14 April, 2012: The 80s are back!

Or at least it was for the MAD4Africa crew, supporters and friends. On Saturday night the 14th of April we had a thriving fundraising event at the Pepper Saint Ontiod with a spectacular view over the Thames which helped us to raise further funds aiding our locally owned project in Rwanda. With the disco ball rolling and groovy 80s tunes spinning, the dance floor was filled with leg warmers, acid washed jeans and big funky hairdos.

The blast from the past included everything from Hollywood Blockbusters, twister, popcorn and air guitars not to mention rubix cubes and ancient Egyptian princesses.

With a great turnout of approximately 80 people, we successfully managed to raise £1100 of which will all go towards providing the Kiyonza Professional Training Centre with the further funds needed for their expansion and income generating projects.

Last but not least, MAD4Africa is proudly announcing a big THANK YOU to our supporters who made this night possible. We are grateful to our contributors, The Pepper Saint Ontiod Bar, who provided us with the venue as well as LUSH, Roller Disco and many more for contributing with prize donations! Once again, we enormously appreciate your goodwill and support in turning this event into an unforgettable night!

The MAD4Africa Team

19 February, 2012: Love Rodeo Valentines Day Party

The MAD4Africa team and supporters celebrated Valentine’s Day in Wild West style this year, with another successful fundraiser at the legendary George Shillibeer pub in North London.>/p>

Boots were scootin’ all night of around 100 Cowboys, Cowgirls and plenty of Outlaws, who turned up in great spirits to support MAD4Africa.

It was an eventful night of line dancing and a few ol’ Wild West games, not to mention a chance to saddle up on the Buckin’ Bronco!

Overall, we managed to raise £1000, all of which will go towards providing the materials and tools required to ensure sustainability of our main project in Rwanda, the Kiyonza Professional Technical Centre.

The MAD4Africa would like to express their extreme appreciation and gratitude to all of those who continue to support our work and to everyone who helped make the Valentine’s Rodeo Party a successful night.

29th October, 2011: Halloween Party

ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL NIGHT OF FRIGHTS AND FUN AMONGST ZOMBIES,WITCHES AND MONSTERS!

HALLOWEEN season returned with a howl for the MAD4Africa crew, bringing with it another unforgettable Halloween party fundraiser last month at the convivial George Shillibeer pub in north London.

The night was a resounding success with a fantastic turnout of around 200 supporters, many sporting seriously scary costumes, indulging in gaggles of ghastly ghoulish fun! The Shillibeer was alive (or dead depending on the costume!) with Zombies, Vampires and Ghosts drinking from a unique mixture of Halloween cocktails and dancing to DJs spinning scary tunes.

Overall, the event managed to raise nearly £2000, all of which will go towards the ongoing project in the Kiyonza district, providing electricity and building further classrooms for the Kiyonza Professional Training Centre.

Once again, everyone at MAD4Africa is extremely appreciative for the continued support and goodwill shown and for helping everyone turn Halloween 2011 into a successful night.

Next year looks set to be another big year for MAD4Africa, so watch out for future events and enjoyable fundraising occasions. Click here to view some photos from the night.

16th August, 2011: August 2011 NEWSLETTER

Our latest newsletter is available on ISSUU. CLICK HERE to read our fabulous August Newsletter packed with event updates, reports and loads of information.

26th June 2011: Mont Blanc Charity Climb

MONT BLANC

In the week commencing 27 June 2011, five burly and boisterous Aussie blokes and one MAD girl took on the highest summit in Europe, Mont Blanc. Mont Blanc is renowned as one of the most gruelling challenges in Europe and, indeed, the world, which we may not have fully appreciated at the beginning of our adventure, but we most certainly did at the end.

