Final few days for SDG Art Competition

Don’t forget the closing date for our art competition Food for All, based around SDG 2 Zero Hunger, is on Monday 31st July. The office will be open all afternoon on Monday to receive entries but please get in touch if you need to arrange an alternative drop off date and time.

Remember that Shoprite is kindly donating £1 for every entry (up to £200) to the Isle of Man Foodbank – so just by taking part you are taking positive action on zero hunger!

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Food for All – SDG Art Competition 2023 launched

If there is enough food in the world to feed everyone, why are some people still going hungry? That’s a question we’re posing in our 2023 SDG Art Competition “Food for All”, based this year on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger.

The competition invites artists of all ages and abilities to think about how food could be shared more equally and what actions we can take to ensure everyone gets enough to keep them healthy. Artists are also encouraged to think about how we can make food production more sustainable for people and the planet, for example, by reducing food waste, buying local and trading fairly.

There are two classes of entries – Under 18s ,who are tasked with producing a poster on positive action we can take to reduce hunger, and 18 & Over who can produce any kind of artwork in response to the theme.

And, thanks to the kind support of Shoprite, every entry into the competition will see a £1 donation to the Isle of Man Foodbank (up to £200) so just by taking part you are already helping out!

For more details, the entry form and T&Cs please click here

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Join us at Springfest Saturday 20th May

Saturday, 20th May 2023, sees a celebration of Spring at Springfest, taking place in the Top Hall at the Promenade Methodist Church in Douglas. The event is a collaboration between Café Lingo, The Welcome Project and the One World Centre.

Entertainment at a previous Springfest

Springfest will feature live music, games and quizzes, food from around the world and children’s activities. Fun for all the family, it is free to attend and open to everyone of any nationality, gender, faith or no faith.

Among the performers will be Manx dance group Perree Bane, Annie Pearce on the handpan, Paul Rogers on the fiddle and Vlad the Piper playing the Bulgarian bagpipe. Members of the Chinese Association will also be performing a dance.

The event will start at 10.30am and further information can be found at https://www.facebook.com/thewelcomeprojectiom.

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Thrilling finale to One World Charity Challenge 2023

The winning team from Ballakermeen who represented the charity Advantage Africa

A thrilling finals night saw a team from Ballakermeen High School scoop the top prize in this year’s One World Charity Challenge event, held at Babbage’s at the end of March.

Representing the charity Advantage Africa, the Ballakermeen team gave a lively and highly entertaining presentation that focused on the charity’s work, particularly with those suffering from albinism. Presenting in a game-show format, the team demonstrated what they had learned and how they had raised awareness of the work of the charity with other young people on the Isle of Man. They were awarded Overall Winners and received a cheque for £4,000 which will go directly to the charity.

Runner’s up St Ninian’s High School were runners up and also won an extra £1,000 advocacy prize for Tree Aid

It is the second year in a row that a team from Ballakermeen has been awarded top prize, however it was a closely fought contest with the team from St Ninian’s High School, representing Tree Aid, taking second prize and also the AFD Award for Advocacy which meant they won £3,000 for their chosen charity.

A team from King William’s College, representing Gumboots UK, an education charity working with young people in South Africa, were placed third winning £1,000, with Castle Rushen High School representing Hospice Africa and Queen Elizabeth II High School representing International Refugee Trust winning £700 and £500 respectively.

The Castle Rushen team represented Hospice Africa

This was the sixteenth edition of One World Charity Challenge which is an annual project for Year 12 students on the Isle of Man. Small teams choose a charity working in the field of international development, researching it, advocating for it and drawing together a multimedia presentation which is delivered in front of a live audience. The teams must also show how the charity addresses the aims of the UN Sustainable Development Goals which aim to shape a fairer and more sustainable world for all.

The project was kindly enabled this year through the sponsorship of Gary and Susan Clueit, who have supported educational opportunities, mostly for women, in sub-Saharan Africa for many years through their charity foundation. All the charities in this year’s Charity Challenge are working in Africa and all those not being represented in the grand finals event each received a donation of £150 on behalf of the teams representing them.

QE2 represented International Refugee Trust

The uneviable task of choosing the winners fell to the judges who this year comprised Jesamine Kelly, Principal of UCM, Joff Whitten of the Children’s Centre, Zara Lewin, Onchan Commissioner and Youth Worker, Vusimbe Zivave, an architect raised in Zimbabwe, and Joney Faragher MHK.

Speaking after the event, One World Charity Challenge Project Officer Helen Kneale said, “The finals night is culmination of six months of work by the teams who have already taken part in in-school heats to get to the finals. Overall, we had 21 teams of young people taking part who all had the opportunity to learn about charities working in international development and to understand how their own actions could make a difference to their chosen charity’s aims.

