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2008 QUEENS BIRTHDAY AWARD. Air Officers Commanding have
approved the award for their personal commendation for Meritorious
service to Corporal Scott McLean, Aerial Erector, 90 Signals Unit,
RAF Leeming.
2008 NEW YEAR AWARD. The Staff of the Aerial
Erector School, RAF Digby have been awarded an Air Officer
Commanding in Chief's commendation for their contribution
to last years Party in the Park 2007 station charity event.
It was evident that the successful ground plan carried out by the school
staff was fundamental
to the overall success of the event. The collective effort made by the
school staff, not only during the event set up phase but on the day and
during the clear up phase was greatly appreciated. A significant amount
of money was raised for the sponsored charities
2007 New Year Honours and Awards Four Aerial Erectors of No.1
(ERA) Squadron, Tactical Communications Wing, 90 Signals Unit at
RAF Leeming were recognised in the New Years Honours and Awards.
Warrant Officer Pete Holden
has
been awarded the
Meritorious Service Medal. Sergeant Mark Grimston has been
awarded the Air Officer Commanding in Chief 's Certificate of
Commendation. Corporal Steven Tildesley (Tactical
Communications Wing Detachment, RAF Brize Norton ) has been awarded
the Air Officer Commanding in Chief 's Certificate of Commendation.
Corporal Kevin Smith has been awarded a 90 Signals Unit Certificate
of Commendation.
Keith "Chick" Denson's Special Appeal. Your HELP is still needed at
PATUWATHA and DODANDUWA, SRI LANKA
The
Latest Information on Chick's Appeal, FEBRUARY 2008,
Patuwatha and Dodanduwa are small communities on the west coast of
Sri Lanka, located just south of Hikaduwa and about eight miles north
of Galle. Most of the houses and the local school were destroyed
by the tsunami and the local church and the curate's quarters were
very badly damaged. Two small multi-faith camps of families,
who have lost everything, have been established there with tents
supplied by the Japanese government. The camps are under the supervision
of Sri Lanka Naval personnel. The camps are well run, orderly and are kept
as clean and tidy as the circumstances permit. There was no proper
shelter in the camps from the sun or rain other than the tents. There
was only one "hole in the ground" toilet in each camp for the adults
and children. All cooking had to be done out in the open over open fires. 
Patuwatha Camp
The generous donations made so far are being used to improve the living conditions for these families, particularly the children, in these
temporary camps. He expects that it will take at least twelve months
to re-house these families, maybe even longer as the government
is imposing a ban on house construction less than 100 metres from the
high water line. It was within this prohibited zone that the families
had their previous houses and plots of land so new land has to be
found for them. Chick and Daphne's Report February 2008
What started as a Tsunami appeal to all you generous Riggers and friends
is now a fully fledged charity. The name of the charity is Sri-Lanka-
Child-Care and the Charities Commission Registration Number is
1116046. This is the next stage in our mission to help relieve
poverty, sickness and distress, the advancement of education and the
preservation and protection of the good health of the children of
Sri-Lanka.
The first goal was to help Tsunami affected children by providing them
with basic human needs. Thanks to the donations that you made we were
able to make life a little better for the children in the refugee camps.
The next goal was to provide a scholarship for 20 of the worst
affected children so that they could get back to school and receive
an education. We have been doing just that for over two years now thanks
to the generous regular sponsorship of members of the Ex- RAF Aerial
Erectors Association and other methods of fund raising. This was just
the tip of the iceberg, so our next goal was to increase the number of
scholarships to 50 and we have succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.
Following a meeting with Mrs. Hazel Corteling who administered our
support scheme, we visited Sumaga Farm at Baddegama.
Sumaga Farm turned out to be a fantastic social community project. It all
started as a small college to teach life skills to young women from deprived,
mostly Tsunami related, village backgrounds.