All in all, it was five of the most wonderfully challenging (and in some cases traumatising) days and nights of our young lives. Each day we started climbing between 1am and 4am, ascended roughly 1,000 metres and descended roughly 500m over mixed terrain of snow, ice and rock. Some highlights of the trip include:

• Seeing a French climber who had fallen off a ridge in front of us with a snapped leg choppered to safety by the amazing Alps rescue team (right before having to cross the very same ridge ourselves);

• Climbing ice walls “Cliff Hanger” style (it is amazing what you can achieve with crampons and ice axes);

• Being scared and pushed to our limits on a regular basis;

• Watching the sunrise over the Alps and the spectacular scenery;

• Camping overnight on a glacier;

• Summiting one of Mother Nature\’s finest; and...

• Getting OFF THE STUPID MOUNTAIN FINALLY at the end of it all.

In the end, four out of six made it to the top on summit day – Troy “Poser” Aitken; Kieran “Killer Calves” Fitzgerald; Luke “Ascentionist” Hume; and Michael “Bustamove” Kasar. Well done boys!!! Luke and Mike even managed to kick a footy and do a little dance on the summit, which will be aired on the Footy Show back home (in their native country Australia). Unfortunately a stomach bug took the better of Kathleen Stock and Carl Wilson on the final day, which they caught from their guide (of all people!).

Together, not only did we have an unforgettable experience, but we also raised £3,500 for MAD4Africa, which will go towards establishing a pig farm for the Kiyonza Professional Training Centre in Rwanda, so that is will become sustainable and benefit the people of the Ngoma sector for a long time to come. Bring on the next MAD adventure!!!

~ Kat Stock

22nd June 2011: MAD4... Speed dating!

On the 22nd June I flew out of my office already late for MAD4Africa\’s second speed-dating event. Thankfully my tardiness meant that I didn\’t have time to think about where I was headed and hot-foot it to the safety of my living room. I had been promised an evening meeting “interesting, hot [and] quirky” people. I was, as usual, sceptical.

I met my friends outside The Enterprise, downed a large glass of wine, and braced myself for 20 excruciating dates in quick succession.

We had come up with a system of signals and a game to at least make the evening entertaining. Two fingers on the table – don\’t wait up. How many song lyrics can you get in unnoticed? And the all-important question taken from the list of icebreakers: “When you fly do you pay extra for check-in baggage?”

Troy started the evening with a rousing speech and reminded us of the wonderful cause we were there in aid of. We were there to meet new people, have fun, and most importantly raise funds for MAD4Africa to continue with their amazing work; an excellent reason for me not to bolt my second drink and head for the door.

It turned out nothing like I had expected: the evening flew past, and usually each date ended with conversations being carried on to the last possible second. Everyone seemed to be having a good time – there was laughing, smiling and clinking of glasses all around.

By the end of the evening I was exhausted. I had more intense conversations in the evening than in the last month, and out-done my entire university dating history in one hit. I\’d received gifts, compliments, been insulted over my pizza topping preference and laughed until I hurt.

The best part of the evening turned out to be afterwards, where an ever-expanding group gathered with their drinks outside to chat and compare notes. We all had a laugh regaling tales from our more disastrous dates. One chap had inadvertently insulted my friend repeatedly for three minutes!

I ended up exchanging numbers with a couple of guys, and a few days later I got some emails introducing me to others I\’d been matched with.

An evening that I had mixed feelings about turned out to be amazingly good fun, and although I didn\’t meet \’The One\’ I have been on some dates and made some absolutely amazing new friends.

It turns out that people who go to charity speed-dating events are invariably interesting, hot and quirky. After all, they\’re just like me!

Oh, and an extra bit of good news: The 2011 speed-dating event raised £700 in aid of MAD4Africa\’s income generating project. It was hosted by the six brave (read \’mad\’) souls who climbed Mont Blanc to raise further funds. Hats off to them. I\’d rather go speed-dating again.

12th June 2011: Annual Day on the Green

Annual Day on the Green

In a summer tradition that is now part of people\’s calendar like Ascot and Glastonbury we welcomed the 4th Annual Day on the Green.

