Chantal Webster and the Sholing Philippines Project 2020
Chantal Webster has been a team member of Amiri since 2016, working in the Accounts Department. One of her big passions for several years has been the work that her and her husband have been doing for the Sholing Philipinnes Project. Five projects have been completed to date that have helped the local community, providing shelter, food, welfare and education for all that have been impacted by natural disaters that have hit the region in the recent past.
The 2020 project is Chantal's next big adventure......
Ten young people together with four leaders are heading back to The Philippines in March to spend two weeks in Tacloban on the island of Leyte once again, where they will help to build a community centre at Candahug Elementary School on the outskirts of the city.
Abit of background to the project
In November 2013, the Super Typhoon, locally known as Yolanda, devastated the Central Philippines, killing more than 6,000 people and leaving half a million homeless. The Tacloban area was particularly hardest hit.
On Christmas Day 2019 another typhoon hit the same areas of the Central Philippines once again causing significant damage and killing around 50 people.
Groups of students from the Sholing area of Southampton have been travelling to the Philippines every two years since 2008 to work on a number of projects to help disadvantaged communities, initially concentrating their efforts to the Tondo district of Manila, arguably one of the poorest parts of the country.
After Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013, the team installed playground equipment donated by Playdale Playgrounds of Cumbria in Daanbantayan on the island of Cebu and followed that up with two more playgrounds in Tacloban and Tolosa in February 2016.
In addition to the community building project, the 2020 team will also run one-day summer activity programmes for a total of more than 500 Filipino children during their two week stay and all of the children will receive a “Gift of Joy” bag containing a toy, ball, colouring book, pencils and health products including soap, toothbrush, toothpaste shampoo and face towel, paid for from the group funds.
Fundraising for the 2020 project
For the past twelve months the team has been organising a number of fundraising events to cover the cost of their projects- some of the team completed The Three Peaks Challenge, the ascents of Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in June. This was followed by a Charity Golf Day at The Skylark Golf and Country Club in Whiteley. In February the team have organised a Charity Ball which will also be held at the Skylark Golf and Country Club as the team endeavours to reach their target of £12,000 for the group funds.
Every member of the team is responsible for funding their own place on the project and the group funds are entirely used for the projects in The Philippines.
Members of the team have already raised in excess of £4,000 when they undertook The Three Peaks Challenge in June- the ascents of Ben Nevis in Scotland, Scafell Pike in England and Snowdon in Wales, more than 10,000ft of ascent and almost 25 miles of trekking in just over 24 hours.
The next fundraiser is a Charity Golf Day at Skylark Golf and Country Club in August and a Grand Charity Ball to complete the fundraising in early February which is SOLD OUT.
Chantal is currently looking for the following donations to help with the fundraising:
- Prizes for the charity raffle that will be held at the Ball on the 22nd February 2020
- Sponsorship of the trip to include logoed t-shirts that the team will wear
- Donations of soft balls (about the size of a tennis ball) to go in the 'gift' bags for the children of the area
- Donations of soft toys (small) to go into the 'gift bags for the children of the area
The team is indebted to the many supporters who have helped the team along the way and without such amazing support, the team would not be able to undertake such an ambitious programme.
For highlights of previous projects please visit https://sholingphilippines.home.blog/