LittleStars-Luxor

www.LittleStars-Luxor.org

 Airlines that fly into Luxor

We would like to thank those airlines that fly into Luxor and also help the charities there.  Egypt Air have given us a superb level of help and so have First Choice and Thomson Airlines.  Their help in allowing us extra baggage allowance has meant that much needed items can be brought out from the UK.  We would urge you to support these airlines when booking your visit to Luxor.

However, there are those who make money from Luxor but who will not budge an inch towards helping Luxor's needy children.  This is appalling behaviour and we suggest that you do not book with airlines that neglect their duty to others.  No amount of begging and pleading has been able to get Monarch Airlines to give even one gram above their miserly 15 kg baggage allowance to help the disabled and desperate children of Luxor.  This is so sad.  Please do not book with Monarch Airlines while they are so unwilling to help Luxor's deprived children. 

www.LittleStars-Luxor.org

May is the last month of our accounting year and at the end of the month we will prepare all our accounts for approval and submission to the Charity Commission.

Records for the end of April show that donations have now reached £30,000 sterling.  Only a few short months ago we were hoping that £10,000 would be collected and now, with your generosity, that sum has been tripled.  £10,000 sterling has been moved to the Little Stars deposit account to be held in reserve for the proposed clinic on the West Bank. 

Please, please, continue your support.  Little Stars is already one of Luxor’s biggest children’s charities and we can make a real difference to the lives of those who have little and even less hope. 

During the year we have bought over 1,000 food parcels for desperate families, 150 blankets, 10 wheelchairs and physiotherapy equipment for disabled children.  In addition we have paid the school fees of almost 200 children thereby ensuring their education. 

For the last six months Little Stars has completely supported the old Manacare clinics in Seul on the West Bank of the Nile and Karnak on the East Bank.  Apart from providing much needed support for disabled children the clinics provide employment for thirteen people.  Little Stars also makes a regular substantial contribution towards the running costs of the Good Samaritan Home and also contributes towards their school.

From donated goods, Little Stars has been able to provide much needed warm winter clothing and school items such as pens, pencils and exercise books.    The icing on the cake for Luxor’s youth was the donation of football boot by Suffolk Trading Standards.  The boots have now reached Luxor and will soon be presented to local clubs and charities by the Governor Dr. Samir Farag.  Donated goods can now be stored in Little Stars’ new East Bank Distribution Centre on which the rent has already been paid for the coming year.

Without you we would not have been able to do any of these things.

 www.LittleStars-Luxor.org

East Bank Distribution Centre

From the 1^st May 2008 Little Stars will have a Distribution Centre on the East Bank.  This is an exciting development for Little Stars as it means that we can extend our provision and help many more of Luxor's severely disadvantaged children.

The Centre, which is in Abdul Hamid Ali El Monda Street, close to the International Hospital will initially provide storage for children’s clothes, food parcels, baby milk, wheelchairs and other medical equipment.

A further bonus of the centre is that there is now a central site where visitors can leave donated clothing and school items.  The site of the Centre was originally a dairy and is very large so it has space for all present and future activities.  The rent has initally been paid for one year at the end of which the success of the project will be assessed.

The Centre will be run by Carol Sharples, who has been appointed as Little Stars' official Luxor Administrator.  We are delighted to welcome her to the Little Stars team.  Carol has been working tirelessly for Little Stars on a volunteer basis for the last year and was the ideal choice for the Administrator position.  Carol will have an assistant who will oversee the distribution of food parcels on the East Bank, will maintain the Centre’s records and will ensure the smooth running of the centre.

The centre is purely for administration, storage and distribution of charity items for Luxor's disadvantaged children and is not a trading centre, therefore, it will operate completely within Egyptian law.

www.LittleStars-Luxor.org

There is an independent organisation that checks on the validity of Charities that are registered with the Charity Commission.  This might seem like a belt and braces approach to security but in some instances the double check has proved its worth.

Little Stars are delighted to tell you that we are now registered with Charity Check who has completed its checks and taken up references concerning our work and validity.  They are satisfied that we are a bone fide organisation and have entered us on their Register.

We thank them and our referees, for everything that they have done to give all our donors peace of mind and for having such confidence in us and what we are aiming to achieve for Luxor's children.

With you we can do so much.

 Without you we can do so little.

www.LittleStars-Luxor-org

Vacancy

Little Stars has a vacancy for a manager in its West Bank Clinic. There are three assistants, two doctors, a driver and a gardener already in employment at the clinic.

Duties involve keeping a staff attendance register, keeping records of children that attend the clinic, noting all equipment repairs, renovations and replacements that are needed and making sure that the clinic runs smoothly and achieves its aims. 

The clinic is open two hours per day, five days per week throughout the whole year.  Cover will be arranged for holidays.

The vacancy is open to European and Egyptian applicants and the successful applicant will be expected to move to the new clinic when it is finished.

For further details please e-mail:-.

contact@LittleStars-Luxor.org

www.LittleStars-Luxor.org   

New Clinic Update 

We are seeking premises in which to house the new clinic.  We are looking for a large ground floor flat or single story building with good access, close to the service bus routes, in the village of Nage El Genena near the hospital. 

It is vital that the clinic is on the ground floor as wheelchair access is needed and it would be wonderful if it had a small garden where the children could play with specialised equipment.  We think that we will need space of around 100 – 120 sq. metres.   

