New Ark alumni and reunion

Do you know someone who used to go to New Ark? Then forward them a link to this blog post!

We are planning an event for early 2015, possibly on Saturday February 14th, to which former and current users of New Ark will be invited. This will first and foremost be a reunion and family event. But we will also be asking for your ideas about how we can secure our future – finding funding to cover our running costs is getting more and more difficult.

Sign up for news

For now, please sign up on our website home page to receive our “reunions and alumni news” emails. Also please pass the word onto others who might wish to help.

If you want to get involved sooner, please call us on 01733 340605 and leave your contact details for Elisabeth Buck.

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Help needed for Christmas fundraiser

We’re getting ready for our Christmas Bazaar on Saturday 29th November. Can you help with any of the following? If so please contact Nikki on 01733 340605 or email nikki_newark@hotmail.co.uk.

  • Donations of chocolate for our tombola stall
  • Donations of “as new” cuddly toys and general unwanted gifts (for any age)
  • Lend a hand on Thursday 20th November 5-8pm. We’ll be preparing for our Christmas Bazaar including sorting through donations, wrapping presents, tombola ticketing, etc.
  • Lend a hand to set up on Friday 28th November 6-8pm.
  • Volunteer on the day of the bazaar. We need people to help set up from 11am and stay behind to clear up after 4pm. We are also seeking volunteers who can help out during the bazaar e.g. making refreshments, manning one of the stalls or craft activities, etc.
Volunteers get into the spirit as they set up stalls at last year's Christmas Bazaar
Volunteers get into the spirit as they set up stalls at last year’s Christmas Bazaar

Planning future fundraisers

Now, more than ever, we need people to join our fundraising team. Everyone is welcome to drop into our next fundraising meeting on Tuesday 9th December 4pm-5:30pm. If you’d like to come please call Charlotte on 01733 340605 or email charlottenewark@gmail.com. Your children are welcome to play in our adventure playground, supervised by our playworkers, while you attend this meeting. We’ll be planning a calendar of fundraising events for 2015/16 and ideas pencilled in so far for the next year include:

  • Saturday 7th February 2015, 11-2pm – Mother and child table top sale
  • Friday 3rd April 2015, 11-3pm – Good Friday Easter Hunt
  • Saturday 20th June 2015, 12-4pm – Midsummer Festival
  • Saturday 28th November 2015, 1-3pm – Christmas Bazaar

After that our next fundraising planning meeting will be on Thursday 15th January, 1-3pm

Fundraising news November 2014

Lots of cheers and thank yous in our fundraising news this month…

We are delighted to announce that our Indulgence Evening on Friday 7 November raised £679.52. Thank you so much to everyone who supported us – no matter how small or great your contribution we couldn’t do it without you 🙂

So far we have raised over £350 on our Little House moneybox fundraiser and will be announcing the winners of the decorating and most money raised prizes later this week. We know that a few people still have their boxes – please can you return them to us as soon as possible so that we can add up the final amount and work out if we have raised enough to buy a sunshade tarpaulin to put over our sandpit area.

David Wilson (husband of Linda Wilson in playgroup), gained £105 for us in sponsorship donations by running the Great Eastern Run. This will go towards buying a new carpet for our quiet corner, to help make it a cosy and inviting place to read books and talk. Hope you’ve recovered now David!

Nationwide Building Society customers helped New Ark to receive a £500 donation in the last Community Match scheme.  Thank you to everyone who voted for us with their blue tokens.

We are super proud that Waitrose chose a New Ark playground regular, Lucas, to help open their new store in Peterborough recently. He also helped some of our staff to collect a cheque for £290, which was our share of Waitrose’s green token Community Matters scheme for October. Thank you also to Waitrose staff who are currently helping us to improve some of the facilities on our city farm – hopefully we can post some pictures of the improvements shortly…

cropped staff and lucas

We’ve recently heard that New Ark was chosen by Norwich and Peterborough Building Society to receive a donation of £100 as part of their Make a Difference Week. We’ll be attending a cheque presentation with local MP Stewart Jackson in a couple of weeks – keep an eye on our Facebook page for a picture.

Planning future fundraisers

We need people to join our fundraising team. Everyone is welcome to drop into our next fundraising meeting on Tuesday 9th December 4pm-5:30pm. If you’d like to come please call Charlotte on 01733 340605 or email charlottenewark@gmail.com. Your children are welcome to play in our adventure playground, supervised by our playworkers, while you attend this meeting. We’ll be planning a calendar of fundraising events for 2015/16 and so far the ideas pencilled in for the next year include:

  • Saturday 7th February 2015, 11-2pm – Mother and child table top sale
  • Friday 3rd April 2015, 11-3pm – Good Friday Easter Hunt
  • Saturday 20th June 2015, 12-4pm – Midsummer Festival
  • Saturday 28th November 2015, 1-3pm – Christmas Bazaar

After that our next fundraising planning meeting will be on Thursday 15th January, 1-3pm

fundraising

Fundraising news October 2014

There has been so much exciting fundraising news this week! Below is a handy summary for you – if you only do one thing for New Ark this week please vote for us in the YBS legacy.

