wangi Orphanage in Kenya where they will stop for a couple of weeks and help out. You can follow their progress on their blog Expedition Africa 2011 , join them on Facebook and also check out Ket Wangi Orphanage. It is badly in need of support. It was through T4A that they got to hear about the orphanage. Collaboration at its best! … [Read more...]
Facebook – How to?
February 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Due to popular demand, we are gathering together some information on how to make the most of Facebook, starting with how to create a page for your organisation. This link is the official instructions from Facebook. Once you’ve got your page, follow these tips to maximise its impact. We found them on Vodafone World of Difference's website. We will keep adding as we find them. Be personal and informative Successful social media encourages conversation between users. So, it’s important to have a first person voice rather than a dry third-party tone. Use “We raised xxx” rather than … [Read more...]
Feed back on T4A’s Pampering Day
February 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment
We said it was a great day, but don't take our word for it. We asked participants to fill in a feedback form and we think we've got them all back. We've done a recap for all to see. Many also sent messages and in particular a couple of participants who were flying off in the days following and did not get a chance to fill in the questionnaire. Here are some of them. "just want to say thank you for organising what was a tremendous conference yesterday, and I hope this is only one of a number of emails you get saying the same. It was invaluable and, as I said, is just the thing I’ve … [Read more...]
Africa Oyé returns to Sefton Park, Liverpool in 2011
February 7, 2011 By 1 Comment
Africa Oyé is the UK's largest celebration of African music and culture and takes place annually in Liverpool. Beginning in 1992 as a series of small gigs in the city centre, the event has gone from strength-to-strength, moving to its present Sefton Park home in 2002 to cope with demand. With too many negative representations of Africa entrenched in images of war, disease, poverty and famine, Oyé seeks to redress the balance and highlight the fantastic range of cultures, foods, music and artists that make this great continent one of the most vibrant and inspiring in the world. The festival … [Read more...]
Charity guide to Facebook fan page
February 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
This should come in handy to all of you just starting up with Facebook or those that are just not making the best of theirs. Facebook groups are no longer the best social media tool for fundraising and getting your name out there, so if you've got one, you might want to consider setting up a page too. Charity guide to facebook fan pageView more documents from JustGiving. … [Read more...]
You can gift aid your expenses
February 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Did you know that you can gift aid some of the expenses you incur personally to run your charity. Find out how here: http://www.tax-effective-giving.org.uk/?pageid=Gift_Aid_and_Volunteer-Trustee_Expenses(1).xml … [Read more...]
It was a great day
January 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Our "pampering day" for charities was a great success. 26 charities made it to Bradford for a day packed with inspiring speeches and presentations, animated discussions, a chance to question the representatives from DIFD and Comic Relief, some useful social networking tips and the opportunity to meet people who talk the same language. We only wished it had been a bit longer. Soon we will disclose some of our findings and help you discover the bare bones of small charities. It is so encouraging to find that many of us are willing to share their ideas, admit failures so we can all learn or … [Read more...]
Pampering day – Update
January 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
We are getting a great response to our invitation. As a first event, we did not really know what to expect. But 22 charities have now booked their place and we have others that are sorry they can't make it but want to become members. There is clearly a need for this sort of association and we are looking forward to sharing, learning, making friends, having fun and developing the concept of T4A and its reach. We are still accepting booking, so do get in touch if you are a charity and want to participate. In response to some enquiries, we checked for accommodation today and there are rooms … [Read more...]
News on our pampering day
January 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
We are very pleased to confirm that both Comic Relief and Dfid will be joining us on 28th January. Georgina Awoonor-Gordon is the International Grants Officer for the Common Grounds Initiative. She will be accompanied by Rupal. Mike Battcock is Peaceful States & Societies Adviser - Civil Society Department - Department of International Development. We anticipate that they will introduce the Common Grounds Initiative in particular (aimed at small organisations) as it is a joint venture between Dfid and Comic Relief. If you are coming it is worth doing a bit of research before hand to … [Read more...]
Sparked.com – heavenly help
December 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment
This is a brilliant website. Have use it and it works. Sparked.com is a microvolunteering network. Online volunteering for busy people. Give them a challenge they can do online, like marketing tips, website advice, review a press release page, or, like I did a few day ago, ask how to improve ranking on Google for your website and whoops, tips keep on coming. Just brilliant. Its quick, quirky and best of all for us small charities, it's free. Of course, still got to put all these precious tips into practice. Try it www.sparked.com and remember where you saw it first! From Annie at the … [Read more...]
Charities Pampering day – Agenda
December 29, 2010 By 1 Comment
In case you did not get our invitation (sorry!) you can get all the details here. We hope to see as many of you as possible. And you know, Bradford is rather nice this time of year. invitation conference agenda … [Read more...]
Success & Failure – you vote
December 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Our "pampering" day for charities on 28th January will be a chance for small charities to discuss some stories of success and some of failure (we're not perfect) and hopefully learn from them all. We have already received some interesting ones from participants and thought we should let everyone participating have a chance to pick those they think will be of most interest to them. Well, the day is for YOU. However, to add a little twist, we won't reveal the actual stories, just their titles. So take a wild guess for now. More will be revealed later. AND we need more stories (with quirky … [Read more...]
28th January is pampering day
November 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment
At the beautiful Norcroft Conference Centre at Bradford University for our first big event for small charities. Training workshops, inspirational stories, networking and collaborative opportunities, best practice sharing as well as a few other treats will be on offer. Full details will be available by mid-December. Do mark this day in red, because we know you have busy schedules and we would hate you to miss out on this day of pampering. Well, what kind of pampering did you think we meant? We are looking for success and failure stories to learn from. So if you have one you would like to … [Read more...]
Klimbing Kilimanjaro
October 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Dear Friends, Julie Baldwin, a teacher in Nailsea Bristol, has spent the last 14 months getting fit for her challenge of a life time. She sets off in October 2010 to climb Kilimanjaro so that her sister school in Babati Tanzania can have a another classroom. As a community secondary school the school are dependant on the community to provide the classrooms, but the community are mostly subsistence farmers who are struggling to look after themselves and their family. By helping Julie, you are helping the young people at this Secondary school get the education they need to fight … [Read more...]
Running for Books
September 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Dear Friends Clive Shiret, one of our Trustees (53 years old) is running in the Berlin marathon on the 26th September 2010. He is running to raise money for a primary school whose lack of books is frightening. How can a young person get an education without text books? Sharing one book between 8 or 9 students is not getting an education. By sponsoring Clive and reaching our target of £4000 we can buy enough books to reduce that ration to 1 book per 3 students. whilst not perfect, it is so much better than what they do today. Every penny of your donation will go towards buying … [Read more...]
Progress in Tanzania
September 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The Livingstone Tanzania Trust has just produced its 10th Newsletter highlighting progress made over the summer months. Check out the new library, the pig projects, our efforts to save the forest, electric free fridges and even a solar pasteurisation roof. Newsletter 10 We hope you enjoy it and give us feedback and help. … [Read more...]
