With our departure edging ever closer, it’s time to say a final THANK YOU to everyone who has supported this project – some of you for years now!
You can follow the Yak Pack in India on our blog (subscribe to get news by email), via GoFundMe, and on our facebook page.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for all your donations.
Whether that was generously making a direct donation, or coming along to one of our events, or buying raffle tickets, THANK YOU!
We still have to add on the money from our final show at the Lighthouse, which will bring us to just a few hundred short of the total. As the exchange rate has been working in our favour since Christmas, this means that effectively WE DID IT !!!! Hooray!
Every penny goes directly to the Theatre Project, ensuring as many Spitian children as possible will see the shows, their teachers can benefit from the experience for the future, children with special needs can access a performance, and children living in isolated rural villages can end a hard day’s pea harvesting with something fun!
Any further donations, or any money we can save from the budget, will go towards paying a Spitian expert to help us photograph and film the performances, and towards collating the whole thing into something watchable when we get back.
Thank you also for supporting us in so many other ways. By donating things we can raffle or sell, by encouraging us when we have felt daunted by the enormity of it all, by convincing our children that they really do want to spend their entire summer up a mountain and by all your kind comments and helpful advice and great ideas. Most of all, by believing in us.
Some special people we need to thank:
The Yak Pack Volunteers – As a group we have been meeting up for a year now! Coming up with ideas and making the project happen, all the planning for the fund-raising events, and most of all, an ‘all hands on deck’ approach to running the events which made them so overwhelmingly successful. It’s been a joy to work with you all. We are so grateful to you for giving your time so selflessly.
The Yak Pack Teenage Army – It’s been such a pleasure to have so many young volunteers helping out at all our events, not to mention the 5 children in the show itself. As the Project is deliberately a multi-generational affair, it’s been especially great to have so many young people involved – they have been helpful, enthusiastic, generous with their time and a joy to be with.
Tony at MailBoxes Etc, and Ray at IT Media Services – these lovely gentlemen were among our very first supporters, printing and producing the audioplay of ‘Jambhala’. It’s been great to have the CD as a part of the fund raising campaign. We are taking all the leftover ones to India, where they will be included in the resource packs we give to schools and villages.
Anne Marie Bridle – you are truly a force of nature! Anne Marie has been the fire in the belly of our fund-raising – wrapping all those wonderful raffle prizes, rallying the St Josephs church community to host our Quiz Night and running the catering, and hosting a Jambhala performance, and generally being enthusiastic, inspirational and supportive throughout. She also made loads of the costumes – in particular the ‘family’ costumes, which is why they all match so beautifully and look great!
St Josephs Catholic Church in Purewell for letting us use their church hall for fund raising events, and also to rehearse. Not to mention all the wonderful church family who have been behind us every step of the way.
Robyn and Christchurch Infants School for being our school link! It’s been really fun to share our journey with children here too, and help them to understand how children on the other side of the world live. We’ll be popping back in September to tell them all about it! Christchurch Infants also hosted 2 of our fund raising events – a performance of ‘Jambhala’, and a comedy improv night.
Stephen and Lighthouse Poole for hosting a performance in the lovely Sherling Studio. We have been very grateful to have the support of our leading local theatre venue, in our efforts to share theatre in remote places!
Springbourne Christian Centre for being a fantastic dress rehearsal audience – welcoming and supportive to the last man! And thank you for letting us rehearse there too.
St Peters School for use of their great school theatre for our comedy improv launch night – what a lovely space to use! Thank you too to all the wonderful actors, the army of volunteers and the huge audience who all braved the snow that night to set our fundraising journey in motion. Gosh, that feels like AGES ago!
Aayush, a student at Oxford Uni, for translating the resource and activity book into Hindi ready to be printed once we’re in India, and given to schools and families.
There’s many more of you too, so many! It’s been really inspiring to have so many local people, venues and organisations involved – a real community affair!
The first performance in India is on 27th July at Handimachal Therapy Centre during our first acclimatisation stage in the Kullu Valley. It’s a really inspirational day care centre for kids with special needs. The staff are incredible people who enrich and fulfil the lives of children who have been dealt a difficult hand in life’s lottery. It will be such a pleasure to share our first performance with them.
With our heartfelt thanks to all of you
The Yak Pack team