YBS £10K Legacy
We need your help to get a £10,000 legacy grant from YBS group!  Please go to www.ybs.co.uk/legacy and vote for “New Ark Play Association”, and let your friends know  as we need as many votes as possible. If we are successful we will rebuild our outdoor play equipment including our climbing frame – fondly called the ‘banana board’ by the children – which is currently out of action.

Vote for us at Waitrose
New Ark is one of the 3 Community Matters charities this month in Waitrose, Queensgate. When you shop there the cashier will give you a green token – we’d love you to put it in our box on your way out of the store. The charity with the most tokens at the end of October gets the biggest share of £1,000.

Little House boxes
Our Little House fundraiser has brought in over £170 so far and boxes are still going out. Please remember to return your box by 31 October. More details at www.newarkplay.co.uk/little-house

Grow your tenner
Donate £10 to New Ark – we get £20! Local Giving is currently matching one-time donations pound-for-pound up to £10, and monthly donations up to £10 per month for 6 months. Donate now at www.localgiving.com/newarkplay

Indulgence Evening
Do you know anyone with a beauty or therapy business? We have a few spaces left for our Indulgence Evening on 7 November which are prioritised for treatment stalls. More details for stallholders are here. More details on the event itself are here – tickets (which include a light buffet) are available now costing £5 in advance or £7 on the night

Nationwide tokens
We’ve just heard that Nationwide in Long Causeway included New Ark in its September ‘blue token’ charity scheme. It was due to be taken down this week, but if anyone is in town this weekend please do pop in and vote for us if you’re able to. Customers are given a blue token to vote for one of 3 charities to receive £500. Fingers crossed we win something from it

Half marathon sponsorship
Last Sunday David Wilson (husband of Linda Wilson in playgroup) ran the Great Eastern Run to raise money so that we can buy a new carpet for our quiet corner, to help make it a cosy and inviting place to read books and talk. Thank David by making a donation here. Please remember to Gift Aid it.

Dates for your diary
Finally, remember we have our Christmas Bazaar on Saturday 29 November 12-4pm, and our next fundraising meeting is on Tuesday 11 November 1-3pm in Charlotte’s office. More details in next week’s newsletter

 

Double your donation

http://www.localgiving.com/newarkplay

Double your donation to New Ark. You give £10 – we get £20!

Local Giving is currently matching one-time donations pound-for-pound up to £10, and monthly donations up to £10 per month for 6 months. So if you donate £5 to New Ark we get £10, and if you donate £10 we get £20! And if you are a UK taxpayer, remember to claim Gift Aid for us. This means that your donation is topped up by a further 25% by HMRC.

Donate now at www.localgiving.com/newarkplay

P.S. You can help us to raise awareness of the Grow your Tenner campaign by signing up to the Local Giving Thunderclap, which will go out on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr on the 21st October. Remember to include in your message the address of the New Ark donation page, which is www.localgiving.com/newarkplay

Vote to help us get £10k legacy

**UPDATE** We are gutted to have to tell you that we didn’t get enough votes to make the final 15 of the YBS legacy fund, so we won’t receive a £15K legacy grant. Thank you to everyone who shared our status and tried to get us the votes. Now we are left having to make up all that fundraising ourselves if we are to be able to repair our outdoor playground structures, especially our currently unusable “banana board” which will cost £3k alone to repair. If you have any good ideas to raise money please do come to our next fundraising meeting on Tuesday 9th December from 4pm-5.30pm.

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Your vote can help New Ark get a £10,000 legacy from YBS group!

YBS group is going to provide 15 charities with a donation of £10,000 each to fund a specific project. New Ark has made the shortlist and we now need your help.

  • Please go to www.ybs.co.uk/legacy and click the link to vote for your 3 favourite charities.
  • Look for “New Ark Play Association” and click on the box. You can choose up to 3 charities to vote for. Then click onto the next page to submit your vote.
  • Please encourage friends and family to vote as well – New Ark really needs this money to make essential repairs to our outdoor children’s play equipment.

