Thanks a Bundle

Humble Bundle, the online gaming and book store, donates 10% of its revenue to charity.

Now you can decide which charity they support by choosing from the  list on their website.
So if you are into online gaming please think of us and help support the House of Joshua.  All you have to do is type our name in and click the "search" button.

Thanks a bundle for continuing to support us.

Pink Flamingos For The House of Joshua

You can't get a lot pinker than this video created to raise funds for the House of Joshua Children's Home.

Please watch and share across social network platforms to make it an internet sensation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOuRb_plks0

It came about when one of our trustees broke his leg and, whilst hopping around a hospital bathroom on one leg, had a crazy idea.

PINK - Its the new black

It has been almost two months since we launched our "Pink For A Purpose" fundraising appeal under the banner #wevebeenpinked and on the face of it not much has happened but that is all about to change.

This week sees the launch of a very pink dance video on Youtube.

On Saturday 18th April the residents and staff of the Grange Care Home in Bury St Edmunds will be hosting a Pink For A Purpose fun day with all sorts of pink games to play and food to eat.

Meanwhile a bunch of church pastors in the Philippines are in training for a PINK fun-run.  At least one of them has never worn anything pink before in his entire life!

Watch this space for more pink happenings.

#wevebeenpinked

ANY COLOUR YOU LIKE (As Long As It Is PINK) - showing our feminine side

Intended originally as a home for boys, The House of Joshua children's home has been up an running for just over two years now.

It opened in January 2013 with an initial intake of just 8 boys but is now home to 22 children who are permanently resident with us. Several others have passed though on their way, either to other facilities, or to being reunited with their families. There have also been a few who simply could not cope with the change of lifestyle, including the responsibilities that go with that, and have returned to living rough on the city streets.

In the last few months, out of necessity and for their protection, we have also taken in four girls; reorganising the bedrooms and dividing the top corridor in two to provide separate sleeping areas for boys and girls.

At present it costs around £25,000 a year to keep the home running, including feeding clothing, educating, and caring for the children. We also have to pay the utility bills and staff wages. Only about half the children currently have sponsors and, until we can recruit more sponsors, we need to dig into our reserves just to keep going. Whilst that is okay in the short term we cannot keep it up indefinitely without changing something. 

There is a huge need and we would like to be able to provide a long term home for more girls, but in order to do so we need to create a proper girls wing. There is still plenty of space in the main house to allow us to take 10-15 more children but it would be useful if we could build some separate staff quarters in order to free up additional rooms and facilitate that. We have the physical capacity to accommodate more children but the finances do not currently permit us to do so

We are therefore announcing a year of fundraising under the banner "PINK FOR A PURPOSE" to achieve the following objectives:-

• Bridge the current funding gap on running costs until sufficient new sponsors can be recruited.
• Alter / extend the building to provide proper staff quarters, including facilities for married couples.
• Fund the initial admittance of 10-15 extra children at £50 per head (clothes, shoes, school uniform, bedding, medical registration, school enrolment etc) on top of normal cost of accommodation 

Our initial fundraising target to do this is £25,000 and we are encouraging all our friends and supporters to engage in a variety of pink-themed fun events to generate interest and raise the profile of this campaign. You can do whatever you like as long as it is seriously PINK!

We have set up a separate  PINK FOR A PURPOSE Facebook Page where you can find some ideas and tips for organising events - it doesn't matter whether they are big or small; every Pound, Dollar, Pesos, Shekel, Euro or Yen will make a difference.We are encouraging participants to share the fun by uploading photos and videos from their fundraising events with the slogan "I/We've been pinked!" #pinkforapurpose. Please also "like" the Facebook page and share it with all your friends and family so that the message spreads out across the web as far as possible.

If you would like to support our PINK FOR A PURPOSE campaign you can make a donation via Paypal just by clicking on the button on this site - where there is the option to quote a reference or message the recipient please add the word PINKED so that we allocate the funds appropriately.

 however we do have to pay transaction charges on funds received via Paypal so, if you are considering donating a larger sum, please contact us first to see if their is a more cost effective option, such as direct bank transfer, cheque etcetera.

We are an extremely efficient charity - our operating costs are negligible because we have no paid staff and all our office facilities are donated free of charge - so every single penny (or whatever other unit of currency you use) will go straight into the appeal fund.

If this appeal takes off beyond our wildest dreams we will use any additional funds to pursue some, perhaps even all, of the following longer term objectives.

