Corporate Social
Responsibility

This year, Paula is contributing to her local community by volunteering at her son’s school as part of the Charity Lunches Group – a committed team of around 30 parents. The group prepares and provides daily school lunches for 18 students in need, with recipients kept anonymous to protect their privacy. With a rotating schedule in place, each volunteer prepares meals a few times a year, helping to ensure no child goes without a nutritious lunch.

In April, Rachel had the privilege of spending a day volunteering at one of Smart Works’ centres—a UK charity that helps unemployed women get the clothing, confidence, and coaching they need to succeed in job interviews. Rachel spent the day organising clothing donations, which play a key role in helping women feel empowered and prepared. It was a great insight into how practical support can make a real difference, with 63% of clients securing a job within a month of their appointment.

Laura was a very busy bee in 2024, working on a number of varied and wonderful community projects!

She participated in local nature and beach clean ups, organised by Sealand, Parley and local Sentinal NGO’s.

Laura also worked with My Father’s House: a charity that provides food and supplies to the homeless. She took the school kids to help create 680 delicious sandwiches on Mandela Day.

Tom Roe Horse Sanctuary and the Seal Rescue programme were two further initiatives that Laura engaged with. An epidemic of rabies has spread through a local seal colony – dogs and humans have both been attacked and infected. To limit these incidences, seals must be regularly monitored with the help of volunteers.

And last but not least, Laura continued on a project from the previous year. She assisted in the building of a second classroom and restful garden for a local underprivileged school.

I got involved with a truly wonderful organization here in New York called The Closet.  They are a thrift/charity shop that offers affordable clothing and household items to those in need in the community.

I volunteered at their evening shifts and then will be helping with their big Christmas event is coming up.  As part of their grant and voucher program, they give approximately $100,000 to those in need around the community every year.

— Bridget

The LSB Malaysia team recently participated in a volunteering activity at the Tzu Chi Recycling and Education Center in Kuala Lumpur, contributing to the organization’s efforts to promote sustainability and environmental stewardship.

During the session, they assisted in sorting various recyclables, including paper, plastics, fabrics, and glass, into designated categories for repurposing. Guided by experienced Tzu Chi volunteers, they also learnt about the processes behind recycling and the transformative potential of waste management. From flattening cardboard and sorting different paper types to categorizing plastic bottles, each task underscored the importance of collective action in reducing environmental impact.

In addition to the hands-on experience, the team gained valuable insights into Tzu Chi’s broader initiatives, such as turning recycled materials into usable items like blankets, and fostering a culture of sustainability through education.

This month, LSB India collaborated with Vatsalyam Gurukul School in Noida. This inspiring organisation provides a safe haven for destitute children, equipping them with education and life skills for a brighter future.

The team hosted an exciting art competition where the children showcased their best creative skills. It was a fun day for them with several students winning exciting prizes.

For the last four years, I have volunteered at a local artist-run gallery named “Frankfurter Künstlerclub”. We organise concerts, art shows and book readings with events happening every week from March to November. My main motivation here is to keep this very old “Garden House” in use and to keep its valuable cultural heritage alive. I was a board member for two years and managed the team and digitalisation of the club. For the last two years I have been organising the art shows and have stepped down from the board to focus on planning good exhibitions and supporting local artists. It is a huge joy to be playing my part in keeping this beautiful space alive.

— Rosanna, Consultant

This month Wendy updated us on her continued volunteering at Bath Welcomes Refugees, where she teaches refugee students English each week:

I continue to teach once a week at Bath Welcomes Refugees. The beginners group I teach has become so big that we have had to divide the students into two groups. We find we have to take a different teaching approach for students who are for example not familiar with a Latin-based alphabet such as ours or who, in some cases, are illiterate in their own languages. Some of our refugees have not received any formal education in their countries of origin while others are victims of trafficking or have fled war zones. BWR does amazing work as a charity, aside from the teaching I do, helping refugees with housing, furnishings, resettlement & befriending, including accompanying refugees to appointments & helping them into education & work wherever possible.

https://www.bathwelcomesrefugees.org.uk/ 

Oliver is a husband and father of 2 girls. Through his own Lived experience of anxiety, overwhelm and depression, he found meditation, which saved him. He has written a book on inspirational leaders, and set up a non-profit mental health digital platform called Head Talks.

‘Our world is bursting to capacity, particularly with the advance of technology & mobile phones. We humans, whatever our age, live in an almost constant state of stimulation, stress and overwhelm. The damage and challenges this poses to our mental health is huge.

Meditation is learning to be fully absorbed in one activity or one moment. It is mastering the mind so we can learn to be calm and present even whilst there is chaos going on around us. It takes practice, using simple techniques such as breathing.

Meditation has been around for 2000 years and is very good for our mental health.’

Oliver has been trained by a certified Connected Kids Trainer to teach meditation professionally to children and teens. He offers free meditation classes to kids and schools in his area.

‘Two thirds of young people would prefer mental health support, without going through their GP.’

‘The likelihood of young people having a mental health problem has increased by 50% since 2022.’

This year I have volunteered with BLINK Mental Health (https://www.blinkmentalhealth.org.uk/) – after having utilised one of their one to one talking therapy sessions at a festival in early 2023 – I volunteered with BLINK 3 times this year at various festivals, more to come next year.  Their mission is to provide safe and open spaces for people to receive professional mental health support, where they can be heard, connect with others, and reconnect with themselves.  One of their founders Mike McAdam was let down by the system when he needed mental health support and founded the charity in order to provide a pop up service at festivals with a dual purpose.  The primary one is to open up the conversation around mental health and make it normal.  A good space to do this he finds is at festivals, where people are generally more open.  By providing a chill out space, with very comfy bean bags and mindful activities and also one on one single session therapy at no cost to festival goers they have helped 100’s of people over this year and will carry on doing so.

Since 2020 I have also supported the Rebel Finance School (https://rebeldonegans.com/finance/rfs/) in their mission to teach as many people as possible about financial independence, and to show how it is a very achievable goal for everyone.  They run an 10 week online course each year, which they deliver entirely free of charge to whoever is interested, globally.  Since the 10th of June, their first video in the series has had almost 26,000 views and their support group on Facebook has almost 13,000 members.  My role in that is to assist with supporting the people in the FB group and to help answer questions that come up both in the group and in the live sessions.

— Dominic, Consultant

A highlight this year would be helping one of my twins do the “Yorkshire Three Peaks”, a 26-mile route with 5200ft ascent spanning the mountains of Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent.

We started the walk on a cold November morning at 6am (in the dark) and finished nearly 11 hours and 30 miles later (in the dark!). We managed to raise around £2k for a children’s mental health charity.

— Ben, Consultant

We once again took part in CITY CYCLING, a competition that involves completing as many daily journeys as possible in an environmentally-friendly manner using your bike over a 21-day period. Every kilometre counts – and even more so if you would have completed the journey by car otherwise. To help draw attention to cyclists’ needs, CITY CYCLING also targets local politicians. After all, it is them who make the decisions when it comes to the cycling infrastructure – and thus to the practical local climate protection.

In Germany, more than one fifth of climate-damaging CO₂ emissions are caused by traffic City Cycling, so it is about avoiding CO2 emissions as well as to encourage more people to cycle and to enhance the bicycle friendliness of cities. Of course City Cycling is also a bit about the competition: the team which has cycled the most kilometres in each city or municipality will get an award.

London Speaker Bureau Germany also supports Sozialtreff 88 e.V. in Karlsruhe – an event running  regularly to provide food and supplies to the homeless. We regularly donate cakes to provide a rich cake buffet after the delicious 3-course meal.  At the social centre, volunteers cook every week for homeless and socially disadvantaged people who are often unable to afford a proper meal. They enjoy a freshly prepared meal and are served as if they were in a restaurant – a special day of the week for many guests. At the social centre’s summer party, we baked hard with numerous helpers to make the cake buffet the highlight of the party.