Voting will remain open until 31 October 2014 and 15 lucky charities will hear whether they are going to receive a £10,000 donation in November.  Our intention is to upgrade and rebuild our outdoor play equipment, including the aerial runway, swings and the children’s favourite climber – fondly called the ‘banana board’ – which is currently out of action.

banana board

Our founder Elisabeth Buck MBE, commented: “We are thrilled that our project has been chosen to be part of the Yorkshire Building Society Lasting Legacy Fund public vote. We are now calling on all our supporters and members of the public to help us make a real difference to our community by voting for our project online.”

New heaters at New Ark

Now that the weather has turned autumnal, our children, playworkers and the animals are keeping warm thanks to a £6,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund. The grant gave our own fundraising efforts a vital boost and meant we could complete this work during 2014, before the weather turned cold again.

Playgroup children and staff with one of our new heaters
Playgroup children and staff with one of our new heaters

Nikki Anderson, New Ark Playgroup Manager, said: “Many activities at New Ark take place outdoors in our adventure playground, city farm and eco garden – it is vital that everyone has a warm place to retreat to.”

The Big Lottery Fund is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery. It is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. Since its inception in 2004 it has awarded close to £6bn. The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.

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Dave Wilson is running for New Ark

**Update** David gained £105 for us in sponsorship donations, which will go towards buying a new carpet for our quiet corner. Hope you’ve recovered now David!

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David Wilson is running the Great Eastern Run on 12 October to raise money for New Ark. That’s 13.1 miles around the streets of Peterborough, plus weeks of getting up in the dark for training runs.

David is fundraising so that we can buy a new carpet for our quiet corner, to help make it a cosy and inviting place to read books and talk. Children at New Ark have access to the most amazing outdoor adventure playground, city farm and woodland garden. Help spruce up their indoor room and give David a virtual cheer by making a donation at this link today. Remember to Gift Aid it!
www.localgiving.com/fundraising/davewilsonnewark

Dave Wilson

Christmas Indulgence Night – 7 Nov

** Update ** We are pleased to announce that a grand total of £679.52 was raised at this event on 7 November. Thank you to all the people who supported us. Pictures taken on the night have been uploaded onto our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/newarkplay

 

christmas indulgence evening poster

♥ Advance ticket £5 includes entrance and light buffet available (£7 on the night)
♥ All profits for New Ark – bring your friends for a night out!
♥ Please note that this is a cash only event
♥ Get your tickets from New Ark now – call 01733 340605 or email Charlotte on charlottenewark@gmail.com

Come and pamper yourself at New Ark’s Christmas Indulgence Evening, with all profits going towards our fundraising target of £15,000. We’ll have a licensed bar and seating. All stalls will be charging for their goods/activities – some are donating all their profits to us (we’ll give them a New Ark poster to display so you know). We will also be running a raffle, with prizes donated by our stallholders.

A list of confirmed stallholders is below – keep an eye on this page and our Facebook page for updates:
♥ A & K Sweet Surrender (chocolate and sweet creations)
♥ Angel Card Readings (card readings)
♥ Angels Whispering (card readings/auragraph)
♥ Ashwood Artisan Accessories (handmade gemstone jewellery)
♥ Bagalicious (handbags, purses, wallets & scarves)
♥ Body Shop (Body Shop products)
♥ Bombtastic (bath and shower products)
♥ The Craft (handmade jewellery & accessories)
♥ The Craft Nest (make up and jewellery)
♥ Daisy Loves (jewellery and accessories)
♥ Daniele Caked and Baked (cakes)
♥ Dream Nails by Rose (gelish manicures)
♥ Feel Better Reiki (reiki products/ massage
♥ Flutterby bags (handbags, purses, scarfs and accessories)
♥ Forever Living (aloe vera products)
♥ Frances Green (secure nails, waxing and Indian head massage)
♥ Funky Bows ‘N’ Things (hair accessories)
♥ Glitzy Glam (jewellery)
♥ Lily Lush (gelish manicures)
♥ Lucy’s Lollies (handmade lollies)
♥ Massage for the Masses (chair massage)
♥ Miss Cherry Retro (vintage inspired dresses, cushions and accessories)
♥ Nail Envy/ Herbalife (gelish polish/herbal shakes)
♥ Nessa’s Handmade Jewellery (jewellery)
♥ Paintbox (handcrafted unique felt decorations)
♥ Pampered Chef (cookware and kitchen gadgets)
♥ Partylite (candles, holders)
♥ Scrappysonia (jams, preserves and sweets)
♥ Simply Beauty (brows, eyelashes, spray tans, scents)
♥ Thai Foot Massage (foot massage)
♥ Top Tots Boutique (hair and baby)
♥ Treats and Eats (homemade gifts)

For more information about our charitable objectives see: www.newarkplay.co.uk/about/

If you want to book a stall, see www.newarkplay.co.uk/stallbookingndulgence