News - Vac Proj, Lincoln College, Oxford

Lincoln College Vacation
Project
Newsletter 2014
Lincoln College Vacation Project is a registered
charity led entirely by the students of Lincoln
College, Oxford. In our 43rd year now, we provide a
week of fun filled activities for disadvantaged
children local to the Oxford area during the summer
holidays, and for some of whom it is their first time
away from home and 2014 was another very
successful year for the charity and we were able to
offer a place to 36 children.
The holiday runs as two consecutive weeks, one for 7-9 year olds and one for 10-12 years olds, each
under the supervision of 12 student leaders. We were very grateful to St Katherine’s Parmoor who
have continued to accommodate us for the third year running on their magnificent site outside
Henley-on-Thames. The chance to stay in such a beautiful house for the week was a very exciting
experience for the children who loved exploring the various rooms and hallways, including the piano
room where we held our very own talent show and disco on the last night. The vast grounds were
home to countless games of football, stuck in the mud and hide and seek in the evenings, and the
children loved meeting St Katherine’s resident chickens, who acquired many names on the trip!
Each day began with an incredible breakfast spread to get
the children (and leaders!) fuelled and ready before
launching straight into the busy day ahead. Activities varied
slightly between the holidays to accommodate the different
ages and ranged from ice skating and rock climbing to
dragon boating and bowling, and of course the very
eagerly awaited trips to Whipsnade Zoo, Legoland and
Chessington World of Adventures, all of which were
enjoyed by children and leaders alike! On return to St
Katherine’s the children then fed their endless energy into
more activities and games in the long summer evenings.
With the help of all of our donations we were able to bring
a wide collection of sports equipment and craft resources
which all the children really enjoyed getting stuck in to,
including cartoon drawing and the mass production of
countless loom bands - a craze which at least the leaders
were all new to!
Registered charity no.1092434
www.vacproj.co.uk
Registered charity No.1092434
www.vacproj.co.uk
A message from our 2014 president, Tom
Hainge:
"The degree of success that VacProj continued
to demonstrate last year was entirely due to to
commitment and energy of all the people
involved. The student committee and holiday
leaders’ incredible performance meant that
The 2014 Committee:
President – Tom Hainge
Secretary – Eleanor Mckay
Treasurer - Ed Lewis
Fundraising – Lucy Cross and Neill Shurville
Social Services Liaisons– Movin Abeywickrema
and Rachel Sears
both holidays ran without any major hiccups.
We continue to be very grateful for the
consistent support that our advisory committee
and trustees offer us in their spare time. And
most importantly last year's holidays could not
have run as they did without the incredible
generosity of all of our donors; you allowed us
to help 36 disadvantaged children have a care
free week away."
We are very excited to be taking over our new positions on the committee and become involved in
the running of such an incredible and unique charity. Of course we could not provide either of the
holidays without the continued support of our donors and the immense fundraising effort required to
reach our target of £22,500 and we would like to express our gratitude to everyone who has
contributed to this worthy cause.
This year’s fundraising efforts are already well under way with plans for the well-established Vacrproj
auction of promises, bucket collections, photo booths and even a fancy dress hall which the whole of
college can get involved in and all very excited for! We are keen to raise as much money and
awareness as possible, which is not a simple task being a small charity with such ambitious aims, so we
can continue to help the lives of so many children for many years to come.
This year we are also excited to welcome a new VacProj trustee, Jack
Dunn, the chaplain at Lincoln College We would like to express our
great thanks to the VacProj advisory committee and trustees for their
continued work year-round to enable the holiday to take place and
are very much looking forward working with them on planning the
2015 holiday.
Where to fnd us:
Visit our website at www.vacproj.co.uk or drop us an email on [email protected]
Facebook - www.facebook.com/vacproj
Twitter - @VacProj
Also see mydonate.bt.com/charities/lincolncollegevacationproject
Registered charity no.1092434
www.vacproj.co.uk
.
Registered charity no.1092434
www.vacproj.co.uk