Our colleagues Kay and Deborah have been dedicating time this year to several charities in Cape Town:

Mdzananda Animal Clinic – https://www.mdzananda.co.za/

We had another very cold and rainy winter in Cape Town this year. Apparently, we had the highest monthly rainfall during July since records kept from 1960. We again decided to give support to Mdzananda Animal Clinic in Khayelitsha who are always looking for funding but due to the storms, their clinic and shelter flooded. Their hospital and theatre roofs sustained damages costing R20,000, and their sterilisation clinic needed R10,000 in repairs. During the heavy rain their inspectors went driving around the township rescuing dogs which had no shelter or had been tied up so they wouldn’t roam but were left outside. Roads and homes were flooded.

Clothing Donations

There were many calls again for clothing donations during winter as so many people living in the townships especially had their homes flooded during the heavy rain. We donated several bags of clothing to one of our local shopping malls who were doing a collection. We also gave a rain jacket and some clothing to one of the car guards who was outside in the rain, keeping an eye on the cars in his section, when we went to drop off the bags. He is always there, working in the same spot, whether it is 15 or 35 degrees. He was so appreciative.

The Haven night shelter – https://www.haven.org.za/buyabed

In 2023 it was noted that there are an estimated 14,000 homeless people in the greater Cape Town area with only 3,500 shelter beds. At the Haven Night shelter, R75 buys one homeless person a bed for 5 nights. So, we made donations to assist a few people. They started the “Buy a bed” campaign to make The Haven Shelters more accessible for people living on the streets. The campaign encourages the community to cover shelter fees for the first 5 nights and help them to be a sustainable organisation. The campaign is especially for a homeless person with no income, and they have more than 2,500 new clients per year.

This month we had the pleasure of seeing some of the art produced by the young Omani artists we sponsor. The British Omani Society Art Group are focused on supporting and developing emerging artists from Oman and the UK. The artists were flown to London where their paintings were showcased at a gallery on Sackville Street. We loved two of the paintings so much that we have organised for them to reside in our London office!

The Sodbury Slog

On Sunday 10th November, I joined 1300 runners and slogged 10 miles through some of South Gloucestershire’s muddiest fields to raise money for the children’s hospice, Jessie May (an incredible charity which does heart-breaking work). I should point out that I am not a runner but this year I knuckled down and trained hard. The Couch to 5k programme really helped but I wasn’t able to run beyond 3 minutes in May 2024.  Come October, I was running 5/6k a couple of times a week.  It’s amazing what the human body can do with the right mindset and regular training. It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life but I loved every second and felt completely alive!

Practical Finance Journey with Four Generations of Women

I have worked with 4 women this year and have taken them on a personal finance journey over 8 weeks.  The women are at different stages of their financial journey and their goals range from wanting to learn the best possible way of growing money, hoping to develop better spending, saving and investing habits, and working towards financial independence.

It has been fascinating!  I have been on a very steep financial learning curve since 2019 and taught myself how to maximize my savings, how to invest for the short, medium and long term, and the art of spending.  Money can be empowering and saving can give you options.

— Rebecca, Consultant

A big shout out to one of our Consultants, Hugo, who completed a gruelling 26-mile hike in September: the Yorkshire Three Peak Challenge (Pen y Gent, Wernside and Ingleborough).

Hugo’s walk raised funds in aid of the Corfu Animal Rescue Establishment (CARE) – an organisation that works to rehome strays and abandoned dogs in Corfu by taking them in, providing medical aid where necessary, and a providing a loving home while they wait to be adopted.

https://www.carecorfu.com/

Our Logistics Manager, Ludivine, spent some time during her recent trip home engaging with her local community in Beuxes:

‘I assisted the library members with the “Club des Enfants” (children’s club). Every Wednesday and Friday during summer, the library opens its doors to the children and offers them a reading workshop and a story telling session followed by a “gouter” (snack). It was a really nice experience; the children were amazing!’

London Speaker Bureau aims to forge relationships with organisations we support through continued donations and engagement. 2024 has been no different – we are proud to fund the following initiatives for another year.

Let’s Read fund-raising concert, Rising Stars – A music concert featuring young Omani musicians and vocalists in April this year at the Al Bustan Palace Auditorium. Proceeds go towards their Maktabati Mobile Library Programme.

Let’s Read Children’s Writing Competition – An annual competition to showcase young Omani writers. Our sponsorship funded prizes for the Award Ceremony in May this year.

Amigitos – Our Director of Norway, Kevin Aall, has been driving the continued funding of Amigitos: a charity he holds dearly. Amigitos is a non-profit organization that conducts humanitarian work aimed at people living under difficult living conditions in the Pancho Mateo slum area of the Dominican Republic. London Speaker Bureau provide regular funding to help them provide school supplies, uniforms, and health care for the young children.

Wild Earth – WildEarth is a purpose driven for profit Nature Tech company on a mission to increase the value of nature to people. Predominantly a South African TV channel and app, WildEarth helps millions of viewers feel remotely present in nature without increasing their footprint. Through interactive safaris with expert naturalists, waterhole dam cams, 24/7 streaming and global school experiences, anyone can immerse themselves in the wilderness. This platform combines live broadcasting with education for a global audience and is vital in connecting more people with nature.

“Only if we understand, will we care.

Only if we care, will we help.

Only if we help shall all be saved.”

~ Jane Goodall

Last month, LSB donated towards Educating Kids Outdoors (EKO) – an organisation based in the West Midlands committed to providing enriching outdoor learning experiences for children.

Through various nature-based outdoor activities, EKO aims to foster a deep appreciation for the environment, instilling environmental stewardship. EKO creates a supportive and stimulating outdoor learning environment while nurturing essential life skills in young learners.

Our London office is also in the planning stages of organising a charity team day, to further support EKO’s incredible work through a more hands-on approach.

This January, LSB donated towards the ‘Room to rhino: Way Kambas’ initiative, led by Save the Rhino.

This sponsorship will support the transformation of three sites in Way Kambas, which is a refuge for Sumatran rhinos – a critically endangered species of which only 80 remain.

The contribution will help fund the growth of native tree species, with local experts and community members driving the restoration project forwards and providing much-needed habitat and food for Sumatra’s endangered wildlife.

UPDATE – OCTOBER 2024

We have now received an interim report from Save the Rhino outlining progress being made at the reforestation sites in Way Kambas National Park, Sumatra. The project is ongoing, but it is wonderful to see the positive impact that has already been made. Progress includes a decrease in the number of intentional forest fires through increased patrols with rangers each day and night. They have also implemented several community development activities to engage local community members and ensure there is a clear linkage between rhino conservation and alternative livelihoods. Focus continues to be the reforestation of these Rhino sites – this image demonstrates progress in one of these sites, Rawa Kidang, between 2020 – 2024.

Earlier in December, LSB Tukey shared details of a visit to a local animal shelter.

‘We visited animal shelter of Kadıköy Municipality, donated there with a big amount of dog and cat food and spent the day with them. It was perfect to see that they are being taken care of in a healty environment and to watch them playing around. Most of them were abandoned unfortunately; they get really happy when they see someone visiting them to play, to give love… to be there with them warmed our hearts.’

Last month, London Speaker Bureau India shared their wonderful sustainable gifting – the goal of these gifts is to fight hunger with art.

‘This year on Diwali (the festival of lights in India) we sent out a unique and thoughtful gift to our clients and speakers. The gift has been hugely appreciated and the response has been very kind. The gift went out with an insert which carried a beautiful write up about the art as well as the artist.’

https://www.theplatedproject.com/

Collaborating with global artists, The Plated project crafts unique art-infused pieces which are conceptualised with immersive storytelling. The tagline is simple – “Buy a plate, fill a plate”. Every month, The Plated Project, commissions artists to create work that will fit within the circle of a dinner plate. Buying/gifting just one of their attractive, brightly coloured plates, equals 10 meals donated (or 10 plates filled with food!).

