One World Centre Isle of Man

Call for action on climate change! The students have already been protesting but now it is time for everyone to show their commitment to tackling climate change by joining in The Time is Now! march taking place on Wednesday 26th June. This will coincide with a march taking place in London at the same time and is an opportunity for everyone to make their voice heard. The marches are supported by a wide variety of groups (not just churches) and the London march has been organised by the UK Climate Change Coalition (more information available here). Organisers of the Isle of Man march are presenting Tynwald with three requests: to keep fossil fuels in the ground, divest from fossil fuels and provide fare free public transport on the Island. Time and location is shown on the poster below. For more information please email l.whitelegg@christian-aid.org.

A (very) belated but heartfelt thank you to the Filipino Association in the Isle of Man who kindly made a donation to the work of the One World Centre earlier this year. As a charity, the One World Centre is dependent on donations, grants and sponsorship to fund our education work and we really appreciate the support from other groups on the Island.

A team from Castle Rushen High School representing DO! Developing Orphans were the overall winners in this year’s One World Charity Challenge, winning £5,000 for the Manx charity as their prize.

In a closely fought contest, teams from each of the Island’s secondary schools competed to deliver the best multimedia presentation on the work of a charity involved in international development.

The finals of the Challenge, which took place at Babbages, at the Mountain View Innovation Centre, was a live event in front of invited guests including the Lieutenant Governor Sir Richard Gozney and Tynwald President Steve Rodan MHK.

Each team was judged on a number of factors including how well they had researched their charity, demonstrating how the charity had impacted the life of a young person and how it was working to meet the sustainable development goals as well as the team’s overall presentation. The youngsters, who were all Year 12 students, were also challenged to be advocates for their chosen charities and this year the team from Ramsey Grammar School representing Excellent Development won the AFD Trophy and £1,000 prize for Advocacy.

Other teams involved were Ballakermeen High School representing International Refugee Trust, QE2 High School representing Kids Club Kampala, St Ninian’s High School representing Thare Machi Education and King William’s College representing Pahar Trust.

Congratulations to everyone who took part and thanks to our generous sponsors AFD Software Ltd for enabling the competition to go ahead.

Public donations to the street collection organised by the One World Centre on behalf of the DEC Cyclone Idai appeal raised almost £6,000. Thank you to all those who contributed and to all the volunteers who were able to help out at short notice.

As you may be aware, Mozambique was hit by a further cyclone (Kenneth) whilst still recovering from the impact of Idai. This is the first time in recorded history that there have been two cyclones of such power in one season in Mozambique.

DEC partner charities in the region have been concentrating on providing clean water and sanitary facilities to prevent a major outbreak of cholera. They have also been delivering emergency shelter materials and blankets, food such as pulses and maize flour, and urgent health assistance.

The DEC Cyclone Idai appeal is still live and donations can still be made via the DEC website at www.dec.org.uk or you can make a £5 donation simply by texting DEC to 70000.

As you will have heard, Cyclone Idai has swept through Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, leaving behind a trail of destruction, killing hundreds and affecting an estimated 2.6 million people.

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has now called an emergency appeal to help raise funds for those affected by the cyclone.

As part of the DEC’s Rapid Response Network, the One World Centre is organising a street collection in the Isle of Man to allow members of the public to donate to the DEC appeal. This will take place from Friday 29th – Sunday 31st March 2019 and we are looking for volunteers to help with this collection.

Please get in touch by calling 800464 or emailing info@owciom.org if you can spare an hour or two to collect either in Douglas, Ramsey, Peel, Castletown or Port Erin.

We will post updates here and on our Facebook page. For the latest information from the DEC, go to the DEC website here

We are really pleased to be able to support Practical Action with their solar panel STEM Challenge, which has now been made available to Manx schools. Practical Action has received funding from the Isle of Man Government for a real-life solar power project in rural Zimbabwe and the STEM challenge offers learning about what life is like for those with no access to electricity as well as an introduction to electricity production and how solar power works. All the teaching materials are on https://practicalaction.org/solar-challenge-isle-of-man and there is also a competition that schools can enter to win STEM kit for their classroom. The One World Centre is hosting two solar panel kits that schools can borrow – these are currently available on one-week loans so please get in touch if you would like to use one.

Are you involved in a local or international charity on the Isle of Man and concerned about safeguarding issues?

The One World Centre is facilitating a free workshop on Saturday 16th March on safeguarding issues for charities and voluntary organisations. This will include a presentation as well as the opportunity to share knowledge, raise questions and network with others.

Attendance is free but please book ahead by email to info@owciom.org or call 800464, stating your name, organisation and the number of places required.

The event takes place from 10am to 1pm at the DEFA Training Room, next to One World Centre offices, Thie Garey Ny Cloie, Foxdale Road, St Johns IM4 3AS

It’s time to celebrate all things Fairtrade with the launch of Fairtrade Fortnight. This year the focus is on making sure that cocoa farmers, particularly women cocoa farmers, earn a living income and there are lots of supporting materials on www.fairtrade.org.uk. Schools and churches around the Island are getting involved (listen out for Manor Park students on Manx Radio’s Thought for the Day this week!) and there also other activities happening that you can read about on the Fairtrade Isle of Man Facebook page here. Maybe you could organise a Fairtrade bake-off or coffee morning with friends, or encourage your workplace to take part? We’re now in our 11th year of being a Fairtrade Island – choosing Fairtrade is such as easy way to make a difference so break out your favourite bar of Fairtrade chocolate or make a cup of Fairtrade coffee, and let’s take Fairtrade forward!

Local singer/songwriter Bruno Barton has been inspired to write a song encouraging us all to do our bit to save the world we love and know. Called Blue Planet you can listen to it here and read the lyrics here. Thanks Bruno for sharing.