As you may know, last year I used the online sales of a particular colourway (Brave Lads and Lassses, now renamed Stormy Sea) to raise funds for our local RNLI station in Lochinver.  I organised it in a way that there was no extra cost to those who bought this particular colourway, but £5.00 from every hank that I sold online went to the RNLI fund.


This year I've decided to do something slightly different.  I'm going to have two causes which I'll raise funds for, each lasting 6 months.


For the first 6 month fundraising project may I present ........ Heather's GOLD:



Heather is a friend who is currently studying at St. Andrews University.  This year she has been selected to go to Cambodia with Girlguiding UK, as part of a Guiding Overseas Linked with Development (GOLD) project.  For the first 6 month fundraising project I will be helping Heather raise funds for this project.  Here is what Heather has to say about her trip to Cambodia:


"For three weeks we will work in different areas of Cambodia, helping teach English to members and assisting with leadership development. As ever with girl guiding, we hope that helping enhance the status and success of guiding abroad will bring increased opportunities and independence to girls and young women, particularly in places where opportunities for women are limited"


For as long as I have known Heather (and that is quite a few years now!) she has always had a strong sense of duty to others.  This project is fully in keeping with her own high ethics and standards.  When talking about the GOLD project Heather goes on to say:


"GOLD projects have been running since 1991 and have thus far visited 31 countries worldwide. Projects are set up when an Association abroad makes a request to Girlguiding UK, usually through the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) or at World Conferences. GOLD projects aim to be sustainable, usually spanning 3-5 years, with a different team from the UK going every year, usually for 3-4 weeks. Teams are selected at a weekend in September, and are made up of 6 leaders, aged 18-30, from around the UK. I think the spread of ages and backgrounds is a real strength of the GOLD setup, bringing a range of different experiences to projects.


Another real strength of the GOLD model is that the specific aims of the project are set with the partner Association according to what they want to achieve, never by the UK organisation. Projects therefore vary from country to country, sometimes involving English language teaching, leadership development, recruitment and PR and environmental initiatives. I opted to do a project involving teaching and leadership development"


In order to prevent any cost being incurred by the Cambodian community within which they will be working, Heather has to raise £1600 towards all the expenses involved in undertaking this trip, including such things as teaching materials, travel, and food while they are there.  Any funds they don't need or use, or any extra that they raise, will go to the Cambodian community.  You can find out more about the GOLD projects here.  I feel this fundraising project fits in extremely well with the ethos of Ripples Crafts.  Back in 2008 when I decided on the name, Ripples Crafts, my thinking was heavily influenced by the ripple effect of kindness and generosity so prevalent in the crafting world.  This ripple effect continues to this day.  I will offer the Heather's GOLD colourway on two sock yarn bases, the Reliable Sock Yarn and the Bluefaced Leicester / Nylon sock yarn base.  The cost of the colourway on the sock bases will remain £11.00, but £5.00 from every hank will go to Heather's GOLD fund.  If you wish to have the colourway on one of my other yarn bases, please just say and I'll be happy to do that.


When deciding what colours to use for this special colourway, I first looked at the Cambodian flag, but I didn't find the colours of red, white and blue particularly inspiring.  So I started browsing the net for information on Cambodia, and Heather pointed me in the direction of this blog by somebody living in Cambodia.  I was particularly taken with her photographs of the Lotus flower, specifically this one.  And from this as my starting point I came up with the colours you see in Heather's GOLD.


I'll leave the final word with Heather - when looking ahead to the project she says:


"I am excited about this project as it offers the chance to take part in a real development initiative, through a well-established, world recognised NGO which is focused on promoting equal opportunities for girls and women around the world, regardless of background. Studying International Relations at the University of St Andrews, I have a particular interest in the role that non-governmental organisations and charities play in promoting global development, gender equality and increased interconnectedness between countries, and I am thrilled that through guiding I now have the opportunity to participate directly in this process."


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