The wonderful organisers of Tam, Louise and Phil once again supported MAD4Africa along with another charity working in Tanzania. Thankfully the weather gods were smiling on us as the sun was shining as we once again started at the Amuse Bouche in Parsons Green.

This was everyone\’s opportunity to grab their t-shirt and get to know other people who were participating in the day. As the first raffle was drawn and everyone had got to know each other a bit better we headed off to the Whitehorse to have further drinks in the sun.

The numbers were growing as the organisers signed up a few new people who were out enjoying their Saturday afternoon. Once we headed to the Duke on the Green the group had swelled to 100 people and everyone was mingling with one another.

Throughout the afternoon there were plenty of opportunities to win some great prizes including meal vouchers, bottles of champagne and the famous cupcakes.

As the afternoon was coming to an end it was time to unwind and hit the dance floor with our new found friends. In the end MAD4Africa raised over £1400 for our youth centre in Rwanda, one afternoon\’s work will pay for the running costs of the Kiyonza Professional Training Centre for 6 months.

It was another successful Day on the Green and everyone is already looking forward to the 5th instalment in 2012.

19 February 2011: Traffic Light Party

A big "thank you" all those who came to our Traffic Light Fundraiser at Anexo bar in Farringdon last month. We raised a whopping £1125, which will go towards our amazing training centre in Rwanda.

For those of you in the dark about what traffic light party involves, let us shed some red, amber and green light upon it! Match your clothing colour to a traffic light signal/ your relationship status as follows: red = taken; amber = uncertain; green = available. Guests came in an array of colours, making for a night of vibrant attire enhanced by a group of surprise visitors in pirate outfits!

Girls arriving in green were given a lock, boys a key. Over the course of the night, green boys were tasked with reconciling their key with said padlock. We're still awaiting figures on the success rate of this game!

Same story with the Date Auction (hazily remembered by all as it happened when the night was in full flow). We auctioned off dates with several boys to a few lucky ladies, who were given cinema tickets and a meal at Anexo. Clearly we at Mad4Africa fancy ourselves as the charity equivalent of Cilla Black...

Cocktails were free-flowing and, with £1 from each sold coming to Mad4Africa, our drunkenness did great work for charity.

The night climaxed after the raffle with our two excellent DJs Dan and X playing a mixture of dance, funk and soul until the early hours. Highlights included the Mad4Africa committee showing off their questionable dance moves to Robyn S. To see some of what we got up to check out https://picasaweb.google.com/makeadifference4africa/TrafficLightParty#slideshow

2 October 2010: Annual Day on the Green

It was that time of year again, the "Day on the Green" fundraiser, around Parsons Green in London. The 2010 version was held on Saturday 2nd October with summer now a distant memory with the days getting a little colder, wetter and definitely shorter.

Once again, the wonderful trio of Tam, Louise and Phil rounded up the troops to come out and have a pub crawl in West London in support of MAD4Africa.

This was the 2nd time that they have staged "Day on the Green" for MAD4Africa and this year was the biggest so far as this event has now become the "must do" in the social diaries of many people around London.

Once again we started at Amuse Bouche outside of Parsons Green tube station, with the organisers having the t-shirts ready and the raffle prizes in place for the wonderful day ahead. The people started pouring in and the bar was the busiest place to be as we all got our glasses of champagne and beer to celebrate the beginning of the pub crawl.

With the drinks flowing and the shirts on, the conversations started as new friendships were formed as we all were there for the same reason - to come out and have a good time and to help a charity along the way.

We soon left Amuse Bouche and headed to the Whitehorse for a cheeky drink and once again there were a few prizes drawn in the raffle. We had bottles of champagne, cupcakes and dinner for two to name a few. The only time of the day when the raucous crowd were not chatting away was when the raffle prizes were being drawn as we all crossed our fingers and toes that our number will be next to be called out.