Laura’s community project began in March, with a shared vision of a classroom (where she lives, in South Africa) that incorporated the outside environment allowing for more freedom and creativity while being guarded from the elements.

To help with the project, Laura sourced second hand building materials and set to work building the classroom over weekends and school holidays.

‘We created a space that encouraged creativity, healing and growth by incorporating a lot of natural light with the illusion of being in nature while protected by the elements. There followed a second addition that turned in to the Art. This was June July and August.

The school is continuing to raise funds. I’ve been pushing for something bigger and its happening – 14^th. We’re going to be building dog kennels (for 1 kennel at a Time), donating a wheelchair, and creating awareness and support for the local safehouse! We are going to have a fun activity at the market where these can be built and painted by the community also.’

Last month, Harry got involved with his mother in a yearly Packing Day for the Queen Mother’s Clothing Guild.

‘Every autumn there is an event held at St James’s Palace in London, where we sort, count and pack all the clothing and bedding ready for collection by the various charities. I help with the lifting the clothes parcels as my mum is now too old to do it. My mum has loyally worked for them for 35 years, and my grandmother used to do it in the 1920s!’

Queen Mother’s Clothing Guild supports those most in need. They respond to requests from charities right across the UK for clothing and bedding items that they have difficulty in sourcing or funding themselves and volunteers also lovingly hand make thousands of hats, gloves, scarves, clothes and blankets.

‘The charities we support include refuges for women and children escaping violence, homeless shelters and outreach units, hostels supporting ex-servicemen and women, neonatal units, hospices providing respite and end of life care for children and adults and those working to support the elderly and frail. Each year we ask them for a list of items they need most.’

Last month, Julie shared with us several community initiatives she keeps up with.

‘Here in Cyprus, I’ve connected with a local NPO helping animals without shelters. It is a pressing problem here as there are twice as many cats on the island as there are people! And of course, a lot of doggies without shelters too… I’ve participated in 2 events:

One was ‘Diving for PAWS’: https://www.facebook.com/events/1234505083881948/

My husband and I have donated and dived on that day + helped out in the camp

Second was ‘Buy a book to save a stray’: https://www.facebook.com/events/6777214855691709/

We’ve helped out with preparation before the event with unloading of the books and managing it across the place. People from all Cyprus donated books for this, so we had A LOT of them)) More than 2,000 people came during the weekend and the event was a success!

Also, as a part of Ledra Motorcycle club (the oldest motorcycle club in Cyprus), we’ve participated in a ride across Nicosia’s municipalities to collect donations and draw attention to children with heart diseases. I was a passenger with my husband.’

In October, we heard about Loida’s wonderful contribution:

‘I have done a number of volunteering projects through Globers, Lady Talks is one of the most exciting with more visibility

What is Globers? NGO based in Spain with a mission to drive improvements in society by educating, inspiring and mobilizing young people to raise their voices while creating real change through volunteering, non-formal education and active citizenship. Globers works through a network of European partners funded by Erasmus + EU funds in line with EUs main developmental goals and runs and collaborates in over 70 projects a year. Lady Modern Talks project was part of EU Youth Programs, and run alongside with 4 partners agencies from Hungary (leading agency, Meout), Netherlands, Italy and Spain. The main concept was to interview successful women from all different backgrounds through a series of podcasts and inspiring interviews sharing best practices to facilitate Women and Youth to grow personally and professionally.

WHy MODERN LADY TALK? No country’s economy can be viable without successful businesses. Recognizing this, both the European Union and the Hungarian government consider developing entrepreneurial skills and abilities, disseminating entrepreneurial knowledge, and promoting self-employment and entrepreneurship to be of paramount importance. Therefore, one of the aims of the project is the development of entrepreneurial competencies in a non-formal way. Another goal of the project is to reduce the gender imbalance by developing among women the competencies needed to become a successful entrepreneur.

Modern Lady Podcast aims to show successful businesses, good practices and winner approaches lead by young women.

The Modern Lady Talk project objectives are:

• To develop youngsters’ autonomy, individual and collective responsibility through entrepreneurship and start-up mind-set
• To foster entrepreneurial skills for youngsters to make them ready to enter the labour market
• To increase equal opportunities in the labour market

Podcasting Lady Talks Project – I designed and run all the interviews on behalf of Globers Spain, interviewing inspirational women.

I really enjoyed this opportunity of sharing knowledge and inspiring others. The podcasting part of the project was run through a period of 3 months, with interviews taking place between Madrid and Tarragona. We had quite a basic set up an technical means to produce the podcast, however each of the lady’s interview had incredible stories with profound takeaways. I strongly believe role that modeling is one of the most powerful practices for us, as human beings, to develop. Motivating and sharing success stories feeds the Youth and a feeds a better society. Quoting one LSB speakers, Ger Graus, ¨We Can Only Aspire to What We Know It Exists¨’

Webpage: http://www.globers.net/

This year, LSB was again a sponsor for the Oman Natural Heritage Lectures. This is an annual lecture series is this year focusing on ‘The Mangroves and Coastal Wetlands of the Sultanate of Oman’.

These events are organised by The British Omani Society (BOS), a charitable organisation working with the objective of enhancing and preserving the longstanding friendship between Britain and Oman.

These lectures aim to advance the education of the British public and Omani nations. Additionally, proceeds from ticket sales are reinvested into the charity’s causes.

Each year Paula supports a charity close to her heart, and shared the details with us this month.

‘My charity is DARG. I do a collection every second year for them, however, will do one this year too.

DARG is a pro-life, non-profit organisation that rescues, cares for, sterilizes and rehomes previously abused, neglected and abandoned cats and dogs. DARG provides a crucial role for the communities of Imizamo Yethu, Hangberg and the greater Hout Bay area.

Situated on a large plot in Hout Bay, Western Cape, DARG provides shelter for its rescues through housing an extensive cat garden, cat sanctuary, outdoor and indoor kennel areas as well as indoor rooms for those animals in treatment or rehabilitation.

I reach out to friends, family and neighbours and collect food, blankets, toys for cats and dogs.’

http://darg.org.za/

We recently heard from our colleagues in Germany and some of the wonderful community initiatives they have been involved in.

CityCyling: ‘For 21 days we cycled for a better climate and local cycling infrastructure, to promote cycling, protect the climate and improve our quality of life. All-in-all we cycled 1790 km in 21 days.’

LSB Germany are also supporting Sozialtreff 88 e.V., a place where homeless people are served a warm dinner once a week and provided with clothes and all other essentials they cannot afford on their own. In 2019 LSB Germany cooked dinner there with the whole team and recently they have started to support them with cakes and clothes every fortnight.

Patrick and Viktoria spoke of their regular visits to the local animal shelter to spend some time with the lonely cats there.

LSB Germany also support the school art project ‘SAXA Macht Schule’, where pupils and teachers get the chance to create art together. A primary school in Karlsruhe is supported with everything they need to create a very special picture of Pippa Longstocking – consisting of words.

Roxane has shared her contribution with the Malves Environment Association, a community she has been working with for the past few months. Created in July 2022, the Malves Environment Association aims to develop knowledge and understanding within the village it was formed.

To do this, its current concrete actions concern:

• Healthy eating – distribution of organic baskets with seasonal and regional products such as fruits and vegetables, honey, etc.
• Traditional gardening – permaculture with reproducible peasant seeds, grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
• Zero waste – reduction of household waste, collection of litter, composting, and shredding.
• The social bond – creation of events allowing meetings between the inhabitants of the municipality.

Cecile and Alexis teamed up with the charity SAESEM on the World Cleanup Day to clean up the streets of Montreal.

‘In the ‘éco-quartier’ of the ‘Ville-Marie’ neighbourhood, amongst many other trashes, the small team of benevolent brought back about 1.5kgs of cigarettes butts…

So far (in September 2023), the SAESEM collected over 700 000 of cigarettes butts in the streets of Montreal only!’