The College runs six month residential courses to teach useful skills
such as sewing, health and hygiene, cooking, animal husbandry and organic
gardening. Students are taught to look after chickens, pigs and goats and
the manure from these animals is used to fertilize all the College
fruit and vegetable gardens. The food produced is used to feed the students
and the children attending the Day Care Centre. Any surplus meat, eggs, fruit
and vegetables are sold in the farm shop to the local people.
The Sumaga Farm Day Care Centre,
The Day Care Centre was originally set-up and funded by a German charity
which has now scaled back its support of the project and has transfered
much of its funding to an African project. Sri-Lanka Child Care and the local
Anglican Church are now providing the majority of the support for the centre.
Thus our 20 children has now grown to 220.
The 200 deprived children are aged between 3½ years and 11 years old. They
attend the Day Care Centre from 07-30 and are given breakfast, lunch and a
snack before leaving at 16-00 hrs. They all receive an education which
includes English while they are at the centre.
The Original Twenty,
Of the original 20 children, 4 have now reached the age where they are
studying for their A-levels and one is now reading Chemistry at Colombo
University.
The remaining 19 children are currently attending school in Galle, a daily
9 mile journey by bus, and are being provided with scholarship funding
by Sri-Lanka Child Care.
A laptop computer (refurbished) was purchased and was recently flown out
to Sri-Lanka and is on loan to the student studying at Colombo University
so that she can do Power Point
presentations etc as part of her studies. The laptop will be returned to
the Sumaga Farm College equipment stock once she has graduated.
Redundant Laptop Computers Chick is hoping to build up a small
stock of laptop computers which can then be loaned out to Sumaga Farm
College students while they are studying there or are successful in
getting into University. Any donated redundant laptops would be gratefully
received even ones which are not in working order. If the company you work
for is re-equipping with the latest model, he can find a home for your/their
old ones. Give him a call if you can help, details below.
Redundant Mobile Telephones.
This
Fund Raising Scheme will not cost you a penny but will have a life-changing
effect on at least 30 children in Sri-Lanka. All you need to do is collect redundant mobile phones, look in your cupboards and drawers etc
and ask all your friends to do the same. When you have collected some
contact me and I will send you a Freepost envelope or you can send them
to our Freepost address given below. If you all do this I guarantee that
we will reach our goal by the end of the year.
SPONSOR a CHILD
We are seeking people willing to sponsor a child by making a regular
monthly donation of £6 by Standing Order. More information on sponsoring
a child can be obtained from me at the address below.
Raise Funds
Lastly,
but not least, we are
now looking to raise funds on a regular basis, perhaps by friends running fund raising events and/or by the gifting by standing order of a set amount per month. We are looking for ideas and suggestions!!!. If you think
you can help with our fund raising etc. contact me, Chick, using my E-mail
address :- kaydee1938@hotmail.com or telephone me on 01457 873837 or write FREEPOST RRAU-EUTK-GBTG, West View, Lawton Fold, Grotton, Oldham, OL4 4RJ You can also
help with the project by donating money on a regular basis ( minimum £1 per
month ), donations of cash
or cheques can be sent to me at the address below. Once again, THANK YOU VERY MUCH and please keep up the good work for the sake of the
children of Patuwatha and Dodanduwa. BEST WISHES Daphne and Chick Denson
Cheques must be made out to "Sri-Lanka-child-Care Ltd"
Send FREEPOST RRAU-EUTK-GBTG. Keith Denson, West View, Lawton Fold, Grotton, Oldham, OL4 4JR
Sri-Lanka Child Care now has a website at www.sri-lanka-child-care.com
Frank
Barrett  Ex-
rigger Frank Barrett has been awarded an MBE in the Queens
Birthday Honours List for services to the RAFA in the
Lincoln area. CONGRATULATIONS Frank! The Investiture
took place at Buckingham Palace on the 26th October 2004. Frank
was accompanied by his wife Jill and their two daughters
Joanne and Denise.
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