With the Whitehorse finished, it signalled the halfway mark of the pub crawl and it was time to "cross" the green to the Duke. By this stage we all had a common bonding and everyone felt comfortable walking up to anyone in the "Day on the green" shirt to have a chat with them.

We left there late in the afternoon and travelled to our final destination of the evening Aragon House. Here we had our own function area and the participants took this opportunity to sit down and have a bit to eat and of course a few more drinks.

Tam made his final speech for the evening and announced the final raffle prize winners and then we had the collective cheer for the organisers of the "Day on the Green".

It was then time once again to visit the bar and for some of us who wanted to test our new friendships - we hit the dancefloor!!

It was another successful pub crawl with 95 people in attendance and £3100 raised for MAD4Africa. On the following day, one of the organisers, Phil, ran a charity lunch at his Dining Club and raised £440 so collectively thanks to Tam, Louise and Phil they have raised over £3500 which will now pay for the teachers and equipment for the Kiyonza Professional Training Centre (Rwanda) in 2011.

It was a great afternoon had by all and for those who missed out make sure you keep your ear to the ground for a possible 2011 version.

Please check out the Day on the green 2010 photos.

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world" ~ Nelson Mandela

15 August 2010: Dan & Tot's Kilimanjaro Climb

"Matt and I, who have both now climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, have agreed that the week's climb was one of the most enjoyable experiences of our lives. It was certainly challenging, emotional and I did mutter on more than one occasion "get me off this bloody hill!".

However, it was ultimately a great adventure and at approx 7am on 15th August we got to the summit smiling, well as much as you can smile in -20c temperatures and being completely knackered!! Between us both we have raised over £3,000 which is an incredible achievement and thanks to your generosity.

Finally, last but not least, cheers to Matt Totterdell for being foolish enough to voluntarily spend two weeks up a mountain with me with no escape route!! Thanks Tot from all of us at MAD4Africa for raising so much money for the charity.

Dan Bell

12/13 June 2010: 3 Peaks Challenge:

In 2009, in a moment of temporary insanity, a few of us decided that we should take on the challenge of climbing the 3 Peaks in 24 hours to raise money for MAD4Africa.

It was an incredibly difficult experience in 2009 for all of us but we did manage to raise over £1300 for MAD4Africa. We had 8 walkers and our ever faithful crew. If we could raise £1300 for MAD4Africa with 8 people how much more could we raise if the numbers increased??

Fast forward to Friday June 11th 2010 - The plans were in place...

To read more then please check out the full event description.

The wonderful team who competed and raised over £8000 for MAD4Africa were able to choose the project they would like to financially support at the centre. The subsequent vote had the volleyball court as the winner. To ensure that everyone involved in the trip won't be forgotten a sign was written and installed on the site of the volleyball court in Rwanda.

Please view our amazing photo slideshow of the event.

6 June 2010: 3 Peaks Challengers' BBQ

The British summertime maybe a bit reluctant to come out and play but the Mad4Africa 3 peaks BBQ was a warm sunny affair on Sunday, 6th June. The venue was the chilled out Guanabara restaurant, which was a little slice of Caribbean cuisine & cocktails in the heart of Camden Town. Guests were treated to amazing acoustic performances from the soulful Anna Umak and the beguiling Tanya Auclair.

A quiz and raffle followed with top prizes awarded, including pairs of tickets to any show at The O2 arena. As the relaxed evening drew to a close, accompanied by excellent tunes from DJ Free-Key, nearly £800 had been raised.

One last beer was had by all of the 3 peaks challenge contenders before their final week of training ahead of Saturday's gruelling climb!

26 May 2010: 3 Peak Challengers' Speed Dating

What could be better than meeting tons of interesting, hot, quirky, friends-of-friends-of-friends and supporting an awesome charity at the same time?

Last night's event was a great success, for MAD4Africa, Leap Anywhere, and for the 38 singles who had the opportunity to find love (or at least a hot date). The night started off with some well-needed drinking and mingling in the beautiful and popular Enterprise pub on Red Lion Street, Holborn.

