Underberg, South Africa | Charity Number: 1114506 urn:uuid:60a76c80-d399-11d9-b91C-0003939e0af6 2010-07-20T07:23:43+00:00 Ian Tearle urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a

Clouds of Hope are proud to announce the redesign of their web site aiming to raise awareness of the work the charity is doing in South Africa and the fund raising in the UK. We invite you to take a look around at some of the new features on the site, and come back often to see more updates and news.

Tom Mecrow urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a

At 10pm on 2nd July, 2009, Richard Reid will begin a 24 hour indoor cardio challenge to raise money for the Clouds of Hope AIDS project in South Africa. The event will see Richard covering a distance of around 240 kilometres and burning approximately 18000 calories (equivalent to over 80 pints of larger or over 80 Mars bars). Richard is a personal trainer, sports massage therapist and relaxation therapist and has been training for this event since December 2008. The event will be held at the London Marriott County Hall Club & Spa near Waterloo and will see Richard swap between the treadmill, rowing machine, and cross trainer each hour. The event will be particularly difficult for Richard as he is used to training for the explosive strength needed for gymnastics and martial arts, and is not naturally an endurance athlete. The Club will be offering two prizes for anyone who sponsors Richard:> 1st Prize: A Spa day for two people including two treatments each, use of the facilities and a two course lunch. 2nd Prize: One month free Full Membership at the Club at County Hall. To sponsor Richard visit: http://www.justgiving.com/richardreid3 All proceeds will go to Clouds of Hope!

Tom Mecrow urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a

Gill Rolfe is doing the ‘Run to the Beat’ London Half Marathon (21km!) this weekend. She is running it on behalf of ‘Clouds of Hope’. Gill was brought up in Underberg and is keen to help the community where she was raised! Gill has set up a Just Giving website where sponsors donate money online. All proceeds will go directly to Clouds of Hope. Visit: http://www.justgiving.com/Gill-Rolfe And show your support!  

Tom Mecrow urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a

In July this year Richard Reid undertook an incredible challange: A 24 hour indoor cardio challenge to raise money for the Clouds of Hope. The event saw Richard covering a distance of around 240 kilometres and burning approximately 18000 calories (equivalent to over 80 pints of larger or over 80 Mars bars)!! Richard raised approximately £2500 for Clouds of Hope! This is enough to cover the educationof one of our children for 4 years!  We would like to thank Richard for his full hearted support for Clouds of Hope, and his sponsors for their generous donations. Richard said he would like to do another event next year - we look forward to hearing more about his future plans!

Tom Mecrow urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a

The Terrance Higgins Trust have kindly offered to let us use their meeting room on the 5th Floor of their head quarters in London. The Clouds of Hope UK Annual General Meeting will be held: Date: 5th December, 2009 Time: 2-4pm Location: Fifth Floor Meeting Room (I will put up signs) Terrence Higgins Trust 314 - 320 Gray’s Inn Road London WC1X 8DP Please RSVP to tom@cloudsofhope.com. The meeting will be used to discuss work done over the past year, and outline a strategic plan for the coming year. A copy of the agenda will be posted on the Clouds of Hope website on Saturday (28th). Please feel free to e-mail anything you would like to see on the agenda. This is an open invitation! It would be really great to see lots of people at the meeting, even if you have had no direct connection with COH in the past - we are looking to expand our base of volunteers. Please invite friends and family, but let us know numbers in advance. If you are planning - or would like - to join the meeting over Skype conference call then please let us know. There are LIMITED Skype places. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you on the 5th December. Any problems please call Tom on: 07747893749

Tom Mecrow urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a

Dear all, In advance of the Clouds of Hope UK AGM on 5th December in London please see the 2008-2009 Financial Report: Clouds of Hope UK 2008-2009 Financial Report Any queries should be sent to the COH UK treasurer Steve Mecrow: steve@mecrow.co.uk