Amongst many other projects, the SAESEM has 2 strong programmes:

• ‘Mégot Zéro’ (0 cigarettes butts) to reduce the negative impacts of the cigarette butts for our environment.
• ‘RebutRécup’ is a solution to the problem of wasting reusable resources in urban areas. It is a recovery service for reusable household items offered free of charge to residents. The items are then donated to people in need.

SAESEM: https://saesem.org/en/homepage/

‘Mégot Zéro’: https://megotzero.com/

RebutRécup: https://www.rqis.org/innovation-sociale/cas/rebutrecup-saesem/

Ben embarked on an epic cycle in order to raise money for Tommy’s, the children’s charity. He managed to raise just shy of £5,000!

‘Our twins were born premature after a very tricky pregnancy (both spent 3 months in hospital, St Thomas’s paediatric intensive care unit, supported by Tommy’s). The ride is pretty tough, over five dales, and took about eight hours. I plan to ride it again in 2024.’

https://www.etapedudales.org/ride-information-summary 

Dominic has spent a few weekends over the summer volunteering at various festivals, in different roles.  The final one of which was at Camp Wildfire where he volunteered with the BLINK Mental Health Team – they offer Mental Health services at festivals, and have just received a £10,000 National Lottery Grant to carry on this work (https://www.blinkmentalhealth.org.uk/our-offer).

It is amazing how many people suffer from overwhelm at festivals, or would just like a place to chill or talk to someone. Blink offers a free number of one-on-one counselling sessions at the festivals and has helped hundreds get access to mental health support which otherwise they may not have had.

This month Kevin shared with us his fundraising for Amigitos.

‘I have chosen to support Amigitos Small Friends in the Dominican Republic (DR) near the border of Haiti. It´s founded by Siv Mika Engebregtsen from Horten whom I have known forever.

They help paperless Haitian children, born in DR, but not recognised by the DR authorities. This is one of the reasons they can never apply for support from the DR authorities. The police are visiting (raiding) the school every other week in order to catch paperless young and expel them to a country they have never been in. This is another reason they can´t be too public as it could lead to more attention to the school and more visits from the police.

They make 5,000 meals a month and for some of the children it´s the only meals they get. Half of their budget goes to medicines and food, while the remaining goes to the school: materials, uniforms, salaries to teachers and administration.’

https://amigitos.org/en/home/

Deborah and Kay spent some time in July supporting stray animals and crisis centres.

Sponsored Kennels

Winter in Cape Town this year has been very cold and very wet – great for the water levels in the dams but not so great for all the animals who have no shelter or are at animal rescue organisations.

In Gordons Bay, a small coastal town outside of Cape Town, the Animal Welfare organisation highlighted the fact that many dogs in the local townships do not have any shelter and that their owners cannot afford to buy kennels for them.

A resident saw the need and is making wooden kennels, while also providing donations to sponsor a kennel. So, we have sponsored a kennel for someone so that they can keep their pet/s dry and warm.

Winter Shoebox

Mdzananda Animal Clinic in Khayelitsha, the largest township in Cape Town is always looking for support and donations for the many animals they treat where the owners very often cannot afford to pay anything when their pets are sick or injured.

This winter they are doing a Winter Shoebox drive to keep local pets warm, and we have sponsored a shoebox for both a dog and a cat.

https://www.mdzananda.co.za/single-post/wagging-winter-shoebox-keep-one-pet-warm-this-winter

Rape Crisis Donations

At least twice a year it is time to go through our cupboards and donate what we no longer need. We have again dropped off several large bags of clothes to Rape Crisis who have a Bargain shop where they sell second hand clothes to help with the running expenses at their crisis centre.

https://www.crisiscentre.org.za/bargain-shop/

In June LSB supported Equal Rights for Children – a charity that strives for the regularisation and legitimation of children born out of marriage through diplomatic relations and social influence.

They are involved in events to raise awareness (in countries that have signed and ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child), working to lessen the global stigma against children born out of wedlock and collaborating with pharmaceutical companies to provide free DNA testing to children seeking filiation.

In June, Melissa spent some time at the Happy Tails Sanctuary.

Nathalie, the founder, set up the foundation and sanctuary in 2019 with a handful of dogs. They now have 4 full time staff and 130 happy dogs. Many dogs have been adopted into loving and caring families both locally and overseas. They aim to change the negative mindsets locally about animal welfare and through their education and sterilisation campaigns.

All the dogs at the sanctuary are up for adoption and sponsorship and the animal loving team works 24/7 to ensure their suffering days are over. They have a big dog park to play in and a lovely house to rest in with their favourite canine friends. You can play, walk, and run with the dogs and get smothered in kisses!

Melissa visited the sanctuary on her recent trip to Mauritius, armed with a suitcase full of supplies. She was able to spend time with Nathalie and show the dogs lots of love.

This summer, Tobias walked from Land’s End to John O’Groats (otherwise known as the end-to-end trail – a journey of 1,215 miles). The walk was fully documented, with Tobias proudly sporting his LSB cap every step of the way.

Tobias was raising money to support the amazing work of two charities close to his heart: Severn Hospice and Heartburn Cancer UK. He was joined by our chairman, Tom, on day 44 of his journey, to accompany him for about 20 miles of his walk to Inverness.

Tobias managed to complete the expedition mid-July in a very impressive 56 days!

This month we had the very exciting launch of onHand. This company-wide platform will help us all in doing more to help our local communities. onHand makes things more accessible, flexible, and (hopefully) frequent.

The app functions like the Deliveroo of socio and eco good. You are provided with a list of ‘missions’ based on your location, with a huge range of things to choose from. You can complete a brief virtual mission (a companionship phone call that could make someone’s day) or get involved in a half-day mission as a team. Everyone can participate, regardless of where they are or how much time they can spare.

And LSB’s impact will be long-lasting! Completing missions automatically earns us trees and Co2e reductions.

On May 14^th, Dominic Eldred-Earl took part in the Great Bristol 10k. Not to mention he had a 22kg water canister strapped to his back and was painted blue head-to-toe! This run was part of a pledge to manually travel 10,000km by the 14^th of December 2023. Dominic aims to raise £10,000 by the time he reaches his goal, which he mentions he hopes to complete in advance of his deadline. All proceeds will go towards Charity: water – a non-profit organisation bringing clean and safe water to people around the world.

This month we partnered with School of Wok to produce bulk food for the homeless. The team got together to spend a day learning to cook Japanese food – a wonderful team-building activity that included giving back to the community! Once we’d finished with all the cooking, the food was packaged up and delivered to a local homeless shelter in central London.

On April 2^nd our colleague Marlen made the huge achievement of running her 4^th half marathon in Berlin!

‘After a few years of only running for myself, I was happy to join the race again. It was a chilly Berlin morning with 2 degrees and wind, but the race was super fun. 35,000 people joined and most of them finished. I was able to finish the 21.1 km in 2:07 hours and was happy with the result. LSB offered to donate to a charity of my choice which was fantastic. I chose the London Youth Organisation  – their mission is to improve the lives of young people in London, challenging them to become the best they can. Young people need opportunities outside of school to have fun with their friends, to learn new skills, to make a positive change in their communities and to shape the city they live in.’

‘London Youth, together with our network of over 600 community organisations, creates opportunities for tens of thousands of young people every year. With local authority funding greatly reduced and activities for young people being lost as a direct result, it is more important than ever to invest in our network, youth workers and the young people they support. Last year we worked with 28,106 young people through our sports development, employability, youth action and involvement, arts and outdoor education programmes. Our member network supported 601,770 young Londoners. Together, we give young people access to opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have.’

