Friends of Alalay (Santa Cruz)

The children and staff at Alalay made and baked thousands of panettone last Christmas and sold them – in police stations, local government, shops, offices, markets and so on – and we just learned that they made a profit of almost £4,000!  This is enough to help pay for the vocational training of five or more teenagers for a year.  In addition, the well-designed packaging helped to promote the work of Alalay in Bolivia

We continue this year to support around sixty Alalay children through their normal schooling and six adolescents through vocational training. We also continue to pay the salary of a wonderful house parent, like this one.

As we were required to do by law, we’ve recently contacted all of our supporters to explain that we only hold the minimum of information necessary for us to keep in touch, to make it clear how we collect that information about them and to state that, if requested, we will modify the way that we keep in touch, or remove people from our database if asked.  I’m delighted to say that out of nearly 900 people contacted, only one has asked to be removed!

For more information about our specific policies, please see HERE.

The last two weeks of 2017 were pretty busy fundraising-wise.

The fortnight started with a great sum raised at a charity wine auction for the kids, and ended with the wonderful, participatory and fun “Birds, Bees and Beasts” extravaganza – welcoming back the ever talented Niall Hoskin (Baritone) and Stephen Browne (Piano), to perform music about nearly everything living: from a flea to a warthog, a bee to a lark… all just before Christmas! Many thanks to the fantastic musicians and all those who came along and supported the concert. Please see some photos from the event below, including a special guest! (simply click on them to enlarge).

¡Muchas gracias! to every single person who has kindly supported Alalay and its work with children in Bolivia these past 12 months.

During the year we achieved so much more than we ever believed possible.
To give you a glimpse into 2017: alongside continued support for our existing projects (volunteers’ cabin, textile unit, bakery, livestock), we also paid the salary of a house mother, funded all the Alalay children through school, paid for and supported all of our oldest teenagers in their vocational training (offering them futures that include cookery, accounting, secretarial work and hairdressing)… and provided ingredients for our kids to make 8,000 Christmas panettone (to sell and generate further income)!

And we couldn’t have done it without your very real support.

Wishing you all a very ¡Próspero Año Nuevo 2018!

We are so pleased to welcome back Niall Hoskin (Baritone) and Stephen Browne (Piano) to perform music about nearly everything living: from a flea to a warthog, a bee to a lark…

A family-friendly animal extravaganza to raise funds for our work with street children in Bolivia

TONIGHT (Wednesday 20 December) at 7.30 pm (doors open 7 pm)
St Matthew’s Church, Clare Road, Bristol, BS6 5TB
FREE entry – retiring collection

Music by Schubert, Cole Porter, Tom Lehrer, Barber, Scarlatti and many more.

It promises to be a fantastic event – please spread the word!
And watch this video to learn more about the amazing kids we are supporting:

It’s that time of the year again… and we have a very small selection of beautiful Christmas cards for sale, each individually painted by our children. Make sure to order yours quickly – they are guaranteed to sell out fast!

As always, they cost just £1.50 each, or 4 cards for £5. Please just contact us for more information about purchase or delivery.

Despite being rather quiet on the website, Friends of Alalay has been having a busy time both in the UK and Bolivia over the last few months, coordinating projects and organising fundraising events.

Last month, we had a stall as part of the “Great Get Together” day at St Matthew’s Church, Bristol and both raised funds for these children, and increased awareness of the current reality for them.

We have always highlighted the importance of an education for our children, in order for them to leave the vicious cycle of poverty.

According to UNICEF Bolivia, “an estimated 616,000 children and adolescents work (INE 2002). The economic crisis, lack of employment and, definitively, low family income oblige many children and adolescents to work. These children prematurely have to assume responsibilities which do not correspond to their age, and frequently are exploited at work. Also, work impedes many children from attending school. Only 39 per cent of working children continue their schooling, while 4.3 per cent have never gone to school”.

This is especially true of our street children, who are even more likely to be involved in informal work, with no job security, little income, potential big risks to their personal safety and no secure future. However, Alalay is facing severe budget cuts and was unable to pay for the education costs of the kids.

Therefore, this year, in addition to our other normal projects we have agreed to fund the schooling for all of the Alalay children at Santa Cruz for one year. Plus we are funding all 16 of our adolescents through their vocational training courses, so that they can receive the skills necessary to work in their chosen career path in the future.

Music about nearly everything living: from a flea to a warthog and birds caroling…

You are warmly welcomed to a concert in aid of Friends of Alalay (Santa Cruz) – a charity that helps Bolivian street children to help themselves.

Wednesday 20 December 2017 at 7.30 pm (doors open 7 pm) at  St Matthew’s Church, Clare Road, Bristol, BS6 5TB.

Written by Schubert, Cole Porter, Vaughan Williams, Tom Lehrer, Barber, Scarlatti and several more.

Performed by Niall Hoskin (Baritone) and Stephen Browne (Piano)

Free entry – retiring collection

We spoke recently with the lovely ladies at Victoria Women’s Guild in Keynsham.  The Guild have supported my work with the street children over several years and as always, gave me a very warm welcome.

We couldn’t fund Alalay and its invaluable work with the street kids without our supporters. Thank you to every single one of you.