Tom Mecrow urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a

The 17th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infection is currently taking place in San Francisco. A recent study has been brought to the conference showing that whilst ARV rollout has expanded, a high proportion of people still die whilst waiting for medication. Aidsmap (www.aidsmap.com) reports: "A study has shown that one-quarter of people on the waiting list for HIV treatment in the Free State province in South Africa die before receiving a single dose. The research was conducted between 2004 and 2007. Patients were eligible for HIV treatment if their CD4 cell count was below 200 cells/mm3. Overall, a quarter of eligible patients died before they received HIV treatment. Especially high rates of death were seen in men, and patients with a CD4 cell count below 25 cells/mm3. Guidelines in South Africa now recommend that HIV treatment should be started when a patient’s CD4 cell count is around 350 cells/mm3. But the research also showed that patients weren’t having their CD4 cell counts monitored frequently enough for treatment to be started promptly. " Read the full study here: http://www.retroconference.org/2010/Abstracts/37166.htm

Tom Mecrow urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a

Clouds of Hope has jumped into the 21st Century thanks to the intuition of our web designer Ian Tearl. You can now catch us on Facebook and Twitter! More fundraising events and information evenings will be taking place throughout the year so  stay tuned!

Tom Mecrow urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a

Buy a Pint for South Africa! The World Cup is coming to South Africa but few people we see the hardship and suffering endured by so many. It is estimated that during the World Cup 23,000 South Africans will die of AIDS. Most people will be watching the football in the pub. So all we ask is that you donate the price of a pint! Join our Facebook Group (‘Buy a Pint for South Africa’) or donate via our Just Giving website: http://www.justgiving.com/buyapintforsouthafrica Cheers!!  

Tom Mecrow urn:uuid:1225c695-cfb8-4ebb-aaaa-80da344efa6a

BUY A PINT FOR SOUTH AFRICA The stadiums are finished, the hotels fully booked-up and the airports gleaming. FIFA has already banked 2.2 billion in media and marketing revenues and the footballers will be making millions. But away from the shiny buildings, South Africa remains as poverty-stricken and racially divided as ever. Most football fans won’t see the appalling conditions that millions have to cope with in townships across South Africa. But for most South Africans this is reality, and will continue to be so after the World Cup bandwagon has left. There are currently 5.7 million people living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa, and it is estimated that during 31 days of The World Cup 23,000 people will die of AIDS. International AIDS charity AVERT predicts that during the World Cup 4,500 babies will be born with HIV and 30,000 adults will become infected with HIV. Clouds of Hope is a small volunteer run registered UK charity set up to give support to children affected by HIV/AIDS in South Africa. The charity is home to over 70 children (from new born babies to teenagers) orphaned or abandoned due to the AIDS pandemic. Clouds of Hope provides children who have no-one else to turn to not only with shelter, food and education, but with loving care, and most importantly the feeling that they are valued and part of a family. The organisation aims to provide its children with the education, the capacity and the positive and independent spirit they need to provide for themselves and their future families, so breaking the poverty cycle into which these children were born. Clouds of Hope are running a ‘Buy a Pint for South Africa’ campaign during the tournament. Obviously they don’t mean they actually want you to buy a pint; the campaign is to encourage people to donate the price of a pint (3) to Clouds of Hope. For the price of a pint of beer you could feed an orphaned child for a week! The campaign is being run using posters, leaflets, social-networking websites, and you may also see their beer mats down the pub whilst watching a World Cup game. Tom Mecrow, Chair of the UK branch of the charity says: “Whilst watching The World Cup from the comfort of our sofas, or on the big screen down the local pub, it will be easy for viewers to only see the positive side to South Africa. What they will be missing is the dire poverty in which many South Africans live. HIV is rampant in society, and hundreds of children are being orphaned by the virus every day. For the price of a beer down the pub people can make a real difference to the lives of South Africans. All they need to do is text the word ‘Pint’ to 70007 to donate 3. Easy!” Clouds of Hope have made it easy to take part in the campaign. They have set up a ‘text-to-donate’ number so people can text the word ‘PINT’ to 70007 to donate 3. For more information or to donate online visit their website: www.cloudsofhope.com Please contact Tom Mecrow: tom@cloudsofhope.com 07747 893749