This month we also had a touching update from Team India, who have sponsored 7 young girls from more vulnerable backgrounds through the Nanhi Kali project. Project Nanhi Kali, which translates to ‘a little bud’ in Hindi, supports the education of underprivileged girls in India. Designed to support girls from low-income families to complete ten years of formal schooling, the project has impacted the lives of over 500,000 girls. Project Nanhi Kali provides year-round support to every girl, including access to an advanced digital learning platform, trained tutors, a sports program, and school supplies.

LSB Asia recently collaborated with some of the most talented hairstylists in the community to provide free haircuts to 80 residents of a local Malaysian home that provides shelter for the aged, handicapped, mentally challenged, and orphans. The residents were deeply appreciative of the generosity displayed by these hairstylists who volunteered their time and expertise. The professional haircuts provided not only enhanced their physical appearance but also greatly elevated their self-esteem, making this initiative a meaningful and heart-warming success.

This month LSB chose to support Untold – a development programme for writers marginalised by community or conflict. The contribution will support 18 Afghan female writers to keep writing, hone their writing skills through workshops and other creative resources in their country of residence, and find ways to keep publishing their work internationally. With this donation, Untold are looking to host a ‘speaker series’ aimed at inspiring and encouraging these writers.

Lucy at Untold wrote ‘This kind of contribution has an enormous impact on small projects like these. Many of these women are stuck in Afghanistan with daughters over 12 not allowed to attend school, and not allowed to work themselves. So, you can imagine the value of this kind of network.’

In June we received updates from Untold, a charity we have supported this year. They hosted a virtual workshop on the 6^th led by the Trinidadian born Monique Roffey, who gave feedback on written pieces submitted by participants, plus tips on ‘being a writer’.

They will be hosting two more events in July, hoping to further shape the careers of their 18 Afghan writers.

This month our colleague, Johann, was involved in organising a French Bingo night for charity! His report on the event:

A big event that took place this month was the “grand loto du voyage” organised by the very famous non-profit “Beach Klubber” once a year. This first post-covid edition has
been a great success. We hosted 2,500 bingo players and we are proud to be the 2nd biggest French Bingo. 550 prizes to win, 6 buses to carry players (some of whom travelled for more than 400 km), 4 bars, 60 volunteers, and we managed to make around 17,000 Euros profit that we will give to local non-profit organisations.

Each week our colleague, Wendy Leedham, volunteers as a teacher at Bath Welcomes Refugees (BWR) – a volunteer-led organization. The charity was founded in 2015 to harness the goodwill of the community, and currently has a membership of over 400 and support of more than 250 individuals. BWR works mostly in welcoming and resettling refugee families. Wendy’s support as a teacher is a wonderful initiative to help empower refugees, as well as providing them with the tools needed to improve their employment opportunities and sense of integration! In addition to teaching, Wendy helps at numerous other cultural events, Bath’s Americana Festival & The Bath Food Festival where she volunteers to raise funds and awareness.

This month we had the pleasure of sponsoring a comedy night for young Omanis in Muscat. The event was a huge success in promoting Arabic comedy and had a great turnout of over 100 people (Omani and Lebanese). Not only are events like this crucial in bringing people together from different backgrounds and promoting social cohesion, but they also help to support local artists through gaining exposure and recognition. As well as being an entertaining evening!

UPDATE:

On May 18^th, LSB sponsored another hugely successful comedy night in Muscat. Omani comedian Abbas Al Lawati and Brazilian comedian Rafi Bastos entertained a diverse audience, and the show sold out!

LSB is proud to be supporting these events, which are key in promoting Arabic comedy and bringing people together. Not to mention the entertainment factor! As Mariam rightly put – laughter is the best medicine.

This month we sponsored the Let’s Read Committee’s 17th Annual Children’s Writing Competition.

This is a competition held for children aged between 8 – 18, who submit pieces written on Omani folklore or based in Oman. Prizes for winners aim to enrich education – laptops, cameras etc.

Competitions like these are vital in supporting and encouraging young people to explore their talents. They illustrate the power of communication!

UPDATE:

This May, there was the prize-giving ceremony for the Let’s Read Committee’s 17th Annual Children’s Writing Competition.

LSB sponsored this competition back in January, and last month Mariam was asked to present awards to all winners. All prizes aim to enrich education – laptops, cameras, etc. Those who received a prize wrote a stand-out story on Omani folklore or based in Oman.

We were thrilled to be a part of a competition that supports and encourages young people to explore their talents.

London Speaker Bureau Asia took part in volunteering activities to prepare and serve food for the poor and homeless during the weekend. They then distribute them between 9pm-11pm as the homeless work in the day and look for food and shelter at night.

Kechara Soup Kitchen (KSK) is a non-religious community action group that distributes food, basic medical aid and counselling to the homeless and urban poor of Malaysia.

Founded by His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche, the Spiritual Guide of the Kechara organisation, KSK is strictly non-religious, being mindful and respectful of others’ beliefs. Kechara do not discriminate in terms of race, gender or culture, our motto being “Hunger Knows No Barriers”. For this reason, their main food is vegetarian.

Kechara Soup Kitchen’s mission in the short term, to provide sustenance and basic medical care for the homeless and urban poor in Malaysia.

In the medium term, Kechara aim to provide a permanent soup kitchen building as a place of safety, “off street”, for the distribution of hot food and medical treatment facilities for the homeless, whilst continuing to provide street food delivery to those who are unable to come to the centre.

In the long term, Kechara Soup Kitchen’s mission is to reduce the flow of homeless living on the streets by providing a nurture centre building as a place of training and assistance to help make the homeless employable and for them to re-enter society.

We partnered with Forest of Hearts to spend the day creating vertical garden structures. We each had our own miniature garden to construct, which we filled with a variety of carbon sequestering plants. These gardens were then transported to an NHS hospital in South West London. They are used to cover the wall of the hospital that lines the car park. It adds aesthetic value and also helps to fight against the air pollution!

“The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago; The second best time is now.” LSB Asia sponsored 50 trees with NGO TrEES, who helped organized the initiative with the local municipal. They were planted along the illegal dumping site in a local neighbourhood in Selangor. Ridden with non-biodegradable waste at the local neighbourhood for years, the team were determined to put a stop to it and planted some trees along the streets to avoid it being a convenient dumping site.

Established in 1995, TrEES promotes environmentally sustainable lifestyles in Malaysia. TrEES has over twenty-one years of experience working on environmental conservation programmes. They have partnered with groups and communities to develop programmes that empower people to become actively involved in conserving the environment. TrEES promotes sustainable lifestyles so children and future generations can continue enjoying the benefits provided by Malaysia’s magnificent natural environment. TrEES programmes are primarily based in urban areas as the lifestyles of the urban community have a tremendous impact on Malaysia’s natural resources, yet this community is the most disconnected from the natural environment.

TrEES strives to create real and sustainable solutions that have a positive impact. Passion for the environment and a commitment towards making a difference is what drives us in TrEES. TrEES focuses on civic engagement to develop positive mindsets within communities, providing them with the knowledge, skills and resources they need to effect change.

Many of the projects initiated by TrEES are still running successfully and have over the years been built upon and replicated by the government and other organisations. Through all their projects, they seek to re-connect the urban community with the environment that they are a part of, and depend on for their well-being.

For more information, please visit: http://www.trees.org.my/

“Touching Hearts, Reaching Lives” – that is the core mission and vision of REACH Community Services.

This month London Speaker Bureau Asia worked with the Home Improvement Programme (HIP), which seeks to assist low-income families in enhancing their home environment by helping them with basic supplies of necessary daily items.

REACH is established to inspire hope and empower positive change in the lives of the needy, through 4 Community Touchpoints:

• REACH Youth Powerhouse: Holding fast to the belief that every youth has a hero within them, REACH Youth Powerhouse aims towards Activating Strength, Reaching Potential amongst the hopeless youths.
• REACH Counselling Centre: A safe haven where passions are ignited, love is celebrated, trust is restored and growth is commented. Celebrating Love, Embracing Growth amongst couples and families become the key focus.
• REACH Senior Centre: A place aims towards Engaging Mind, Fullfiling Lives for the seniors with meaningful activities, to improve their quality of life and enjoy their golden years fulfilled.
• REACH Family Service Centre: Strive towards Sharing Love, Inspiring Hope amongst the needy and distressed families.

