My daughter came up with the idea of a sandcastle challenge to fundraise for our charity and take part in the local hero campaign, which we combined with my birthday outing. With the help of some friends aged 6-10 years old, we completed the challenge to build 66 sandcastles, topped with flags, to represent the 66 children and young people we are currently working with. It took place on Monday 11th April in Folkestone. The sun shone, the tide was out and our young team worked hard for a couple of hours, before taking a well deserved lunch break in the middle. It was heart warming seeing them work so well as a team, designing and digging. Concluding by adding the finishing touch of hand made flags, with country flags to represent the heritage of each child.
Along with raising funds to continue our school holiday outings programme, we are hoping to be able to enable a youth residential adventure weekend this year, along with a mini summer holiday for the first time. This will be at a youth hostel near the beach, for our most vulnerable families with younger children. Our sandcastle fundraiser seems a fitting way to raise funds for children to enjoy a day at the beach and other activities and new experiences on outings, that many of our parents can't facilitate for their children due to health and financial limitations.
We are hoping to get as many people as possible to make a donation to our cause, however small, to help give us a chance to win some of the local hero prize money, given to those with the most donors in April. So whether you'd like to donate in lieu of buying me a birthday drink, or encourage us in the mission to construct 66 sandcastles, know that every little donated helps Alongside You keep making a difference in the lives of the children living with HIV that we support.
