Malawi Education Project News

10 day cycle challenge in Malawi

2010-09-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

Discover Adventure and Malawi Association UK have selected MEP, along with to receive sponsorship from an exciting challenge, and what could be the cycling adventure of a lifetime. the journey takes place from the 30th of April until the 10th May in 2011.

In 10 days, participants will see a beautiful stretched of almost untouched African landscape as they cycle along the shores of Lake Malawi from Lilongwe to Mzuzu.

Check out the itinerary and more information on the Discover Adventure website or attend the event on Facebook

Our thanks again to Discover Adventure and Malawi Association UK!

DJ Badly losing 7 stone to raise funds for MEP!

2010-09-08T06:03:00.000-07:00

Good friend of the project and all round good egg Alex Holland (aka DJ Badly) has taken on a seriously heavyweight challenge in the name of good health. Mr. Badly has decided to lose 7 stone, and to donate sponsorship money to MEP whilst doing so!

He has already shed a WHOPPING 1 stone and 8lbs in the first 13 days of dieting (with medical supervision, of course) and has the full respect and support of the MEP Team.

You can get involved with DJ Badlys' slimming quest by popping along to his Just Giving page: http://www.justgiving.com/Alex-Holland0 and pledging your support.

James Browne climbs Mount Kilimanjaro for MEP!

2010-08-05T05:31:00.000-07:00

Good friend of MEP, James Browne will be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania later this year to raise money and awareness for MEP. Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa, and is considered the tallest freestanding Mountain in the world. He will be flying from London to Nairobi on the 16th December, and on the 17th December he will start his 7 day trek at the base of the mountain. Go James! He will be taking the longer but more scenic Lemosho route, and will be spending Christmas Day many many many metres above sea level. Climbing 6000m in one week to the snow topped cap of an (inactive) volcano is no small feat, and all of us here at MEP are hugely grateful to James for undertaking such an incredible conquest for us. We all wish him the very best of luck with his trip, and will remain in close contact with him over the autumn and winter months leading up to his departure. Keep an eye on our page for any further developments. In the meantime, James has set up a JustGiving page so please dig deep and sponsor him on his Kilimanjaro adventure.

http://www.justgiving.com/james-climbs-kili

Art Auction at the Artshouse, Bristol

2010-08-05T05:08:00.000-07:00

Last month, MEP held its first Art Exhibition and Auction at The Arts House in Stokes Croft, Bristol. The exhibition ran for two weeks with the pieces being auctioned off on a Friday night, with a backdrop of brilliant tunes selected by Mr Jim and J Deaks. The event held a mixture of work by Malawian artists, as well as artists from Bristol and the UK. Many Malawian pieces were sold on the night by MEP friends Isaac and Tony, as well as artwork from the UK by Ian Boyd Walker, Alex Bertram Powell and Fran Williams to name but a few. MEP would like to thank all of the artists and DJ's involved in the event, as well as Leigh from the Tunnadine gallery who did such an amazing job of framing the Malawian pieces for us. Special thanks to Wack for all of his time and effort which made the night possible. Keep an eye out for another art auction in early 2011.

The Fash Pack present 'The Freakin' Fashion Fair, Yeah?'

2010-05-27T07:25:00.000-07:00

Our stylish friends 'The Bristol Fash Pack' were kind enough to nominate MEP as their chosen charity for another fantastic event on the 15th May at Hamilton House.

As well as stalls from Shop Dutty, Madidas Harrisa, Back in the Day, Lets Do Nice Things, Zedhead, Sew that Jazz, Bitch & Stitch, Motel, Uno One Print and Puckoo Courture, The Fash Pack also hosted a raffle, a clothes swap, face decoration and workshops... All in all, a glamourous, fabulous and funky day!

Huge huge thanks go to the Fash Pack, Shop Dutty and in particular Joh and Maddy for all the hard work put into making the day such a success.

To find out more about the Bristol Fash Pack, have a look at their Facebook Page, or keep up to date with the latest from Shop Dutty on their Blog.

MEP runners do the Bristol 10K!

