One World Centre Isle of Man

It was great to see so many enthusastic students at our Meet the Charities Day yesterday. This is one of the most difficult parts of the Charity Challenge project – deciding which of the many wonderful charities they want to support!

Thanks to everyone came along, including the local charity representatives who gave up their time to come along and chat to the students, including Ruth from Hands of Hope who joined us virtually for live Q&As! Thanks also, as ever, to our sponsors AFD Software whose generous funding makes the whole thing possible.

Sadly the One World Poetry Slam was unable to take place this year due to the restrictions around coronavirus. However we did throw open a challenge to Year 7 and 8 students to write a poem reflecting on their experiences in lockdown and whether they could find some positives to take forward when thinking about a better world for all. Click here to read the winning entries.

We’re desperately looking for volunteers to help with a street collection in support of the DEC Coronavirus Appeal this Saturday 25th July.

We have permission to collect in Douglas, Ramsey, Port Erin, Castletown and Peel between 10am and 5pm. If you can help for an hour or so in any location please get in touch by calling 800464. Thank you

With cases of coronavirus now being found in Syria and gravediggers in Yemen struggling to keep up with demand, the Disasters Emergency Committee has today lauched an appeal to provide help to some of the most vulnerable communities in the world as they face Covid-19.

We have already seen the devastation the coronavirus pandemic has caused in wealthy economies. Poorer countries face dealing with coronavirus on top of other crises and will need help to limit the impact and try to contain the spread.

The Disasters Emergency Committee is made up of 14 leading UK aid and humanitarian organisations who come together at times of disaster or crisis to raise funds quickly and efficiently, in order to rapidly scale up their operations in the areas affected.

This appeal is currently targetting communities in Syria, Yemen and South Sudan, as well as Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan and the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh.

Money donated will:

• provide families with clean water, soap and information on keeping themselves safe
• provide frontline medical and aid workers with equipment and supplies to care for the vulnerable and sick
• ensure families get enough food to prevent malnutrition, particularly amongst children

You can donate online at the DEC website by following the link below.

https://www.dec.org.uk/appeal/coronavirus-appeal

Tynwald Day is usually an unbelievably busy day for the One World Centre, with our Global Village in full swing at the Arboretum as part of the Manx National Day celebrations. It’s all a bit different this year but we are still celebrating cultural diversity in a virtual way with a look at some of the national holidays celebrated by the many other cultures represented in the Isle of Man. To start with, we’ve uploaded information for two very different countries – Chile and China – and we’ll be adding more locations in the coming days. Find out where you’d do a cueca and where you need to watch out for a Nian!

To celebrate Earth Day, the World’s Largest Lesson has come up with a great activity for children to link with their older relatives (remotely at the moment, of course) to reflect on climate change through generations. It’s a simple but effective way to draw out observations, connect with others and share positive action. Can be done any time, not just today!

https://worldslargestlesson.globalgoals.org/learning-for-earth-day-22nd-april/