• Further improve facilities at the House of Joshua, including adding a filtering system to the water well to reduce the cost of drinking / domestic water supply, improving mosquito protection screening, expansion of educational facilities, ongoing maintenance and decoration.
• Recruit and continue to pay additional staff
• Purchase an additional vehicle to transport children to school and for other outings
• Acquire additional land to create a “House of Joshua Farm” and possibly allow building extension in the future.
• Expand our community outreach and education program "Growing Hope" which enables children from poor families to attend school and achieve their full potential. This program also provides support to their families.
• Establish a permanent "Endowment Fund" to put the long term funding of the House of Joshua onto a more secure footing so that, whilst we will always need our children to be sponsored, we will be able to cope with the inevitable peaks and troughs in our income stream.

#wevebeenpinked

The House of Joshua is a joint project with our sister charity in the Philippines, which both owns and manages the home, Lifenet Children's Foundation Inc. Out of necessity the House of Joshua  does have some paid staff who job is to care for the children.

Autumn Newsletter

Our autumn newsletter has just been published. You can read it here

Christmas Shopping for Charity

The "C word" doesn't normally get mentioned much in our house before the 1st of December but the adverts have already started on television and  I know that some people like to start their Christmas shopping a lot earlier than me. 

This year why not use your Christmas celebrations as a way to make a difference for somebody in need? And it doesn't have to cost you a penny extra! It really can be as simple as just changing the way that you shop. 

These days many of us choose to do the bulk of our shopping online. It's often quicker and more convenient than spending hours going from shop to shop on the high street. there is a much wider choice and  it can be cheaper too, even with delivery costs to take into account.

Easy Fundraising is a shopping "portal" - a gateway to literally hundreds of your favourite online retailers like Amazon and Argos as well as loads of insurance companies, hotels, holidays and other services. Every time you make a purchase your favourite charity earns commission on what you spend - at NO EXTRA COST to you. What could be better?

WELL THIS COULD BE BETTER: - at the moment Easy Fundraising are offering a promotional scheme. If you sign up to shop this way and support a charity and then refer a friend who does the same - once that friend has raised £10 from their online shopping your charity will get an extra £5 reward.

So don't put off buying all your presents until Christmas Eve - sign up today and get fund-raising the easy way.

Click here for details Easy Fundraising

Fundraising Coffee Morning

Please come along and join us on Friday 27th June 10am -12pm for a selection of home-made cakes & scones and fresh brewed Fairtrade coffee & tea.
Venue:-
The Gallery Highwaymans Risby, Bury St Edmunds IP28 6QP www.thegalleryhighwaymans.co.uk

All proceeds are going to The House of Joshua Children's Home in the Philippines 

We have been very kindly given the use of this splendid gallery in this beautiful location, a hidden gem in the Suffolk countryside. We look forward to seeing you. Please feel free to bring your friends and family along and spread the word. There are also beautiful walks, a gift shop and free parking.

All Happening at The House of Joshua

It is all happening this week at the House of Joshua.

The next few days will see a sudden influx of new residents as 12 children are transferred from another home in the city that has been forced to close. With a lot more mouths to feed we could do with finding a few new sponsors.

At the same time our sister charity, Lifenet Children's Foundation Inc. are launching a new community based ministry, called "Growing Hope",  to facilitate the education of children living in poor communities and provide holistic support to their families.

For some children this will mean funding their school education. Other children have dropped out of regular school in the past and will therefore join an "Alternative Learning Scheme" based in the learning centre at the House of Joshua. Their families will also be able to access educational resources at the house, including a new computer suite. So far 20 children have been enrolled in the scheme.

More information here

Spring News.

Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! Read all about it.... the Spring 2014 newsletter from the Conroy Rendon Charitable Trust is now available right here, right now.

Here Come The Girls

IT IS OFFICIAL: We now have a new 'Girl's Wing' at House of Joshua to rescue young vulnerable girls from the streets...... The first two girls have already moved in; sisters of boys who are already residing with us. We anticipate there will be more as there is no other such provision for homeless girls in the city

BUT - We are now really needing to find some more 'House Supporters' to help regularly support the ongoing operationof this rehabilitation ministry.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can you kindly share this with your friends, neighbours, church, family, workmates, club, scout-group, sport-team.....ANYONE who might be interested to help support this work so we can continue to help more children who desperately need a chance for a new life.....THANK YOU SO MUCH.

If you would like to know more about supporting the House of Joshua please click on the link below

House Supporters Info Link Here.