3 months to go and nearly there...

The fundraising has worked! I'm very nearly there now, I think because everyone has been really supportive. Special thanks go to my Uncles Martyn and Jon, plus my godmother Rachel and the Harrisons. My friends at college have been really kind, consistently buying cakes from the cake stalls etc, and in particular a HUGE thanks to Kate and Karen who have always been more than willing to lend a hand and precious Saturday morning hours bag packing in Waitrose. They also manage to be interested all the time, texting/facebook-ing for updates! Means a lot so thanks guys! Then Katie and Ellie helped out with the frantic ball cloakroom. My cousin Claire gave up half the weekend and took the day off work on Monday to climb Bow Fell, whilst Maya ran a tombola at the L.A. Carnival Day for me. Kat and Neaty were sponged in the quad on a cold early April lunchtime too! Thank you all, I won't forget your help when I'm out there and will gladly return the ayuda if and when you ever need it.

Down to the facts and figures then... a lot has happened since March and I probably shouldn't have waited the two months between posts because this looks distinctly like a long list:

My charitable trust grants now total £1420 which includes the £300 from the previous blog post;

I finished up with £1020 from the bike ride! Makes all those miles worth the while!

Valentine Giant Cookies and smaller Muffin Monday sales have totalled a few pence under £68;

A 'Latin American' Carnival day at HRSFC, idea of Catherine Rogers, is yet to be confirmed but after splitting between 4 volunteers should make about £50 each for the tin. This basically entailed lots of ministalls, like a tombola, splat-the-rat, hoopla, 'sponge the student council', lucky dip, hook-a-duck, face painting, some funky music, chocolate fountains and much more;

On April 10th, we bombarded Waitrose Saturday shoppers and made over £1000! When split this rounds to £325 each, so a very successful day of bag packing;

Total Back Care Company Limited have kindly donated £250, thanks for your support guys!

Finally, my two Uncles above along with my cousin Claire, her friend Katie and I, climbed Bow Fell in the Lake District raising an enormous £700 via a Just Giving website and Martyn's work contacts. It was an extremely cold and foggy experience with unfortunately lots of rain. I think the yum food provided by Aunty Anne kept us going... Thanks to Jon's navigation skills we didn't get lost and saw a yellow rescue helicopter really close up as it flew past!

I haven't heard back from the funding interview I went to in March yet, and have also had an interview with the Parents and Friends Association at HRSFC for another grant so we'll see. All in all I now have £4188 solidly, and can hopefully soon add a bit more to that I know of that's on its way.

Thanks again, adios! This blog looks quite long now!

- the soon to be a nomad, Rachel


PS: If you're super cool and keen there are a few links about the place I'm going:
• http://www.sagradafamilia.org.pe/
(In Spanish but they have some pictures so s'pose you can get the general gist.)
• http://www.livinginperu.com/dir/2387
(English, directory-type profile of the place.)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sDVqchomZ4
( ...the place has got a YouTube video! Thanks to Kazza D who found this beaut.)