For more information, please visit: https://www.reach.org.sg/

Alli has been hard at work in April, playing her part to support during the crisis. As a woman of many talents, ‘hospital scrub making’ appears to be one of them! Alli has joined the army of volunteers in communities throughout the UK who love to sew and are making scrubs to order for NHS staff who are struggling to get them, in the hope to make a difference for local doctors.

This month Mariam and her cousin bought and distributed food to the local tailors, shop workers, machine operators, beauticians, nursery nannies, florist, barbers etc in her local neighbourhood in Muscat.

Jeffrey has been involved in number of community activities in China. He has been busy donating over 5,000 bottles of hand sanitiser to Switzerland with his Mencius Foundation.

London Speaker Bureau Asia is now working closely with the Selangor Family Aid Association (SFAA) located in Ulu Yam, Malaysia. It is a non-profit organization with the primary aim of providing a home for the aged, handicapped, mentally challenged, and orphans.

To maintain the home successfully, SFAA is in constant need of funds to provide necessary care and attention to their residents. With the increasing numbers of residents, the home is now finding it challenging to raise enough funds for food, medical equipment, house repair work, among others.

London Speaker Bureau Asia supports the home by sponsoring monthly groceries, roof repair work, as well as assisting in the home’s latest project in building a new block for children afflicted with polio disease.

For more information, please visit www.sfaa-malaysia.org.

Katie currently volunteers for Stepping Stones China, a project that she is very passionate about. Stepping Stones is a non profit organisation registered in Shanghai with a mission to improve the education and general welfare of disadvantaged migrant children of China. Migrant children currently have very restricted access to standard education. Katie feels that education is something that everyone should have access to, it’s a human right and your family income, background, race, religion or gender should not determine whether you are entitled to be
educated well or not.

Katie teaches English to children once a week via an online video platform, mostly on Friday mornings at 5 am! She has been working on this initiative for a while now but especially these past few months as she has gotten into a routine It involves a certain amount of lesson planning, teaching and correcting work but she absolutely loves it.

In 2010, Echo Chien, CEO of TzuChi KL & Selangor, made a vow to set up a recycling centre in each community. As of September 2014, 73 recycling centres and 239 recycling points have been set up in Klang Valley. Recycling centres are also cultivation centres, which purify minds.

Many elderly, who used to stay at home and idle away their time, have found a new lease of life after becoming recycling volunteers. Master Cheng Yen mentioned that Tzu Chi recycling centres are likened to ‘elderly day care’, where the elderly have their body and mind reconciled through sorting out recyclables.

The LSB team spent the weekend at the Tzu Chi’s recycling centres to help sort recyclable items, it was a truly humbling and educational experience.

This month Hayley completed her community day at The Happy Pants Ranch:

“On Saturday 8th July I attended the volunteer day at the Happy Pants Animal Ranch in Kent. This is a sanctuary for over 100 animals, all of whom have been rescued or abandoned. The Ranch has been open since 2011 and also helps to rehome some of the animals. During this day I spent most of my time helping clear out a large barn and cleaning, as well as spending time with the animals. The Ranch struggles financially as it is run by one woman who relies on donations and help from volunteers.”

For more information about the Ranch and the #savetheranch campaign: https://happypants.co.uk/the-happy-pants-ranch/

PAWS (PAWS Animal Welfare Society) is a non-profit animal shelter in Petaling Jaya that has been in operation since 1987. They receive the surrender of unwanted dogs and cats which they vaccinate, deworm, neuter/spay, and put up for adoption.

Currently, there are over 250 dogs and 250 cats under the care of the shelter. The shelter and all costs involved in running it are entirely funded by the generous donations of the public as well as proceeds from charitable events.

The PAWS team consists of four office staff, seven kennel workers, and one driver. PAWS is a registered Society under the Registry of Societies of Malaysia that is led by an elected committee.

When you volunteer at PAWS, you can choose to spend time with any animal that you want and do the work that you enjoy. If you do not have any specific activities you would like to carry out at the shelter, you will be assigned to the activities which may include cleaning the shelter area and spending time with the animals.

This month Tom spent two days as part of the Oman Whale research project, off the cost of southern Oman. The plan was to monitor humpback whales but they proved elusive. Instead he saw four other types of whale including blue, the largest animal ever to have graced
our planet. Blue whales are infrequently observed in Oman and were documented in this survey site for the first time in 2011. Their presence
elsewhere in the northern Indian Ocean (e.g. off Sri Lanka) is better known. Echoing the Arabian Sea humpback whale enigma, the jury is out on the details of their population, affinity and range.

“Multiple tall whale blows could be seen from the boat with momentary glimpses of a broad back that slowly transformed into the unmistakable mottled steel grey blue of a blue whale, rolling into a dive. The team moved into position to collect photo ID data before being left trailing in a pool of bright orange faeces as the whale dived out of site with its tail high in the air. The fluking behaviour is not considered a common behaviour of blue whales, but is well documented off the coast of Sri Lanka.

Over the following 2 days the team documented another four animals performing regular dives with a couple of minutes surface time followed by 10-12 minute dive time intervals. The whales ranged in length between 12m and 22m, which was staggering considering we were in a 3m boat! In total five biopsies were gathered, together with a collection of 100’s of photos for ID use.

The plan is now to get the biopsy and all samples sequenced and photos processed, to ready them for comparison with other
catalogues in the Indian Ocean. 2019 could be the year they get closer to unravelling the mystery of blue whales in this part of the northern Indian Ocean. Or will these investigations just throw up yet more questions? Which ever way this pans out, the team is aware there is far more work to be done to help understand, and ultimately safeguard, this important corner of our blue planet.”

This month Hugo Chittenden successfully made it to Everest Base Camp after 8 days of trekking from Lukla. Everest base camp sits at 5,364 metres and Luckla (where he landed) at 2,840 metres.

“Acclimatising en route was crucial to making it. Fatigue, sleep deprivation, throbbing headaches and breathlessness are all part of the menu as you get higher, higher.

On the way up we slept in tents and gathered around stoves in tea lodges in the various villages we stopped in. Tengboche was of particular interest as it was a Buddhist monastery where we were allowed in to hear the monks chanting. In fact along most of the walk Tibet was only a mountain away and most of the Nepalese are of Tibetan dissent.

The mountain Sherpas are as hard as nails and without them, we would have withered away. They carry everything along with the yaks (and set everything up for our arrival at lunch and to sleep at night). The temperatures were absolutely freezing at night, and our water bottles would freeze over which really defeats the object of hydrating as much as possible! Luckily it did not rain along the way and most days would heat up with the sunshine.”

In support of Hugo’s epic 18 day trek, London Speaker Bureau have made a donation towards the YoungMinds charity. It is a leading charity fighting for children and young people’s mental health.

This month Deborah and Kay paid a visit to Uitsig’s Cattery refurbishment day.

“They already had many volunteers laying down the fake grass so asked us to spend some time with the cats. The two we spent a lot of time with have been there for about 3 years. Before their owner emigrated to Australia, she went to visit them daily for 6 months and used to sit reading to them. They both enjoyed having us just sitting with them to give them some love and attention.”

Last April, Tatjana joined a family support non profit in Singapore. Once a week she has been volunteering at a maternal meet up for mothers battling
post natal depression. For two hours she provides a shoulder to cry on,
an ear to chew off, or sometimes just gives a hug when words don’t
seem to work. This year she will also act as a confidant for two young
teenagers to help them cope with bullying.

This month Elnaz went on a ‘Kindness Tour’ with the Kahriak Charity Foundation (KCF) in Iran.

