Thank you so much to everyone who supported Arjuna and Steffens epic cycle ride from John O’Groats to Lands End
The cycle raised a grand total of £1367! Through the wind, rain and hills they went, camping en route, leaping into lakes, getting faster and faster as they journeyed south – with a final day battling the weather and encroaching darkness through Cornwall before arriving at a wind- and rain-swept Lands End about 8.30pm! Your messages of support and donations really kept them going when it got tough (which was quite often!).
You can read all the updates on the Yak Pack blog pages, which are taken from the posts on Facebook written by Arjuna as they travelled:
Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed to such a incredible total. This bring our Yak Pack total to over £2000 which is amazing – that’s over a third of the way there - and really rescued this year for us in terms of fund-raising as nearly everything we have had planned was cancelled.
We have been busy behind the scenes over the past 6 months
- We have recorded an audio story to be shared with Spitian children by Let's Open a Book.
Have a listen to Bhabhloo Bear’s Adventure !
Lets Open a Book is a wonderful organisation helping to set up libraries in the rural schools in Spiti, and running workshops to increase access to reading – everything from ‘write your own books’ with the children, to ‘Read aloud’ workshops for teachers. We will be providing some ‘Read Aloud’ workshops in Spiti, and also bringing books from the UK which are hard to source in India, for Spitian libraries – Lets Open a Book will be giving us their wish list!
- The script of 'Rubbish Heap Rising' is finished, and so are most of the costumes - just waiting to start rehearsals! There will be shows to come and see in the Bournemouth area before we leave for India. The story – with its emphasis on plastic pollution – is just as relevant in the UK as it is in Spiti.
- The 'colour it yourself' book version of 'Rubbish Heap Rising' is coming along. We are delighted to be collaborating with local illustrator Ilse Black.
We are looking for local schools who would like to be involved in the Project.
We can come in for assemblies about Spiti (KS1 Geography topic), story-telling days, and lots more. In return perhaps you could have a mufti day or a cake sale to help us raise funds. Drop us a line if you’re interested.
And finally, looking ahead
The Yak Pack Theatre Project has been invited to return by Spitians. We have the utmost respect for their wishes – which may mean delaying the Project by a year. Spiti is extremely remote with very limited medical facilities, and took the decision in March to close their valley to visitors because of the coronavirus pandemic. It remains closed....and virus-free. We wish everyone in Spiti the very best of health, and we will see you when the time is right.