One World Centre Isle of Man

This year the trainers are more worn, but Rosemary hopes they will see her to Peel on Saturday (only 32.5 of the 85 mile challenge). She is hoping to boost our dwindling resources and would welcome sponsors! If you live on the route, please give her a wave as she passes through.

UNA AGM – Wednesday 21st June 1830, The Views Restaurant, Onchan Park, to be followed by an informal dinner with Professor St John Bates, former Clerk of Tynwald and current Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Strathclyde.  If you would like to book a place for the dinner, please contact Andrew Newton (tel: 427 925).

Do! AGM – Thursday 22nd June 1945 The Well, Broadway, Douglas.  There’s an opportunity to learn about all the activities that this Manx charity has been doing in Uganda over the last year, and how they plan to use the recent small grant from the Government’s International Development Fund.

What does Manx international aid get spent on? Our new exhibition Making A Difference aims to explain exactly that by showing the practical work and outcomes of the many different charities and projects that have received funding from the Manx Government’s Small Grants scheme over the past five years. As well as giving details of the specific schemes that have been supported, the exhibition shows how many thousands of lives have been transformed in developing countries through Manx generosity. The exhibition is currently at the Arrivals area of the Sea Terminal in Douglas and will move in mid May to Ramsey Town Hall.  Click this link to hear OWC Committee Member Louise Whitelegg explaining the thinking behind the exhibition to Paul Moulton. http://manx.net/tv/mt-tv/watch/82641/making-a-difference-exhibition

A team from King William’s College, representing the charity Excellent Development, has serenaded their way to victory in a closely fought battle at this year’s One World Charity Challenge finals.

The team, comprising of Year 12 students Harab Khan, Cameron Wheeler, Conor Taylor, Conor Moroney, Charlie McGowan and Tom Padley, were judged the overall winners for their presentation on Excellent Development’s work on sand dams. This included a rendition of a song they had composed during the fundraising stage of the competition which they performed on the night in front of the invited audience including Lieutenant Governor Sir Richard Gozney (Patron of the One World Centre) and Chief Minister Howard Quayle.

As overall winners the team was awarded £1,700 for Excellent Development and they also picked up the audience vote which gave them another £250. Joint runners-up were a team from QE2 High School representing African Promise and a second team from King Williams College representing Drop Inn Ministries. Both these teams also won £1,700 for their charities with the Drop Inn Ministries team also picking up a further £250 for most creative fundraising award.

The three remaining finalists were awarded joint fourth place and £1,200 each for their chosen charities. These were teams from Ballakermeen High School representing Powerful Information, Castle Rushen High School representing Pahar Trust and Ramsey Grammar School representing St George Foundation.

This year marked the 10th anniversary of the Charity Challenge initiative which challenges Manx students to learn about international development issues by researching a small Isle of Man or UK-based charity working overseas.

As well as learning about the wider world, students are required to develop their ICT, presentation, public speaking, time management and teamworking skills to put together a multimedia presentation on their findings. The project is unique in the British Isles and often gives participating students an added talking point in their university or job applications.

The Frances Davidson cup which is awarded to the overall winning team

We’re just hours away from the 10th anniversary Grand Finals of the One World Charity Challenge. Well done to all the teams who made it this far – and to all those who have taken part along the way and raised valuable funds for their chosen charities.

Those competing tonight, in front of an audience which includes His Excellency Lieutenant Governor Sir Richard Gozney and Chief Minister Howard Quayle, include:

Ballakermeen High School – Powerful Information

Castle Rushen High School – Pahar Trust

King William’s College (I) – Drop Inn Ministries

King William’s College (II) – Excellent Development

QE2 High School – African Promise

Ramsey Grammar School – St George Foundation

Good luck to you all!

We were delighted to receive a donation of £200 from Zurich yesterday – one of 31 local charities to benefit from their charitable funds.  Earlier in the year they held a dress down day for us which brought in more than £1,000.  Thank you, Zurich.

How good is your Isle of Man and worldwide knowledge? Come and find out at the One World Centre charity quiz night on Wednesday 1^st March.

The quiz takes place at Bar George in Douglas, 6.30pm for a 7pm start. Tickets are £5 per person and there is a maximum of 8 per team. To help us with numbers, please purchase tickets in advance by calling 800464 or email us on info@owciom.org.

We have John Dog Collister acting as quizmaster and there will be Fairtrade prizes for the winning team.  Please come along and support us if you can – all funds raised will go to support the One World Centre’s work on international development education.

Look forward to seeing you there!

https://www.facebook.com/events/603143756550729/

Students at one of the Fairtrade workshops

Over 60 young students joined us at Legislative Buildings last week for the fifth Fairtrade Primary Conference.

Sixteen of the Island’s primary schools took part in the event which saw students take a day out of the classroom to learn about all things Fairtrade.

As well as a formal conference session, the students each participated in four workshops. These included a chance to debate in the Tynwald Chamber, a look at the production of Fairtrade chocolate (including an all-important tasting!), a philosophy for children discussion on the concept of fairness and a look at all the different products now available as Fairtrade.

The event was supported by the Manx Co-operative Society, who provided items for a packed lunch, and the keynote speaker was Amy Morris from the Co-op’s Fairtrade team who talked about the benefits of Fairtrade for producers in the developing world.

President of Tynwald Steve Rodan addressed the conference and welcomed the children to the Legislative Buildings.

Towards the end of the day, the children worked in groups to come up with ideas for Fairtrade activities in their own schools during Fairtrade Fortnight which this year takes place between 27th February and 12th March.