An incredible year

For the last year St Mary Magdalen Church in Tilehurst have been fundraising for Joshua. Having organised a range of events from Organ Recitals, to Fish and Chip Suppers and Charity Cards Sales we are delighted to announce that they have raised a total of £1,628.60 to support our life changing work with HIV/AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in Malawi.

Over the last year it has been a delight getting to know the congregation and clergy at the church who have welcomed us with opened arms and gratefully received cups of tea. At every meeting they have been keen to learn more about our work and we were especially touched when they held a special collection to raise funds for the victims of Malawi's recent flooding.

A special thank you must go to Peter and Mair Mayers, who instigated this year of fundraising for Joshua and have put endless energy and enthusiasm behind making every Pasta Party and Coffee Morning a success. Not to mention Peter tackling the Heroes Run for us last May. Peter volunteered in Malawi with Leighton Park School in 2012 and saw first-hand the difference our projects have on some of the poorest people living in Malawi. The people he met and the experience has stayed in his heart since then and we are delighted to have such a dedicated supporter and fundraiser championing our cause.

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has donated time, effort and money to making this year of fundraising such a huge success.

If you are a church and would be interested in having one of the Joshua trustees come and talk to you about our work please get in touch with Heather Deaville on heather@joshuainmalawi.org.uk

Tonbridge team 2 - Day 6: Getting into the swing of things

Lydia, Niamh, Alice, Anika, Hebe and Anastasia visited a feeding centre in Mwandika and aided the workers at feeding time and played with the children whilst the rest of us stayed behind and worked on levelling out the playground and and helped out at the local feeding centre, where Anneka, Elizabeth, Megan and Caitlin organised a scavenger hunt whilst Izzi, Freya and I played educational games and songs with the children.

We were reunited for lunch and then spent the afternoon at the brick kilns and doing home improvements. Before dinner, some of us played a variation of a baseball game with the children.

Dinner was an exciting meal of scrambled eggs and sticky rice (egg fried rice) with stir fried vegetables with mandazis for desert.

Stars of the day: Niamh for her constant resourcefulness and approachability day and night!

Lydia for her communication skills at the feeding centre today and Megan for her constant positivity and enthusiasm (and her ketchup and galaxy chocolate). Go Megan!

Church Champions Joshua

This year we are delighted to be being supported by the congregation and clergy at St Mary Magdalen church in Tilehurst. From Lent until Candlemas they are donation all the money they raise from their fundraising activities (and more) to Joshua.

Last Sunday, Andy Deaville was invited to the church where he was honoured to be given the usual sermon slot to talk about our work and how the church's support will help the vulnerable communities we work with in Malawi. Andy is pictured above presenting the church with a special thank you to the Revd. Peter Grosse.

Andy received an incredibly warm welcome, including lots of tea and cake (and pasta), and we are thrilled to announce that so far, the churches efforts, including a Pasta Party, Lent Donation's and a brave Heroes Runner in the shape of Peter Mayers (pictured), have raised over £900.

We would like to thank everyone at the church for their support in making all of these events so successful and we look forward to keeping you up to date throughout the year with their fantastic fundraising efforts.

If you would like to find out how you can fundraise for Joshua, just click here.

Scooby Doo does it for Joshua

Scooby Doo and chums took to the streets of Brighton in May to tackle the Heroes Vs Villains run in aid of Joshua.

Undoubtedly on the side of good Scooby, who usually goes by the name Sam Wright, and Shaggy (Steve Birchall), Velma (Pippa Crouch), Fred (Alex Wright) and Daphne (Pippa Wright) had to not only battle the 10km distance, but also the hot weather.

The whole team "got away with it" and finished the course, raising an incredible £1,021 for Joshua in the process.

And they weren't alone, another five runners for Joshua, including Peter Mayers, Frankie Burton, Sarah Charlton, Geri Burton and Oliver Tonks also tacked the course, and together all ten have raised nearly £2,000.

We would like to thank our team of Heroes for all their hard work and effort and if you'd like to get involved with Heroes Run 2016, or another event for Joshua, just drop Heather a line on heather@joshuainmalawi.org.uk

Good luck Superheroes (and Villains)

Joshua Trustee Sarah Monkeying around at last year's race

Joshua is thrilled to have a team of 11 runners taking part in this year's Heroes Vs Villains Run on Hove seafront of Sunday the 18th of May. The run is a fantastically fun way to raise money for our life changing projects in Malawi - not only do you get to run along the seafront, but you also get to do it clad in spandex as your favourite Superhero or Super Villain.

This is the third year Joshua has had a team taking part and we are delighted that it is the biggest team so far! Please join us in wishing Geri, Sarah, Pippa, Alexander, Samantha, Pips, Steve, Peter, Oliver, Frankie and Jess good luck!

And if you're more if a sofa supporter, why not come along and cheer for them on the day, or donate to one of their fundraising pages online.