The rules of the game were explained to all, and the players were then left to their own devices, getting 3 minutes each to woo their respective singles. Our group was so inspiring that we even managed to recruit 4 normal pub-goers into our shenanigans!

Malcolm, and his team from Leap Anywhere used our event as an example of ways in which Londoners can have fun and do good at the same time. Overall, the night was a massive success, thanks to the brilliant efforts of many many people, and we managed to raise £607 for MAD4Africa.

31st October 2009: Halloween Party

It was another frightfully successful night at the now annual MAD 4 Africa Halloween party. This year we moved to the Angel and welcomed around 100 ghastly creatures to our ghoulish gathering on 31st October.

DJ Rupert Hill got everyone out of their seats, while Christmas came early for the many who won amazing prizes in our raffle and auction.

Top prizes included tickets to any show at The O2, Harrods vouchers and champagne a plenty!

We raised over £1,600 in total, which is a fantastic achievement, and our thanks go to all those who participated.

We are already looking forward to a Thriller night in 2010

13th June 2009: Annual Day on the Green

Great friends of MAD4Africa Louise, Tam and Phil organise a Day on the Green and this year decided to sponsor MAD4Africa.

The idea was simple. Buy your T Shirt and mix with another 70 or so people and go from pub to pub on the Green. With brilliant organisation from Green team, great weather, amazing people and a beer in your hands the day was an incredibly successful day.

Massive thanks to Louise, Tam and Phil for a brilliant day and all the hard work. It all paid in the end!

13th June 2009: 3 Peaks Challenge

12 people, 1 bus, 3 mountains, 3 Countries, 1397 miles and 24 hours - it must be the 3 Peaks Challenge!!!

A mixture of people drove up from London on Friday morning, 12 in total, including eight walkers, two drivers and two cooks. There were plenty of smiles and laughs as the crew got to know each other, which was quite easy considering they had struggled to fit all of the kit in the mini bus! As they were to find out later this was just the first of many challenges to come.

It's a very long way to Scotland from London and it was a very tiring journey made even more painful by the speed limiter on the mini bus restricting them to 60 mph!! The team left around 11am and after a few very short breaks ended up changing the schedule and stayed at a lodge about an hour from Ben Nevis as they were going to miss the cut-off time of 11pm for the campsite! Yes that's right. It took more than 12 hours to get up there!

Eventually the team already tired team got to bed at around 1:30 and the crew were up at 5:15 to cook breakfast for everyone. After driving the remaining 50 miles to Ben Nevis the team set the clock for their climb and started up the tallest mountain in the UK. The summit and the snow capped mountain top seemed a very long way away. The trek was long and hard and the cold at the top got to a few of the walkers straight away. Some of the group made it look easy, some got there with a few winces and heavy breathing and one or two with heavy legs and much puffing and blowing.

Many pictures later they descended and arrived at the mini bus to be whisked off back to the campsite to have some much needed grub and collect the gear and the rest of the crew. Onward and upward as they say - no time for rest. Scafell Pike and England were calling them. After a medium length drive they arrived just as the sun was setting and so donned head torches and headed off up the mountain. Scafell Pike was definitely a little easier than Ben Nevis but the dark made it pretty tricky.

A few of the walkers had near misses with trips and a dodgy sense of direction but everyone made it back down to the car park with the welcoming sight of the crew cooking hamburgers in the dark on the footplate of the mini bus. It is a moment none of them will ever forget. How they managed to make food taste so good with one little burner is still a mystery. The crew also dished up loads of hugs and smiles to welcome the group back and made them all feel much better.

With aching limbs and sweaty bodies everyone piled back on the bus and the group headed off over the border into Wales. The journeys between each mountain gave the walkers a chance to have a bit of a kip - unfortunately our two drivers had no choice they had to stay awake and get the team to where we were going - never underestimate the value of a good support team, they keep everyone going and make it all possible.

