Waltham Forest THUSO in South Africa
Waltham Forest Thuso in South Africa
This year’s annual fundraising garden party is also a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the formation of the charity. Please join us for food and entertainment on 3rd July, 1-5pm, at 37 Grosvenor Park Road, E17 9PD.
This is the main fundraising event of our calendar and is always a lively affair. Most importantly, one hundred per cent of all the money raised goes to fund our work with education projects in South Africa.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Thirteen cyclists completed a 40 mile fundraising bike ride for Waltham Forest Thuso in South Africa last Sunday, 20 September. The cyclists were waved off by the Mayor of Walthamstow, Cllr Saima Mahmud, and trustees of the charity. The group – which included eight adults and five under-18s – cycled from Walthamstow to North Weald in Essex, via High Beech.
The cyclists, led by Alick Bridger, were blessed with sunshine, which kept their spirits up during some challenging climbs. All were delighted to complete the route to raise funds to send solar lights to families in rural South Africa, on the charity’s second annual bike ride.
After last year’s successful bike ride, 50 solar lanterns were sent to children attending Lobethal primary school in Limpopo province. The lights allow children to study after dark and help their families to limit the use of dangerous kerosene lamps when the village’s electricity supply fails.
Anyone inspired by the efforts of our cyclists, especially the younger members of the team, can still make a donation to the appeal: £7.50 will pay for a study light, £15 for a family lantern and £35 for a solar lantern and mobile charger.
You can download a sponsorship form here or make a payment via Paypal by clicking on the donate button.
Thuso’s 2015 sponsored bike ride will take place on Sunday 20 September. This year we are celebrating 21 years of Freedom in South Africa, with South Africa’s first free and fair elections taking place in 1994, after decades of anti-apartheid campaigning.
Leaving from Walthamstow at 10am it will include 20 and 40 mile options. The departure will be from outside 37 Grosvenor Park Road, London E17 9PD — many of you know this as the venue for the annual Thuso Garden Party.
The cyclists will then set off towards Chingford, High Beach and North Weald, on forest tracks, and minor roads into Essex, before returning to Walthamstow. It promises to be a most pleasant ride, and cyclists can still join in. The sponsorship form and flyer are available below.
The cycle ride will be supporting the charity’s appeal to provide solar lamps to children and families we support at Lobethal primary school in rural Limpopo Province, South Africa — because children without light can’t study!
The 2014 sponsored bike ride paid for the first batch of 50 solar lanterns. By sponsoring, making a donation or joining the bike ride you can play your part: £7.50 pays for a study light, £15 for a family lantern and £35 for a solar lantern and mobile charger.
To take part in the cycle ride contact Gerard on gerardomastamilsom@yahoo.co.uk or 07931 337202. To sponsor cyclists donate via the website, or use this sponsorship form.
If you would like to print out a flyer, you can download it here.
This year’s fundraising garden party will be on Sunday, 12th July 2015, from 1 to 5pm at 37 Grosvenor Park Road, Walthamstow, London E17 9PD
(between Hoe Street and Pembroke Road – see map below)
Parking in the area is free on Sundays.
The fundraising garden party is to support young people, many of them AIDS orphans, at Thuto Lesedi Secondary School in Gauteng and Lobethal primary school in Limpopo, both in South Africa, with a much needed feeding programme, as well as helping families affected by HIV/AIDS supported by Kopano Ke Maatla women’s project in Pretoria.
WE DESPERATELY NEED YOUR HELP TO DO THIS.
a wide selection of delicious home-cooked dishes including vegetarian, cakes and fruit
Adults: £10 includes lunch and 1 free glass of wine/beer/fruit juice
Children: £3
Under 5’s: Free
plants, jams, cards and South African jewellery
Parking: free in the area on Sundays
Trains: to Walthamstow Central Station
Buses:48, 20, 97, 69, 257, W15, W12, W19
View Larger Map
Note: you can drag this map with the mouse to see adjacent areas
Link to printable copy of Garden Party flyer (PDF): Garden Party 2015
Thuso have presented a laptop to Mpumelelo Nomzaza, the second recipient of the Neil Chubb prize for learning. The prize is awarded each year to the best performing matriculant at Thuto Lesedi school, near Johannesburg, who has been supported by the charity’s sponsored learners’ programme.
Mpumelelo came third among all pupils in South Africa who achieved distinctions in mathematics and science in the 2014 Matric examination. In 2015 he started an engineering course at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
Waltham Forest Thuso in South Africa grants the Neil Chubb prize in memory of one of our staunchest supporters and volunteers.
(left to right) Mr Steward Madi (school principal), Mpumelelo Nomzaza, Nosipho Nomzaza (Mpumelelo’s mother), Madumo Dawn (Head of Social Sciences), Fortunate Ntuli (Economics Teacher), Fuzile Makaziwe
Cyclists supporting Thuso raised an amazing amount of money this summer to kick start our new campaign for solar lights in rural South Africa. With all funds now in, we have collected just short of £1,200, which will make a real difference to the children we support.
This money will be used to buy solar lanterns for children and their families in the rural village of Limpopo. The lights will help pupils from Lobethal primary school to read after dark, as well as providing families with a safe and free source of lighting. Rural areas of South Africa face frequent power cuts, which means that children can’t study and families have to rely on dangerous sources of light and fuel such as kerosene.
We would like to thank Gerard Omasta-Milsom for organising the bike ride and all those who took part – Gerard and his son Adam, Caroline Woods with her son Arthur and his friend Sonny, Neville Watchurst and son Sam, Jayakara and Eugene Ellis and their son Taye, Alick Bridger and son Sol, David Douglas and son Max, and Colin Bootle and daughter Emily. Particular congratulations go to the Ellis family for raising £536!