“KCF is a centre For Living, Education, and Rehabilitation. A private, non-governmental, non-profit, charitable organization where physically handicapped or elderly individuals with no financial resources are cared for, free of charge.

Dr. Mohammad Reza Hakimzadeh, in a small, dilapidated house in southern Tehran, founded KCF in 1971 and since then the organization has grown significantly and turned into a huge complex including different sections for different types of physical/mental disorders, elderly people whom their families are unable to cover their expenses/ the costs of their medications, medical treatments etc.

I spent half a day dancing / playing / listening /talking with children and elderly people who have mental / physical disabilities.

I had a wonderful half a day with these amazing people and enjoyed it very much.”

Alexis visited a school in his town in France to commemorate WW1:

“Last year, on the 11th November 2018, it was the 100th anniversary of the end to World War I.

I decided to spend some time with the kids at my father’s school to build a project around this historical milestone. Our ambition was to raise awareness around the end of the WWI as a “duty of memory”.

With the kids, we replicated models of “battle trenches” to make them realize and understand the lives and conditions on the front line, experiencing issues with extreme cold weather and lack of supplies (ammunitions, food, etc.).

They drew doves to symbolize peace, they wrote poems and created posters from old letters from “Poilus” (the famous nickname of the French soldiers wearing the moustache/beard).

Then we exhibited all the kids’ work into the city hall during the celebration time to show to the citizens and the school students’ parents what the kids have been up to for this project.

We also spent an afternoon with the oldest kids (about 100 of them) outside of the school. We went to the cemetery to pay respects to some former soldiers’ graves. We left flowers to pay tribute for their bravery during the war.

Finally, we conclude this “celebration day” with a visit of the city hall’s exhibition and a short lecture from Roger Lambert, the author of “Secrets d’Aubance”. This book includes 75 biographies from local soldiers with their stories from the front line when they sent letters to their families and spouses.”

London Speaker Bureau Asia, in collaboration with Singapore’s National Council of Social Service (NCSS) and Rainbow Centre Singapore, hosted a complimentary talk session for the staff and parents of children at the Rainbow Centre Singapore, featuring bomb blast survivor turned inclusion activist Dr. Malvika Iyer and Singaporean world record holder, paralympian, and physician Dr. William Tan. This talk is part of London Speaker Bureau’s aim to inspire and support the community.

Rainbow Centre is a charity organisation in Singapore that offers equal education opportunities to children with disabilities. They also offer training and consultancy services to equip practitioners and the public to work with persons with disabilities.

Dr. Malvika Iyer and Dr. William Tan were there to share their inspirational stories, journeys, mindset and attitude that served them well in their life despite the challenges they faced. The audience was touched and inspired by the sharing.

“It was an enriching event for all of us” – Arthur Chiang, Head of Development & Operations, Rainbow Centre.

“Thank you London Speaker Bureau for the partnership. The talk served as an inspiration and encouragement to many of Rainbow’s staff and parents who deal with children/people with disabilities on a daily basis. There was an excellence engagement with the audience.” – Yap Poh Keong, Senior Manager, Social Service Institute, National Council of Social Service.

Georgia has spent time helping a charity called the Treatment Bag (https://www.treatmentbag.co.uk/) set up by someone she knows who went through Chemotherapy.

The charity puts together bags for Chemotherapy patients, containing gifts particularly appropriate for those receiving treatment. A friend or relative can get in touch with the charity to ask for a bag. They don’t pay but are encouraged to give a donation to the charity which is all run by volunteers.

Georgia has been volunteering helping to put together these bags in her friend’s house and her son has also raised money for them.

This month both Sarah and Marlen spent time helping to clean up their local communities.

Sarah spent some of her mornings helping with litter picking in her local community in England. She said that she found it very therapeutic and was astounded at what people dump!

Marlen also helped to clean up her local community in Germany.

“On 10^th October I gathered around 30 people (equally adults and children) to clean up our area. We cleaned for two hours from 16 00 – 18 00, starting at the playground and working our way down to the lake. With support of the local Waste company, I was able to advertise with Posters and online (Facebook). They also provided tongues, gloves, and safety vests. The waste was also picked up by them the next morning. It was great fun, and everyone appreciated cleaning up where we live and play. We have already decided that we are going to do it again in spring!”

This month Lucinda worked with TB HIV Care. She has done one day working in the sex worker clinic and is returning in October. TB HIV Care is a national non-profit company dedicated to preventing, finding and treating TB and HIV.

Founded in Cape Town in 1929 TB HIV Care provided TB patients and their families with social support. With the advent of the HIV epidemic, they then they expanded their community-based services to include people living with HIV.

TB HIV Care has now conducted more than two million HIV tests, supports thousands of people to adhere to their treatment and provides healthcare to priority, at risk populations (including adolescent girls and young women and inmates and staff in correctional centres).

A few members of the LSB team in Malaysia spent an afternoon this month with children from underprivilege homes for MY Reading Programme. MY Reading Programme helps underprivileged children learn and appreciate English in a fun and lively environment through several activities, such as phonics teaching, one-to-one reading exercises and games.

HOPE worldwide is an international, non-profit, non-religious organization established throughout the world. It has grown from 3 programs in 1991 to over 150 programs, spanning 6 continents and 100 nations with focus on 5 areas worldwide namely: Children, Education, Health, Senior Citizens, Employment and Volunteerism.

For more information, please visit: http://www.hopeww.org.my/

Caroline shared her tree planting in Spain…

‘I got chatting to one of our speakers. His name is John Liu.  He set up a not-for-profit named Eco Restoration Camps / Commonland.   Green Gold: a documentary by Commonland Ambassador John D. Liu – Commonland

He and his team attract volunteers with expertise in Geology, Soil, Water, Forestry Management. They have grown exponentially in 7 years and already have over 50 sites globally.  As tree planting always seemed to me like such a logical combative strategy against climate change, I was inspired to go to Caravaca de la Cruz in Spain with my nephew to help out for a week.  It was hard labour, the accommodation was very basic and there were no trees in sight – completely devoid.  Apparently, the lush Oaks that stood there 500 years ago were all chopped down to build ships for the Spanish Armada.’

Since February, Ludivine has been helping out at Somerset House’s information desk once a month. In June she assisted the volunteer team for an event called Photo London, one of the biggest events of the Somerset House.

“This was my favourite event to assist as I enjoy art photography. During the first weekend of August I helped set up a show called Circus Sampler by a group of artists called For Crying out Loud. I helped run surveys among the visitors and made sure the show went well.”

This month Oliver went to his local boxing gym to support them in campaigning against TFL who are trying to close the gym down in order to get new, higher paying tenants.

Oliver is campaigning to raise money to keep the community gym open via local MPs, Councillors, Citizens Advice Bureau and local media. It is a valuable part of the community in keeping local children out of trouble.

This month, London Speaker Bureau supported the Barrow Free School’s 400 year anniversary celebration.

There has been a school, in the small hamlet of Barrow, near Broseley, Shropshire, providing education to the local community for 400 years this year. The School has had many manifestations –opening its doors in the 17th century “as a school house for the free teaching of 20 poor men’s children there about”, it has been an Estate School, a Church School, a State School and now the first and, currently, only Primary Free School in Shropshire. Over 400 Barrow alumni have been identified –living as close as 200 metres from the school and as far as 12,000 miles away with ages ranging from 13 to 93.

The school aims to create a fund to allow to extend our classrooms inside (the school is oversubscribed each year) as well as develop the school’s ever increasing outdoor facilities which currently include an outdoor learning classroom, Forest School area, kitchen garden, a smallholding with pigs, ducks and chickens as well as playing fields and other outdoor areas for different year groups. The free school curriculum allows the school to teach in a very broad and inclusive way with great results and happy children but funding is always a challenge in these times.

The London Cooking Project is an exciting new private social enterprise in Battersea that works to provide opportunities to develop and nurture young talent in the field and is committed to benefitting the local community.