With the sun starting to rise for the beginning of a new day they made it to Mount Snowdon to start the last trek. By this stage most of them were getting a little tired, smelly and grumpy but the end was in sight. Snowdon was an absolute killer. With some taking the more sedate route and the toughies taking the hard one the pain and tiredness was taking its toll. With grinding teeth and sheer will power the final peak was conquered - they had done it!

The drive back to London was a little more subdued than when they had left on Friday morning, as all of them had pushed themselves to the limits and but they did it. Much gratitude and thanks goes to their two wonderful drivers and two cooks, without whose efforts and support would have made the task impossible. They had had less sleep than everyone else and had the added responsibility in ensuring got to the destinations on time and had food in their stomachs.

The 3 Peaks Challengers were: Troy Aitken, Eileen Gilbey, Joan and Ian Hodgson, Dave McCairney, Oliver Johnson, Amanda Fisher, Alena Purssord, Colleen Wilson, Emma Vargas, Peter Spain and Ngozi Manyo-Plange.

The climbers and crew funded their own 3 Peaks Challenge so that all money raised goes to MAD4Africa.

May 2009: IN HEROES Award

MAD4Africa secretary Stephanie Boutrot did herself and MAD4Africa proud in May when she was entered into the IN Heroes award scheme at her place of work Chellomedia.

In recognition of her volunteering efforts Stephanie was named one of the IN Heroes Awards 2008 short-listed winners, receiving a donation of €1000 for MAD4Africa.

Very well done Stephanie!

February 2009: Project 1313 Wii Competitions - UK and Cyprus

Project 1313 held auspiciously on Friday the 13th, got the MAD4Africa team over the line with their aim of raising £1313 pounds to hit the magical £10,000 mark. With your help we beat our target by holding multi national events - we went European! Holding events both in the UK and in Cyprus.

From the UK an evening of festivities in London included a brilliant solo performance from up and coming singer Lizzi as well as some funky tunes from DJ Ryan D'Souza and the eagerly awaited Nintendo Wii tennis tournament.

The Wii tennis tournament attracted 32 keen players and saw some very close matches. After four hours of exciting play Parko was crowned MAD4Africa Wii tennis champion for 2009. Bot I Lam were also in attendance for the second time at an MAD4Africa event. Bracelets and brownies were also sold at Project 1313. MAD4Africa's great friends Ngozi and Athelia manned their station brilliantly. The girls' jewellery and brownies were a big hit and provided an extra sugar boost that was definitely needed when hitting the dance floor. A big thank you goes out to the girls for all their help and to Athelia for the donation of raffle prizes from Universal Studios.

We also want to thank MAD4Africa's fantastic friend Silke who travelled all the way from Belgium to support the event and to the Barcosa owner Abi who went out of his way to make sure everything was in place and ran smoothly on the night.

In Cyprus a Wii Tennis Bowling tournament saw a very competitive turn out, with 16 budding Rafael Nadals and 22 ten pin bowlers! The ten pin tournament got a little bowled over but the Tennis Final was edge of your seat stuff eventually won by John Zenios. In addition to Wii there was also a yummy cake sale and freshly squeezed juice thanks to a large donation of grapefruits! Fun was had with guess the weight of the hamper (lots of goodies donated including a bottle of whiskey, smellies, chocolates and some very strange fun items)! Donations of children's clothes and shoes were also given to be taken to Rugerero - very much appreciated.

The MAD4Africa crew was really touched by the amount of support they received both during the day in Cyprus and on the night in London and want to thank everyone who made the effort to come.

Please view our photo slideshow.

December 2008: Christmas Fundraiser

Matthew Taylor and Louisa Jackson spread Christmas cheer by organising a party on 12 December 2008 to raise money for both MAD4Africa and the Breast Cancer Campaign. Over 90 people attended the event at the funky Low Life Lounge in the heart of London. Matthew and Louisa raised an impressive £1,500, which was shared between the two charities. It was an unforgettable event and everyone stayed to party until the early hours of the morning.

