Latest News
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16 January 2012
Thank you so much to everyone who supported our Christmas Campaign 2011, we are pleased to tell you that you raised nearly £3,500!
You have made a valuable contribution to our core funds by buying special gifts and Christmas cards from our catalogue. We received several donations for home visits, these essential visits are used to monitor family living conditions and improve our relationship with our beneficiaries. You bought bus tickets for our students, ensuring that they can come to school safely without making a long and dangerous journey on foot. You supported counselling services at our school, allowing children to receive specialist support to help them cope with the challenges of growing up in extreme poverty. Your donations have bought food and healthy snacks for our children, allowing them to receive the nutrition they need to be healthy, strong and able to concentrate in school. You also donated money for art materials so that our children can be children and express themselves through arts and crafts.
Thanks to your generosity we were able to distribute a record number of hampers of food to our most vulnerable families on Christmas Eve... 100 in total! This year's hamper contained rice, beans, porridge oats, powdered milk, pasta, sugar, salt, oil, tomatoes, bananas, carrots, coffee, soap and traditional grapes and marshmallows, all wrapped up in a reusable bucket. Hardworking volunteers and staff at the school worked for two days solid to prepare the hampers, with staff even bringing in their children to help. Thank you again for making this possible, it made a tremendous difference to our children and families over the holidays.
From everyone at our UK office, the Guatemala team and, of course, the children at our project, we would like to wish you the very best for the year ahead. Please follow this link to see a special Christmas message from the children: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jn1ztcbfuw&context=C3384fccADOEgsToPDskKbeGxVwDoSSUB4bYAFRqrv
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02 December 2011
On Saturday 19th November over 200 EFTC supporters gathered in Nottingham for the Foundation’s annual Autumn Dinner, among these was Tottenham Hotspur’s Jermaine Jenas.
The evening was dedicated to the memory of Jonathan Miller, who passed away in July aged 69. A true philanthropist, Jonathan was a dedicated and active supporter of many charities, including EFTC. He made numerous visits to the school, much to the children’s delight. A talented fundraiser, Jonathan also raised an enormous amount for EFTC over the years which enabled us to strengthen and improve our services in Guatemala. Jonathan’s wife Jill and daughter Sophie attended the event as guests of honour and a special memorial video was played which included a message from the children.
2011 saw a new venue for the event, the Crowne Plaza Hotel, a lovely 4* establishment situated in the heart of the city. Guests enjoyed a champagne reception and a four course meal to the sounds of talented local musicians the Swing Lobsters.
Local supporter and up and coming singer Kris Cunningham, 18, treated guests to an acoustic set which really got the crowd going. Guests watched a video update on the Foundation and a special surprise Christmas message from the children at the school.
Popular compere Simon Hood led guests in a bidding war for a remarkable array of prizes. Among the prizes up for grabs were: a 40 minute flight in a fighter jet, a yacht cruise in Scotland, a stunning Epiphone Casino guitar signed by the legendary Paul Weller and a pair of weekend tickets to T in the Park music festival with special access rights.
There was also a Silent Auction and a Raffle which included specially commissioned artwork and signed football memorabilia. Following a brilliant impromptu guitar duet by two supporters, guests danced the night away to popular local band Daylight Robbery who also DJ’d into the early hours.
We were once again amazed by the generosity and warmth shown by everyone towards our children in Guatemala. You helped to raise a staggering total of £13,926! This is more than any previous EFTC Dinner Dance has ever raised, and an incredible feat in light of the current global recession. This is a tremendous boost to our work and equates to just under a quarter of our annual food budget!
Thank you so much to everyone who supported the event, we hope you can join us again for 2012’s Autumn Dinner.
We would like to extend a special thank you to the following people:
Beaverbrooks the Jewellers, Boo Somers, Dawn Yates, David Lloyd and Saks, Daylight Robbery, DF Concerts Ltd., Dino’s, Ebon Benjamin, Fifteen Designs, Frank and Jim Dooley (The Mobility Bureau), Fuzz Guitars, Graham Mackrell, Jamie’s Italian, Kim Sanderson, Kris Cunningham, LivingWell health club, Lush, L’Occitane, Malcolm Richards, Martin Taylor, Paul Weller, Simon Hood, Slades of West Bridgford, Stephen Hunt, Terry Killeavy, The Swing Lobsters, and the White Stuff Foundation
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11 October 2011
La Esperanza Celebrates 190 Years of Guatemalan Independence
Independence Day was celebrated here at the school with two weeks of exciting activities. There were impressive performances by the children in singing, recital and group dance competitions, high emotions in the football championship finals and a beautiful display of Guatemalan culture in folkloric performances and creative artwork. All of the children had a great time and there were heart-warming displays of school spirit.
One of the most exciting events was the Señorita (Miss) and Niña (Little Miss) La Esperanza competition which coincided with the national elections here in Guatemala and was intended to teach the children a little about the voting process, as well as being fun for all!
It was wonderful to see so much confidence the children had with the support and encouragement from their peers. Congratulations to Fatima in Class 1A who won the title of ‘Niña La Esperanza’ and Leyda in Class 3 of the Secondary School who was crowned ‘Señorita La Esperanza’.
''The most poignant moment of all the celebrations for me was after the formal dance when the father of the newly crowned Señorita Esperanza walked out to embrace her and share the floor alone for a few moments. It was clear to see how proud he was of her.''- Dan Burgess
The Independence Day celebrations culminated in an imaginative display of Guatemalan tradition. The children in the school wore beautiful, traditional Guatemalan dress and performed folkloric dances with their classmates
It was amazing to be able to share this experience with the children in the school and to see how much pride they have in their school and country. Seeing such confidence in children from the most difficult of backgrounds and the support and encouragement their classmates gave them was genuinely heart-warming.
To read more the about the Independence Day activities here in the school click here.
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22 September 2011
EFTC becomes a US Foundation!
We're proud to announce that we have just gained 501(c) (3) Foundation status in the US.
Thanks to Melissa Morgan, we are now an official Foundation in the USA.
This means US donors can make tax deductible donations and we can receive and apply for grants plus we can start organising US events.
If you are in the US and you would like to become one of our first US Ambassadors for the Foundation or have any queries then please get in touch with This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
To donate in the US go to paypal now
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=HY22VUN7PTCR8
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04 August 2011
Book your ticket now for our Autumn Dinner Dance!
Tickets have just gone on sale for our 6th Annual Dinner Dance on Saturday 19th November and we would love for you to join us.
Tickets are £50 each and include a drinks reception, four course meal, fantastic live entertainment and a DJ. There will also be grand auction, silent auction and raffle.
We are excited to announce a new venue for the night, the Crowne Plaza Hotel, a lovely 4* establishment situated in the heart of Nottingham.
If you wish to attend our Dinner Dance please call Christine Harry (Coordinator) on 0115 958 4876 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it who will be happy to assist you. Special accommodation rates are available so please let us know if you wish to stay the night.
It promises to be a fantastic night for everyone and we hope to see you there!
2010's Dinner Dance
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