Project Trust:

Project Trust is an educational charity who have been specialising in sending young volunteers to over 24 different countries for the past 40 years. Project Trust aims to provide it's volunteers with an educational experience through living and working within a community for a full 12 months without taking jobs from local people. After a 5 day selection course on the Isle of Coll in the mud and rain, and a nervous 4 day wait for the post, I received my letter of acceptence and will be departing for  at the end of August. 

The Project:

I'll be working at Wulumuqi Jinying Language School outside the Xinjiang province's capital, Urumqi, which is the most inland city in the world. Ba Gang, the town I'll be living in, is dominated by the steelwork industry where 1/3 of the local population work. Though not a particularly attractive town, the Xinjiang area is steeped in history and culture with a mix of Han migrants, Uyghurs and other ethnic groups. The area plays host to the ancient Silk Roads and the Taklamakan and Gobi Deserts with a dry and hot climate and winters reaching -30 degrees C! 

The school is relatively small by Chinese standards, and I'll be teaching conversational English to classes of up to 40 students from ages 5 to 16. English is a compulsory part of the Chinese school curriculum, and getting good grades is essential for students to go on to further education where they can avoid becoming farmers or working with the steelworks. On top of class time I'll be expected to help the teachers practise their English and hope to set up extra curricular groups to help students with their homework.

...Hopefully. First I need to raise £4,850 to cover the costs of flights, insurance, accomodation and support for myself and the project overseas.

 

Currently I'm in my 6th year at Forfar Academy doing Advanced highers and building up my art portfolio. I've been working part time at McDonalds the past year and have held many different fundraising events in a hope of reaching the target. With work, school, college and fundraising, this year has undoubtedly been exhausting, but reaching my target amount will be the first step in this adventure, and upon my return to Scotland, giving me a whole new appreciation of another lifestyle and culture.

 

About JustGiving:

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to Project Trust and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - with every £10 donated, project will actually recieve £12.82 with the gift aid reclaim.

Any donation, no matter the amount, would be greatly appreciated as it inches me towards my goal. Thank You.

 

Money Raised so Far...

I completed a 5 day long sponsored silence raising an amazing £639.11! Thank you everyone who sponsored me and the dispatch for doing a write up on it (front page, bad photo...)

Me, Amy and Timmy made another £23 each selling sweets at Halloween and doing a Mystery Tour in the drama department.

I've managed to collect and recycle a few mobile phones with banana green.

The St. Andrew's ceilidh was a half success, I didn't make a profit but the band was quite expensive so I was lucky to break even.

I've received a good few positive responses from some very kind charitable trusts. =)

The school fund has also accepted my application and will be contributing towards my total.

I raised £77.10 at the clothes swap not to mention getting a couple nice tops for myself =P

I bought a lot of creme eggs and printed the posters for an Easter egg hunt in the quadrangle at school, but unfortunately I had to cancel it at the last minute... Health and Safety?!?! Grrrrr....

I've sold all my CD collection on ebay and have made enough money for a new ridiculously expensive passport.

I held a gig at Dexters and managed to raise £85. All the acts gave amazing performances and thank you to everyone that showed up.

Forfar Taekwon-do school's Sponsored Spar-a-thon raised £349! Thank you to everyone who participated and donated.

Quiz Night at the Fort Bar, Broughty Ferry, Thursday 29th of July. Teams of 5 and only £4 each for entry to the quiz, and includes your supper :) Some lovely alcoholic prizes for the winning team and a mandatory raffle/auction which includes an Mp3 player from Colin M. Smith and £20 of Marks and Spencer vouchers. E-mail me (lornadoctor@hotmail.co.uk) or give me a phone (01307 468423) if you want to reserve a table. 

Anyway... Thank you to everyone so far!