Thank you for your support Matthew and Louisa! They both worked tirelessly to score amazing raffle prizes including a Sony PLAYSTATION3, a Sony PSP and a luxury gift from Ralf & Russo (fashion label to the stars and favourite of Danni Minogue's)

December 2008: Troy & Eileen's Skydive

An early start on a chilly but sunny December morning saw the start of Troy and Eileen's skydiving trip to Kent. The plan - to throw themselves out of a perfectly good plane to raise money for MAD4Africa. Both were very excited and one of them was very scared (guess which one?).

After a safety briefing warning of potential problems they headed to the cafe for tea to warm up and wait .... and wait ....and wait some more . Their turn finally came and they trotted off to the very battered and grubby plane that was to get them up to 12,000 feet. After endlessly circling to gain height and the air temperature dropping with every circuit (to minus 25 Celsius), it was time to depart - Troy first - then Eileen hot on his heals. From all accounts it was both amazing and extremely cold!!

According to the jumpers the views were incredible and the wind rush (135 mph freefall) was beyond anything they had imagined. Everything went smoothly until the time when the chute was supposed to open, it was then that things didn't go quite according to plan but did get rather interesting. Eileen had a bit of a parachute malfunction going on and found herself plummeting towards the earth at a ridiculous speed until, as if by magic (well by the secure hands of the instructor) pop came the reserve and a very bumpy landing followed. Troy sailed down gracefully and landed on his feet - what a poser - Eileen beat him down though!

Troy and Eileen both said it was an incredible experience and a great way to raise money too - thanks to all of their friends for sponsoring them! Well done to the both of them who also paid for their dives to make sure that all of the sponsorship money went to the Rwanda project.

31st December 2008: Halloween Party

With just over one hundred gruesome guests in attendance, the devilishly decorated Willy's Bar in Fenchurch Street was the perfect setting for a night of frights, fun and fundraising.

One highlight of the evening was the competition for 'best Halloween costume". The contest was very hotly contested and in a close run race was eventually won by Afro Man.

Also featured amongst the maniacal mayhem was a gargantuan raffle, Pound a Print palm painting project, delicious Rwandan food and live art from established London artist Emmy Stone.

Emmy certainly created some works to be very proud of that really captured the essence of the evening and helped raise £280 from the sale of the paintings.

Needless to say, the MAD4Africacrew and supporters are eagerly awaiting next year's party.

19th October 2009: Anna's Marathon Run

In a moment of pure insanity, New Zealand's own Anna decided to run the Amsterdam Marathon.

After three months of intensive training, October 19 saw Anna take to the streets of her former home and record an incredible time of 4 hours and 23 minutes!

Fortunately Anna decided to run for MAD4Africa and fundraise on our behalf, and actively supports MAD4Africa in all our endeavors.

Congratulations and thank you Anna!

12 July 2008: MAD4Africa's Launch Party

The highly anticipated launch was not just raising money, it was about raising awareness for MAD4Africa and importantly Rwanda and we definitely achieved our goal many times over.

The night was packed full of local and international entertainment including: dancing from Bene Ubumwe; singing with The Jonas Singers, U'Mau, Ruth Dickson, Tobi, Tanya and crafts from Winnie. The fashion on show by Dianne from Botilam was also very popular and showed off her African sourced fabric in western styles.

During the evening we were also honoured to have representatives from the Rwandan Embassy of UK & Ireland in attendance. The First Consular of the Embassy made a moving speech and MAD4Africa were extremely pleased that she has pledged her support for our work in Rwanda. The President of the Rwandan Community Association of UK, Mr Ignatius Mugabo, also made a moving speech about the fact that Rwanda was still a "young" country due to the effects of the war in 1994 and that he was very happy for MAD4Africa to try to help his country.

With more that 170 people coming to show their support it was a fantastic party and a great start for MAD4Africa.