We are very pleased to announce the launch of our sales of Alalay Christmas cards for 2012. Each card has been individually designed and hand-painted by ex-street children currently supported by Alalay.

A variety of cards are also available for other occasions, such as birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and more general greeting cards.

Each card costs £1.50, or you can take advantage of our offer, and get a selection of 5 unique cards for just £5! Please get in touch with us if you would like any more information, or to purchase some cards while stocks last!

We are thrilled to announce that long-time Friends of Alalay supporter Nathan Jones has reached Tokyo, Japan on his bike! Nathan left Bristol, England in September 2011 and has been cycling ever since (over 10,000 miles!) to reach his final destination of Tokyo.

We are very pleased that Nathan has chosen Friends of Alalay as one of his supported charities for this ride (alongside Combat Stress – the veteran’s mental health charity). He has already raised a  fantastic amount for our work, and managed to spread the word about Alalay along his route.

Read much more about Nathan’s rationale, route, challenges and the high points of his ride here. If you would like to support his ride (and Friends of Alalay!) please do consider sponsoring him directly here.

Huge congratulations to Nathan!

Kingsdown Homegrown Fair last Saturday was a great success. The Friends of Alalay stall and Whack-the-Olympic-rat went down a treat and many people came to support. We were also one of the supported charities of the event, so should hear more about that soon.

Thanks so much to all of the people who came to talk with us, buy goodies and help on the day. A special thanks to Graham, Ros, Pam, Phillip, Nigel, Olly and Sophie for their hard work – it wouldn’t have been possible without you all!

As some of you may already know, I am currently living in Zugdidi, Georgia (ex-USSR) where, alongside co-ordinating ‘Friends of Alalay’ from afar, I am working with a Georgian organisation called Charity Humanitarian Centre Abkhazeti (CHCA). CHCA works with internally displaced people (IDPs) who have had to leave their past lives and homes behind in Abkhazia (a now break-away region of the country) and now live in other regions, where they are often marginalized and suffer from severe economic and social problems.

Last week I was invited by a colleague to visit another project he runs which also works with IDPs. It is located in a poor settlement community called Potskho-Etseri, made up of predominantly people from Abkhazia.

We shared biscuits and drink with the families, and I spoke with them about their lives, families and current situation. Afterwards, I was privileged to be asked to give a brief talk about my work with Alalay to a group of assembled adults. It was humbling to be given the opportunity to speak with people who lack so much themselves, yet could empathise and understand the situation in Bolivia, feeling themselves much better off in comparison as they at least have (some kind of) a roof over their heads.

I was thrilled at the offer of playing with some of the children from the community. We ran around, sang, jumped, smiled and laughed together – it was almost like being back with ‘my children’ in Santa Cruz.

I hope that soon I will be able to visit Potskho-Etseri again – perhaps even to run some informal English classes! If anyone would like to find out any more about the situation in the settlement, please just get in touch with me.

The recent ‘Wonderland Fun Day’ at No.4 Clifton Village was a huge success with almost £500 raised for the street kids.

Many thanks to all at the Clifton Hotels Group for their hard work organising the event and to all those who helped or visited us on the day! Please keep checking the website for info about more events coming soon…

“... part urban street fair, part old- fashioned village fete … Kingsdown’s new annual festival”

Come and find the Friends of Alalay stall at Kingsdown Homegrown Fair tomorrow afternoon! We are one of the supported charities and will have a stall selling beautiful Bolivian goodies, be running the legendary “Whack the Rat!” and much more besides…

Saturday 15th September 1-5pm, in and around St. Matthews Church, Kingsdown, Bristol.

Download much more information here:
Kingsdown Homegrown 2012 programme of events

We look forward to seeing you there!

Huge congratulations to Jay Williams who recently completed the Bath 100 bike ride for ‘Friends of Alalay’. He cycled a terrific 100-mile distance through the Cotswold Hills and back to Bath, completing the gruelling course in 8 hours and 40 seconds.

 Well done Jay!

Thanks to everyone who came and supported Friends of Alalay at the recent Marshfield Fête. We raised almost £300 and a brilliant time was had by all. Keep checking the website’s upcoming events page to find fundraising events coming soon near you!

[ just click on the following photos to enlarge them]

[please support us – download an event poster for your window at the bottom of this post!]
A note from the organisers:

Wonderland Fun Day: A magical land for children in the heart of Clifton Village

“Saturday 1^st September is the date to remember, the perfect afternoon to spend with your children before they head back to school.  From the Mad Hatter to the White Rabbit, meet all your favourite characters on the croquet course this September at No.4 Restaurant’s Charity Event at the Rodney Hotel, Rodney Place, Clifton!

Face painting, mask making and our dressing up box will transform you into a magical creature before you attend the Wonderland Tea Party! With a yummy bake sale, fantastic British garden for games and prizes galore, our Wonderland Fun Day will bring magic to Clifton Village. With free entry you can pop in and enjoy the many delights on offer between 12pm till 4pm at No.4 Clifton Village Restaurant.

All profits of our Magical Wonderland Day will go to our charity: Friends of Alalay (Santa Cruz), an organisation headed by Bristol based Annie Syrett and one that works with Bolivian street children for a brighter future. Clifton Hotels are proud to be supporting them as our charity of the year. If anybody would like to donate cakes for us to sell, or donate prizes for the tombola please do get in touch, every little bit helps.”

If anybody would like to further support us, then please click on the following poster… right click to save it… open it and print a copy for your window! It promises to be a great event!

We have now sent out the latest Summer newsletter, packed full of news, information and a special report following some of our Alalay adolescents in their future lives.

If anyone does not currently receive the newsletter (via Email or post) please just contact us here (including your email address) and we will get a copy to you as soon as possible. We look forward to hearing from you!

An adolescent we are supporting through his vocational training