On Sunday 15th April Alison Payne took part in the 2012 Paris marathon.  Despite very cold conditions she completed the 26 miles and raised over £1,000 for ThePromise.  There is still time to support Alison by visiting her JustGiving page.

Thank you to everyone who squeezed into their old school uniform (or borrowed one from their kids) and came along on Saturday night to our ‘reunion’ disco.  We raised £335 for ThePromise and had lots of fun at the same time.

Visit our facebook page to see photos from the evening.

  On Saturday 3rd March 2012 Lucy Ward and Liam Halligan completed a half marathon in aid of ThePromise.  The race was held on the deepest lake in the world, Lake Baikal in Siberia, which is frozen over with 1.5m of ice.

With temperatures at a balmy -7c Lucy and Liam completed the tradition of blessing the lake, with milk rather than vodka, before they started their run out into the middle of the lake.  Along the way they were provided with fruit, nuts and hot drinks and had to jump the cracks in the ice!  Click here to read more about this amazing challenge.

Despite Lucy’s broken arm and Liam’s knee injury they completed the race in 2hrs 25mins and 2hrs 46mins respectively.

So far they have raised over £4,000 for ThePromise and if you would like to help increase this amazing total please visit their JustGiving page.

Well Done and Thank You Lucy & Liam!

On Saturday 3rd March Lucy Ward and Liam Halligan ran a half marathon on Lake Baikal in Siberia in aid of ThePromise. Read more about it and see some photos of their amazing achievement here. You can also listen to Lucy’s interview for Voice of Russia radio in London.  They have raised almost £5,000 – but it’s not too late to make a donation through their JustGiving page here.

Armenui & Elvira accepting award

Our Russian partner organisation, Obeshenye, was recently awarded 1st place in the ‘Federal Stage of the III All Russian Festival of Social Programmes’.  The award was for our work supporting children with special needs and their families within the community, promoting social adaptation.

Armenui (Obeshenye Director) and Elvira (Obeshenye Council Member & Senior Lecturer, Ryazan State University) travelled to Moscow to collect the award and meet with other charities working within Russia.

Well done everyone!

Dancing & Singing at the New Year's Party

The community portage team organised a fantastic New Year party for children and families who receive Portage in Ryazan. 10 children and their parents joined the team for the fun-filled afternoon of games, drawing, singing and a performance, by the portage workers, of a traditional Russian Christmas story.

Dyed Moroz, Snyegurochka and community portage workers

Since soviet times it is traditional in Russia to celebrate the New Year with parties and a visit from Dyed Moroz or Father Frost, the Russian Spirit of Winter, who gives presents to children, helped by Snyegurochka, the snowmaiden. The children all received a gift from Dyed Moroz and enjoyed having their photos taken with him and Snyegurochka.

Ann receiving her gift from Dyed Moro

The party also gave the parents an opportunity to meet one another, discuss issues and get ideas to help them cope with looking after their disabled children at home. The parents all expressed a keen interest for future meetings and events such as this and the community team portage workers have agreed to help support this happen.

Overall a great time was had by all, new friendships made and support networks built.

Children with Dyed Moroz & Snyegurochka

ThePromise Strictly Starlight Ball was held on Saturday 10th March in The Live Room at Twickenham Stadium.  200 guests enjoyed a fantastic, star filled evening - and helped to raise an amazing £23,000 on the night. Click here to see the photos:

http://johnbarwoodphotography.co.uk/the-promise-starlight-ball.html

We hope you enjoy reading the most recent copy of our Newsletter packed with updates about our work, successes and future plans!

Due to the overwhelming generosity of our supporters, last weeks Big Give Christmas Challenge raised over £6,000 for ThePromise.   This will ensure that 16 children in Yelatma orphanage will receive daily Portage sessions for the next year. This is an incredible gift to give them – life changing.  A huge thank you you to everyone who persevered through the technical problems to make their donations.

Unfortunately places for Nightrider London 2012 are now sold out.  Information for the ride in 2013 will be posted here as soon as we have it.

You can still take part in amazing events and fundraise for ThePromise at the same time!

Visit our Fundraising page for loads of ideas and great events coming up this year.

Please contact Jo Pritchard if you have any questions, would like support in fundraising for ThePromise or to let us know you will be taking part in an event.