LYT Newsletter August 2021
Dear LYT’ers,
As I write this, the floor of my office shakes rhythmically to the baseline pounding out of Martyn’s studio below.. He is, you will be happy to know, locked away down there, meticulously mixing the tracks on his upcoming new album.
(If you’re wondering what’s it like, the beauty of hearing an album being birthed.. in the last hour I’ve heard the same line replayed approximately 74 times.)
(It still sounds wonderful.)
I’m writing to give you a chance to take a step away from your day, to pull your eyes from the frayed hem of headlines unraveling our hearts on what seems like an hourly basis, and to share with you instead our latest news. Updates from the last 6 months, built from your support and optimism.. here’s what you’ve been helping to put out into the world.
£45,000 in Donations given in first half of 2021!
CAMP JOJO
Last month marked the end of the first half of the year, and thus, the end of our time with Camp Jojo. (If you’re new to hearing about Camp Jojo, you can read about them here.)
We were SO thrilled to hear that they were going to be able to hold their camps this Summer, after having been shut down by Covid last year. Consequently, it was wonderful timing to be able to present them with a donation of £20,000 at the start of July, just a few weeks before their camps were going to be held.
This year’s events included 3 separate weekends of camps, with approximately 25 guests per camp. With LYT’s donation, Camp Jojo are already moving confidently toward next Summer’s plans, with the goal of doubling their events to 6 weekends of camps, and with accommodation for more guests. As a fledgling UK based organisation only in their first few years of growth, we’re so proud to be even a small part of their plans for expansion and continued sustainability. Go, go, go!
[Photo Credit: Camp Jojo]
ADVANTAGE AFRICA - ALBINISM IN UGANDA
As many of you are aware, we work quite closely with our friends at Advantage Africa, both in Kenya and Uganda. Andrew, Jane and team do an incredible job of diligently sending us reports down to the penny detailing how they are expertly and concisely spreading our funding to it’s maximum ability and effect, and we are, quite frankly, awed at how hard they work.
It was thus heart shattering to hear their news that a £250k grant they had been working on for nearly 3 years that had been pledged to them by the UK government had been withdrawn due to recent changes in policy. The grant was to fund a project entitled ‘Leaving No Person with Albinism Behind in Uganda’ and was due to start in April. The impact of this decision is horrendous and you can read exactly how in Andrew’s letter here.
Literally thousands of people in Uganda are affected by this decision, and Advantage Africa’s funding for their work in Uganda was devastated. When Andrew sent us the news, we knew we had to do something to help, even fractionally.
Consequently, thanks to all of you, we were able to send them a CDD (Community Development Donation) of £15,000 last month, in continued support of their work with albinism. We know they will stretch every pound, and we look forward to sending you updates on the direct impact you are helping to provide.
[Photo Credit: Advantage Africa]
INTRODUCING: RUNNING SPACE
In a seamless transition from above, it was in fact Andrew who first brought Running Space to our attention!
With their succinct and powerful mission statement of ‘Promoting Life, Beating Suicide’, RunningSpace’s passion and calling are to see every life lived in all its fullness and not have one be lost to suicide.
Based in Bexhill-on-Sea, RunningSpace deliver Walk2Run groups which build strong personal relationships, as well as encourage life skills and positive coping strategies.
Physical activity is a great way to create space in our lives. We all know that running is good for us, but it can be difficult to get started and take the first step. In RunningSpace’s brilliant Walk2Run groups, you can learn correct running techniques as well as gain fitness and confidence through walking and running. Qualified running coaches lead their groups to teach you to progress from walking to running. 80% of their participants are completely new to running so everyone starts from a similar place, and they also invite you to join them for refreshments after the sessions because rest and recovery with old and new friends are just as important as the session itself. They also deliver 1:1 coaching for those who need more help to get started or want to progress at a different rate. Walk2Run sessions are FREE and you can just turn up at the beginning of a session to join anytime.
Additionally, safeTALK is a half-day training course provided by RunningSpace that can help you make a difference. Through learning, discussion and practice, it will show you what to do if you suspect someone’s suicidal, and help you to practice the TALK steps – Tell, Ask, Listen and Keep-safe.
With multiple programs already running, and plans for more on the way, we thought it so important to team up with such a vital mental health program. RunningSpace are busier than ever thanks to Covid and all it’s related ricochet effects of isolation, and we were so pleased to be able to support them with a CDD of £10,000. We look forward to watching them grow, as well as possibly teaming up with them for some kind of special MJ event in the future!
You can read more about RunningSpace here on our Projects Page.
MEET OUR NEW PARTNER: MARSH CHILDREN’S HOME, MEXICO
[Photo Credit: Marsh Children's Home]
Finally, we want to introduce you to our new partner for the second half of 2021 - Marsh Children’s Home/Infantil Hogar Marsh.
Marsh Children’s Home is a government approved, non-profit organization created to care for and educate some of Acapulco's and the state of Guerrero's most underprivileged, abandoned and sometimes abused children.
Founders of Marsh Children’s Home, Eduardo and Jovita met as children when both were raised as orphans in a Latin American Orphanage run by Alice and Lawrence Marsh. After raising their own children, Eduardo and Jovita opened a space to help the next generation of orphans. Named after the couple that raised them, Marsh Children’s Home was born in 1990, to continue to help children in need.
In it’s founding years, Marsh Children’s Home had 30 children, sometimes 3-4 to a bed. Currently, 60 children reside there, each with their own bed, and in the past as many as 80 children were housed.
[Photo Credit: Marsh Children's Home]
The children that arrive are from 2 categories: abandoned by parents who fled to the U.S. to work and never came back, or indigenous children from the mountains of Acapulco, some of the poorest regions of Mexico. On arrival, many children are anemic and suffer from malnutrition, so immediate medical care is given. From there the children are transitioned into the healthy, safe environment that defines Marsh Children’s Home, to eventually graduate from High School with more opportunities available to them.
With 30 years of experience, Jovita and her adult children (Eduardo sadly passed away in 2006) continue to build and grow Marsh Children’s home, with a new music program recently added, a computer lab prioritised to be updated, and a Job Placement Program under development for their graduates.
[Photo credit: Marsh Children's Home]
We’re so thrilled to be teaming up with them through the rest of the year, and you can read more about the wonderful work Jovita and her team are doing at Marsh Children’s Home here on our Projects Page.
As you’ve probably realised by this point, our newsletters are not built on brevity. But we want to end this missive by thanking all of our supporters and allies who have, and continue to believe in us. We want to thank you, in other words.
These have, and continue to be such bizarre and difficult times. In the lottery of options most of us, I think, are on the luckier end. Your continued, selfless donation of that fortune into the peaceful, direct action of our partners is so vital, and putting so much good back out into the world. Thank you. For staying involved, for being part of the human connection.
We could not do this without you.
In gratitude,
Justine & the LYT Team
To help Marsh Children's Home via a gift of support, please click here or visit www.LetYourself.net to donate.