The project runs a variety of events, supper clubs, pop ups and cookery classes that anyone with a passion for food can get involved in. The funding from these activities, along with the kitchen hire and venue hire for film and photoshoots, is injected back into community and charity projects based around food.

The Battersea Canteen have created a unique kitchen space in an old ice factory that is home to some of the country’s top chefs. The dining area seats up to 48 people in total.

The Canteen provides low-cost meals for local people or anyone on a low income or in need of company. Vegetarian meals are put together using surplus food that would have otherwise been thrown away by local shops. Once the food arrives at the canteen the team of volunteers –including me and Katie -decide on the menu. This can prove challenging as we were told by one of the head volunteers that one week they only received cabbages! We were all then given specific roles: chopping, frying and stirring.

Once the meal was cooked and dished out we sat altogether, most of the people that pop into the kitchen are local residents who come for the social element as well as a wholesome cooked meal. Once everyone has been fed, me and Katie helped clean up and dish out any remaining food –nothing is ever wasted. Anyone that comes to the kitchen is encouraged to take any left overs home with them.

The day was a total success –in fact we are hoping to get some of the office to take part at one of the other three kitchens being run in South London!

This month, Kevin helped out at “The shop”, which is a low-threshold offer where those who have clothes/shoes/toys they don’t need donate to those in need. Alternatively, people can attend to have a cup of coffee, get to know people, read books, etc. This idea is that everything is free!

It was mostly immigrants who attended, but also the general community. They can pick up and take whatever they like for free, but no more than to fill a plastic bag.

After an urgent appeal by The Department of Blood Bank Services to all Omani citizens and residents to donate blood, Mariam and Marie decided to help organise a blood donation drive, in partnership with the Expat Muslim Community.

The LSB Oman-sponsored “Donate Blood Save Lives” drive took place on Friday 23rd March 2018 at the Bousher Blood Bank in Muscat.

The Nelson Trust is an organisation that offers residential rehabilitation treatment and women’s community services.

0n 18 November 2016, The Nelson Trust’s Fundraising Committee hosted their annual lecture and were delighted and honoured to be joined by broadcaster and historian, Dan Snow.

The lecture took place exactly 100 years on from the end of the Battle of the Somme. Snow entertained the audience with riveting stories of the two battles that he said “led to the defeat of the enemy during the First World War”. He explained the importance of these momentous battles and the human impact on those involved, as well as those at home.

“The night was possible thanks to the generous sponsorship of London Speaker Bureau and Cotswold BMW. The support and professionalism of Cheltenham Town Hall and Fosters Caterers helped to make the evening a success raising more than £8,000 in donations for The Nelson Trust.”

John Trolan, Chief Executive of The Nelson Trust commented: “As experts in the rehabilitation of individuals with drug and alcohol problems, our work has led us to gender specific, responsive and trauma informed practice in both residential and community settings. From our women’s centres we work with women with multiple and complex needs, often caught up in the criminal justice system or on the periphery of it.

London Speaker Bureau continues to work closely with Save the Rhino, sponsoring The Douglas Adams Memorial lecture, held each year in honour of Save the Rhino founder patron Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and a lifelong dedicated conservationist.

This year’s lecture was held on 10th March 2016 at the Royal Geographical Society, London, in aid of both Save the Rhino International and the Environmental Investigation Agency. The lecture “Survivors of the Ice Age” was delivered by author and broadcaster Alice Roberts, a clinical anatomist and Professor of Public Engagement in Science at the University of Birmingham.

Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, an estimated 11 million people have fled their homes. Syrian refugees now make up over a quarter of the Lebanese population. This is placing a huge strain on an already underfunded and overburdened public sector. Currently, 25 percent of Syrian refugee children in Lebanon are not attending school. Some have never even stepped inside a classroom. Syrian children are ever-increasingly facing the threat of becoming part of a lost generation. Children are the future peace builders of Syria, and it is vital that their education is prioritized.

The London Speaker Bureau is working in partnership with The Syrian Humanitarian Relief and Development Institute Najda Now to build education centers and schools in the country.

The Education Centre in Shatila refugee camp in Beirut was our first project in Lebanon. We supported two classrooms, enrolling children between the ages of 4 and 15. The classrooms are quite basic, but thanks to this funding the school has been able to buy extra equipment, including an overhead projector, books, tables and chairs. The classrooms can take up to 40 children and the students rotate every two hours, to allow a greater intake.

In December 2014, LSB consultant Hugo Chittenden visited and volunteered at the two schools. “Teaching these kids has really shown me how intelligent and hungry they are to learn, but has also allowed me to understand further the great suffering they have experienced to get here. Families have had to leave their country with only the clothes on their backs and set up in Lebanese refugee camps, where even there they have to pay rent to greedy landlords. They are often robbed at the border crossing and split up, leaving mothers and others to fend for themselves. The risks are huge for the refugees, who are now spilling over the border in their millions. It is uncertain whether brothers, parents, husbands or wives will ever be reunited again.”

This year, LSB are proud to announce that we have supported the building, everyday running, and education materials required for a new school. On 2nd November 2015, after two years’ intensive work, the Al Dalhamieh School in the Bekaa Valley has opened. Populated by 13 teachers and 500 Syrian refugee children aged between 5 and 12 years, the school is comprised of 12 classrooms, a playground, a library and a conference room. These children now spend their days with teachers who care about them, attending maths, English and Arabic lessons, in the hope that one day they may be able to integrate into the Lebanese school system. Besides providing essential education to Syrian children, this school also acts as a much needed community centre for both Syrian and Lebanese people living in the area.

London Speaker Bureau operates all over the Middle East and is a keen supporter of arts and education projects in the region.

We are a proud co-sponsor of this fascinating reference book (edited by James Neil) for film in the Middle East and North Africa. A wonderful tribute to the true artisans and master directors who have emerged in the region over the last century, it presents a collection of essays by esteemed international film critics and writers, including Jean-Michel Frodon, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Samir Farid and Maya Sanbar.

Featuring striking film stills and unique graphic materials, it brings alive on the page a diverse and vibrant cinema culture. Films made in this region have maturity and stand alongside some of the finest cinema in the world. This book pays homage to that achievement.

LSB is a charity partner of MIMN, the meetings industry charity founded by leading figures in the UK conference and events industry. The objective of Meeting Needs is to raise funds for worthy causes relevant to the events industry. LSB also make an annual donation to the charity, which raises funds for a wide range of worthy causes in the UK and overseas.

This month, LSB’s Hugo Chittenden released his new book, The Volunteer, sponsored by LSB and the Oak Foundation.

At a time when we are seeing a decline in shared values and collective consciousness, this inspiring book comes as a breath of fresh altruistic air. It features the remarkable real-life experiences of volunteers who have chosen to make a difference to the lives of people around the world. It is a unique insight into the benefits of volunteering on projects overseas, charting the adventures of influential and intrepid volunteers, who include former UN Colonel Mark Cook, Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Muhammed Yunus and musician James Blunt. Highlighting the efforts of individuals and charities overseas that are often operating in difficult and dangerous circumstances, the book is a lesson in endurance, teamwork and humanity. From a hospital in rural Malawi to an orphanage in Eastern Europe. It answers the who, what, why, where, and how of volunteering.

London Speaker Bureau is a supporter of The Nelson Trust, which celebrated its 30th anniversary this year (2015). It is one of the longest-running providers of abstinence-based treatment in the UK, with a national reputation for excellence and innovation. The charity provides treatment, education, training and resettlement housing for people with drug and alcohol addictions. Its team brings healing after dark times and gets lives back on track with skills, qualifications and voluntary experience. The Trust’s award-winning centres in Gloucester and Swindon are for vulnerable women and their families affected by abuse, violence and mental problems.

Each year, London Speaker Bureau sponsors the Trust’s annual lecture series which raises funds for their work. This year’s lecture was delivered by Anthony Beevor, renowned historian and author, on 23rd April 2015.