If you know of any similar premises that are available for rent on a long-term basis please advise us as soon possible as we have sufficient funds to get the project started. 

contact@Littlestars-luxor.org 

 Please continue your wonderful support.

 www.LittleStars-Luxor.org

Project Updates

Updates have been added to all six of our projects outlined on the main site.  Just click on the link to see the progress we have made.  All of it has only been possible due to your support.

http://www.littlestars-luxor.org/luxor_egypt_children.html

 www.LittleStars-Luxor.org

Our March Newsletter has been completed and uploaded onto the main site.  Please read it and see what we have been doing over the last month.  

http://www.littlestars-luxor.org/luxor_news.html

Back copies of all our newsletters are available by email from contact@Littlestars-luxor.org or by sending a large stamped addressed envelope to our registered office.

 Thank You 

www.LittleStars-Luxor.org

Recent research has shown that 80% of all charity donations are given to 2% of the registered charities and that more than 26% of charities have an income of less than £1,000 per year.  This shows just how important your donations are to us. 

Although we are not in the high donation group, with donations approaching £25,000 we are not in the bottom group either.  This is our first year of operation and this level of support is fantastic.  The range of children we can help is constantly widening and applications for assistance from individuals and groups in Luxor are now flooding in.  Thank you.

With you we can achieve so much.

Without you we can achieve so little.

www.LittleStars-Luxor.org

New Clinic on the West Bank

We are delighted to tell you that we have received a wonderful donation for a world-renowned marine biologist and that it is being used to start a fund for the creation of new clinic on the west bank of Nile.

We believe that there is a need for a centrally placed free clinic where disabled children can get physiotherapy treatment and chronically sick children from poor families can get free help and medicines.  The clinic would also house a store-room and distribution point for free blankets, clothes, baby milk, nappies and emergency food parcels for those who need them most.  The clinic would be fully staffed by Egyptian doctors, nurses and assistants.  This will not only help the children directly but also indirectly by increasing local job opportunities.

 It is hoped that we can raise sufficient funds to open the clinic later this year.  To do that we need your help even more.  Your support has been wonderful.  Please continue to make your donations in order to bring this clinic into reality as soon as possible.

www.LittleStars-Luxor.org 

Statement from the Trustees

Many of our regular supporters are aware that for the last six months this charity has been under constant attack from an ex-employee with a grudge. 

During this period, he has flooded the Internet via a copycat website with vile personal abuse, false allegations and threats against this Charity and its Trustees.  His actions have been reported to the Charity Commission, the Foreign Office and the Police in the UK, plus the Police, Security Services and British Embassy in Egypt.  The allegations were considered malicious and unfounded by all the relevant authorities in both countries and the threats and abuse were officially recorded.

We are a small charity doing our best to help the children of Luxor.  We have fought his actions every inch of the way and will continue to do so.  We will not let one dysfunctional person who was dismissed for illegal activities affect the work we are doing and the well-being of children who are in desperate need.

On behalf of the needy children of Luxor we would like to express our appreciation of your continued support, loyalty and patience.

www.LittleStars-Luxor.org

The Good Samaritan Society 

The Good Samaritan Society has always been very important to Little Stars as the work they do with disabled children in Luxor is so valuable.  When we first visited their Home we were shocked at its condition but there was little help that we could offer as they were about to move to other premises.  The problem of substandard-accommodation still exists but recently they acquired a thirty-month lease on an old building that is now used as school rooms for the children and accommodation for the elderly patients that they have.  The children are staying in the old dilapidated Home until money can be found for a purpose-built centre.

This month, representatives from Little Stars spent several days at the Good Samaritan home assessing how help can be offered.  We believe in consultation and do not impose our own ideas on any of the projects that we assist so the managers were asked to prepare a list of areas that they thought needed the most help.  Their main worry was the cost of medicines and doctors’ services but they also needed extra teachers to help educate the children so that they were more able to fend for themselves. 

Little Stars has agreed to cover the cost of the medicines, doctors’ fees, extra teachers, part of the transportation costs and some treats for the children.  A donation sufficient to cover these costs will be made each month on a regular basis.  The first donation has already been given much to the delight of the manager and staff who asked us to express their gratitude to you.

There is no other foreign charity in Luxor covering as a wide a range of assistance as Little Stars and this is only possible due to your donations.  Without you we can do nothing and our support of the Good Samaritans, Footsteps of Mohammed and the Manacare Clinics would have to cease. 

With you we can do so much.

Royal Ascot is the racing event of the year in the United Kingdom as it is attended by the Queen and the Royal Family.  Its publicity is guaranteed not just through the racing and their attendance but also through the fashionable hats that catch the attention of the public and the press.

Every year the Royal Ascot organisers choose a charity for each day of the racing week.  There is great competition between charities as to whom might be selected and because of the number of applications they receive the final decision is made by a public draw.

Little Stars was happy to even be entered in that draw this year as we are still a new charity but we are even happier to learn today that we were third out of the hat have been selected as one of the five charities at Royal Ascot this year.

We now have great plans for the development of children’s health facilities in Luxor and this news helps to bring the plans closer to reality.

www.LittleStars-Luxor.org 

 State of the Art Football Boots

 Today was a red letter day for Little Stars and for Luxor's aspiring footballers who are so enthusiastic about the sport as Egypt holds the 2008 African Nations Cup. 

Our Trustees collected 150 pairs of top of the range, state of the art, football boots which, with the permission of Adidas, were donated by the UK Trading Standards Authority.  The boots are red/white. black/white and blue/white and there are a couple of gold/white pairs for good measure.  The boots of medium and large sizes will be distributed to local football teams, school football teams and individual players.

The event was photographed for a press release as the Trading Standards Authority are delighted that the goods could be put to good use.  The boots are to be flown out to Luxor by Egypt Air who have made a wonderful gesture in waving their charges.  We, and the youth of Luxor, are very grateful for the time and effort that everyone has put into this.