King William’s College presenting on Gumboot UK

“As well as encouraging young people to become global citizens, the project provides lots of useful transferable skills such as research, presenting, teamwork and time management that will be extremely beneficial for future university and job applications.”

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DEC Turkey Syria Earthquake Appeal

We’re thrilled to say that our collection on the Isle of Man for the Turkey Syria Earthquake Appeal has now reached over £17,000! That’s an amazing amount and we’d like to thank everyone who donated and all those who made the collection possible.

Photo: Turkish Red Crescent

Although the earthquake has now receded from the news headlines, the situation is still acute.

DEC funds are providing urgent relief for people affected including emergency shelter, medical care, hot food and food parcels, blankets, bedding and other household items, clean water and safe spaces for children.

Overall more than £100 million has been raised through the DEC Appeal and it will all be used to help those facing the aftermath of these devastating quakes that have also claimed over 50,000 lives.

For more details on how DEC aid is helping, follow this link: https://www.dec.org.uk/how-dec-charities-are-helping-survivors-in-turkey-and-syria

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DEC Turkey Syria Earthquake Appeal update

Photo: Burak Kara/Getty Images

We have collected over £8,000 for the DEC Turkey Syria Earthquake Appeal this weekend – thank you everyone who contributed. But we are not finished yet: we’re aiming to hold collections in Port Erin, Ramsey and Peel this coming weekend. We need volunteers to make the most of this – if you have an hour to spare to help out please let us know.

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DEC Turkey Syria Appeal – volunteer collectors needed

Photo: Khalil Ashawi/Save the Children

You will all have seen the news coverage from the terrible earthquakes that have caused such devastation and loss of life in both Turkey and Syria. While the race continues to find survivors in the rubble, tens of thousands have been injured and hundreds of thousands have lost their homes. Funds are urgently needed to support families with medical aid, emergency shelter, food and clean water in freezing weather conditions.

The Disasters Emergency Committee, an umbrella organisation that represents 15 different international charities who come together in times of crisis, has now launched an appeal and the One World Centre will be holding a street collection in response to this. We are currently making arrangements with town commissioners etc. Tesco has kindly offered us space on Friday 10th, Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th February to collect there and Shoprite has also kindly offered its stores on the afternoon of Friday 10th February, all day on Sunday 12th February and also the weekend of 18th and 19th February. We’d really like to make the most of these opportunities so please get in touch if you can help with collecting by emailing info@owciom.org or calling 310191. Thank you.

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A big welcome to Charlotte

Karen Norton, left, of Cafe Lingo with Charlotte, our new Welcome Project Officer

We’re delighted to welcome Charlotte Dutton as our Project Officer for The Welcome Project. This is a collaboration between the One World Centre and Cafe Lingo aimed at helping new arrivals to the Isle of Man settle more easily, particularly those who don’t have English as a first language.

We are grateful to the Manx Lottery Trust for funding this project which will run initially for 18 months. We have set up a separate web page for the project here and there is also a Facebook page which we will use to share news and events as the project progresses.

With the Isle of Man aiming to grow its population and world events – including conflict, climate and economic hardship – driving more people to move in search of safety and security, our aim is to make the arrival of new people a positive experience for newcomers and Islanders alike.

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Could you be our Welcome Project Officer?

The Welcome Project is an exciting new collaborative project between the One World Centre and Cafe Lingo. Funded by the Manx Lottery Trust, it aims to help newcomers to the Isle of Man to settle on arrival, improve their English language skills, understand Manx culture and customs, and to integrate into society. We are now looking for a Project Officer to implement the project. This person will need to be highly organised and self-motivated, and someone who is capable of developing ideas into action. Excellent communication skills are essential and TEFL experience will be highly desirable, along with the ability to work collaboratively. The successful candidate must have confidence in their ability to develop supportive and productive relationships with a variety of people at differing levels as well as being respectful of other cultures and systems of belief.

The role will be part-time with an average of 10 hours per week with some flexibility to cover busier times. Salary will be up to £20 per hour depending on experience and qualifications. The Project Officer will be based at the One World Centre office/Café Lingo meeting space at the Promenade Methodist Church in Douglas although some home working can be accommodated. The role will involve travel throughout the Island as required.

For more details please see the job description here. Closing date is 5pm Thursday 8th December.

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Secondhand clothes sale

Be more sustainable and save money!

Come along to our secondhand clothes sale, Saturday 19th November 2022 at the Promenade Methodist Church, 1-4pm.

Free entry and all proceeds to the One World Centre.

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