Community fundraising in the UK

Because too many babies die in low income countries in their first month of life

Seb and Julia at the NICHE table during a recent community event in north London.  Lots of people showed an interest in the charity, and in the handmade brass items from Cameroon.  The artists first make the model out of beeswax, then cover it in clay, allow the wax to melt leaving a clay mould and then fill a second container with old keys, bits of car engine etc., put more clay around the whole thing and put in a homemade kiln.  As the man who made my Nativity set said, you have to wait till the flames from the kiln are giving off white smoke, then you know the metal is melting and filling the moulds.  When the little clay parcels come out of the fire, they are allowed to cool and then the clay is broken off, leaving a brass model in place of the original wax one.  If you’re interested in seeing how scrap metal is recycled to make brass ornaments in West Africa, there’s a fascinating Ghanaian video on You Tube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REutkpo3ors.

NICHE Oreo cup cakes courtesy of Seb and Julia’s daughter, video showing the Asante wax casting process (see Youtube link in the post)

 

Example of West African cast brass ornament

Instructors and trustees raising money for NICHE in Berlin

We’ve been running in Berlin this weekend, raising money for NICHE International and raising the profile a bit:

One of NICHE’s senior instructors with her “magic sticks” which apparently make her run faster or more safely or something. Anyway, they worked.

 

 

 

You can still sponsor us!

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/joannabruce-jones

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/julia-thomson9

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/seb-palmer99