Teen fund-raisers help HIV charity
Earlier this year the teenagers of Teddington Baptist Church were challenged by their youth group leaders to see if they could turn £30 into £300 for HIV/AIDS charity Hope HIV.
Hope HIV works in Sub-Saharan Africa through local partners in order to support vulnerable children and young people through: education, emotional support, economic empowerment and child rights. During their ten years of work the charity have touched the lives of countless young people in places a world away from leafy Teddington. It has turned them from victims into educated and enabled young people who are motivated to transform their local communities.
The teenagers at Teddington Baptist Church are pretty motivated themselves, and rose to the challenge. They baked cakes, printed invitations, organised refreshments, and put on a Summer evening of music and entertainment at the church. The evening, billed as “The Summer Session” included music from contemporary singer-songwriters, as well as their own compositions. In the end the sum raised by cake bakers, singers, song-writers and musicians amounted to an impressive £1000 – not a bad return on an investment of £30!
Church minister, Richard Littledale, was very encouraged by the whole experience. “Teenagers today get a lot of harsh and unwarranted bad press. Here we have seen a group of talented teenagers giving of their time and skills so that others a world away might benefit. It is a privilege to know them”.
Those wishing to donate to the charity can find further details at www.hopehiv.org.
Some of the fund-raising team members, left to right: Sonia Stead, Nathan Blyth, Charlotte Blyth, Luke Littledale, Louise Higgins
