Grants awarded!

We've been busy with grants to young people to enable them to pursue their passion, and help others:

Theo is a 15 year old young man who has not let his disability prevent him from pursuing his dreams. Born with a rare cancer that means he has very limited vision, he nevertheless has gone on to represent England at cricket, and plays rugby too! He has also been an advocate for disabled children, visiting parliament as part of this. The Foundation is pleased to be able to financially support his trip to Ecuador to work with underprivileged communities, working to provide clean water and sanitation, as well as teaching English! Good luck Theo, we are sure you will also be a great ambassador for the Foundation!

Lloyd has done all that he can with his life already, as a 16 year old he volunteers at a centre for the elderly in his home town. Despite coming from a disadvantaged background, he describes his passion as wanting to help people who may be struggling with different aspects of their lives. He had the opportunity to take part in a trip to Kenya, to be part of a team building and renovating classrooms, as well as coaching young children in sports. His family simply could not afford to pay for him to go, so we have! He has raised a lot of money himself, and we have made up the difference. He will be going very shortly, (see photo below) and we hope to have some more photographs to share with you!

Other smaller grants have been made to worthy organisations. The Gayton Cricket Club does lots of work with local children, we have helped with a new gang mower! Enfield Chess Club aims to get children interested in chess, and we have funded new equipment for them. We are also processing a grant for a young woman Emily, more of that later!

Thank you so much for your ongoing support. Without this, these grants simply would not be possible. The work goes on, to enable the pursuit of passion worldwide!

Lloyd about to leave for Africa as a Foundation ambassador - go Lloyd!

Grant Applications still open!

It is really heartwarming to see that good things are being done in the name of the Foundation. The Trustees are once again considering grant applications from young people who wish to pursue their passions. Please spread the news, and encourage worthy candidates to submit an application using the online form, link below!

Facebook, Twitter, and Website

It is essential that we increase our social media following as much as we can. We would encourage you to share this newsletter with your friends and family and ask them to like the Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, visit the website, and share away! Also, our website has had a minor makeover, please visit and let us have your comments. All the links are at the bottom of the page.

Maria takes on a new role

It is with pride that we announce that one of our founding trustees Maria Ahern has been elected the UK national chair of The Compassionate Friends. This international charity aims to support bereaved parents and siblings, and does some great work which obviously we will be supporting ourselves! Keep an eye out for news on this, and if you wish to learn more you can visit www.tcf.org.uk/

Upcoming event - we need your help!

A new event is long overdue! We have run quiz nights in the past and other things xxxxx We are very grateful to those that give up time to help organise these, well that time has come again! We also need ideas, so don't be shy just get in touch to tell us what you think can be done, and how you can help! Just send an email to info@jamesahernfoundation.org and we will take it from there!

Foundation fundraisers

More great work being done raising funds for the Foundation:

Iain Pettitt has recently completed a journey from Lincoln to London, in the footsteps of Queen Eleanor's funeral cortege. Find out more about this fascinating story, and his epic journey at his blog here. Thank you Iain for your fundraising on the way!

James Legg and friends cycled from London to Paris, and raised a lot of money for the foundation. Thank you James, one of our early supporters he has now run, cycled, and worked hard for us!

Backgammon in Ealing are holding a special tournament on Saturday 30th September, with a big prize draw and all funds raised going to the Foundation! The first prize is a week's accomodation in the summer at a mountain apartment from our kind sponsors Les2Alpes Studio Apartment, second prize 2 nights at a cottage in Wales! More details to follow, but save the date and please buy some tickets to support us! A huge thank you to the club for supporting the Foundation, and we look forward to working with you for a long time to come. James had a proud Greek heritage through his mother Maria, and like all good young Greek boys he was taught to play Backgammon, or “Tavli”. So the Foundation would be keen to support this group which aims to reach out to young people in a social setting, to meet and play the game. Perhaps, like in Greece, they could slap their pieces with gusto!

If you are taking part in an event, don't forget to consider adding the Foundation to your fundraising efforts. We are registered on the Virgin Money Giving website (just search for the charity) as they are the best value fundraising website, and deal with all of our Gift Aid for us. And tell us so that we can spread the news!

And don't forget, if you are one of the 300 Spartans, your regular donations are essential as they enable us to plan ahead with an idea of what our income will be. If you know someone who would like to be a regular supporter, forward this email or use the 300 Spartans link below.

Iain (right) with his sister Lisa and Dad Robert, about to walk the last leg of his journey from Waltham Cross to Charing Cross!

James (left) with friends arriving in Paris. You can just make out their Foundation cycling shirts, thanks lads!

All the links:

Thank you for your support, stay safe and show kindness!

-X-

PS - don't forget to like and share the Facebook page, nearly 900 likes and counting!