2010-05-27T07:02:00.000-07:00

Trustee Tim finds time for a high-five en route

On Sunday 9th May 2010, 18 intrepid runners hit the streets of Bristol to brave a daunting 10 Kilometre run to raise money for Malawi Education Project! Many of the runners had never done anything like this before, and we are very pleased to report that they all made it home safely (bar a few blisters here and there)

Our team for the run:

James McRobert
Fiona Beattie
Bryony Imbert-Terry
Rachel Brown
Lucy Hingley
Tim Quinton (representing the MEP Trustees!)
Marietta Sega (Fastest home in a very nifty 51 mins)
Emma Gardner
Amy Bogue
Lisa Tozer
Grant Criddle
Tristen Wilks
Steve Parnell
Neil Ray Smith
Matt Woodhouse
Jane Powell
Alan Taylor

We send massive love and huge thanks to all of our amazing team! It was a great day and you did us very proud!

This is the first time MEP has entered a running event, and we were so inspired by our amazing team that we are in the process of recruiting even more super-runners for the Cardiff 10k in September. If you are interested in running for MEP, please get in touch with Joe (joe(at)malawieducationproject.com) and he will give you more info.

Grant and lisa proving that running rocks...

Cube Fundraiser 18/12/09!

2009-12-03T05:43:00.000-08:00

HUNTING LODGE // DAGGER BROTHERS // GOBLIN COMB + STUFF!

Hunting Lodge
A very rare chance to see Hunting Lodge at The Cube. They will be playing with their original line up of "a bassist who pummels, pounds and slaps the fretboard like it had just jumped ahead of him at the taxi-rank, a bare-topped drummer solemnly thumping his skins like he was beating time on a Turkish slave-galley, the freeform guitar lines of an inept crack-addled Robert Fripp dragged mercilessly through a wasp farm and a vocalist whose squawks and screeches smack of the sugar-fix tantrums of a retarded 6-year old. All this combines to produce the effect of being yelled at by an alcoholic in a disco."
http://www.myspace.com/huntinglodge

Dagger Brothers
"Testostrone fueled shock pop. Wham meets King Crimson. Wax thundering grease topguns. Big Break meets the Generation Game via the Big Breakfast."
http://www.myspace.com/thedaggerbrothers

Goblin Comb
Featuring members of Hunting Lodge, Dagger Brothers, and Cedric. "Free love triangle, sloppy vibrant free world noise music, rice and chips."
http://www.myspace.com/africanapparel

DJ's
Nadoone (Illegal Seagull)
Sydney Jungblud (Bruss)

FRIDAY 18TH DECEMBER. THE CUBE.

Doors 8pm. £6.
All proceeds go to Malawi Education Project.
Posted by Ellen Doherty at 12:55 PM

Please support friend of MEP.... Christine Lindop.

2009-11-10T05:44:00.000-08:00

MEP recently set up our Just Giving account after becoming registered for Gift Aid.

Just Giving gives any potential fundraisers the chance to easily set up a page explaining how they're raising money, and have any donations made paid directly to the charity. Donating is simple, fast and totally secure. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity of your choice and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer.

We are very pleased to announce that we have our first page up and running! It's been set up by our new friend, hero and all round good egg, Christine Lindop. Please take the time to have a look at her page here.

Here are the six heroic labours of Christine....

1) Read the first 600 pages of Ulysses. (Currently at page 330)

2) Walk the 18 mile (6 x 3) Rambler's walk around Bristol - a sprained ankle means this has now changed to: Make 6 mosaic lightcatchers

3) Make 6 balaclavas for sailors (3 now complete)

4) Make 6 loaves of bread from recipes I haven't used before and present them to people (3 done)

5) Memorise 6 poems (2 now memorised)

6) Make 60 seed bombs and distribute them round the unloved wastelands of Horfield. (ongoing)

Please show your support. Christine aims to raise £600 by her 60th Birthday on Christmas Eve 2009. She is one sixth of the way there already.... Dig deep.

Our love and respect to you Christine, from all here at the Malawi Education Project.

And thank you.

Invada Invasion

2009-09-20T05:45:00.000-07:00

The MEP/ Invada Invasion eBay Auction went live at midnight on Saturday 26th September, and will be ending at midnight on the 7th October. Click on the links below and bid on some amazing items kindly donated by many of the bands playing at last nights fantastic Invada Invasion at Bristol Colston Hall. MEP were out in force, thrusting flyers into the sweaty mits of everyone we met. Once again, a HUGE THANK YOU to Geoff Barrow, Fat Paul, Redg and all the Artists who are supporting MEP with this Auction.

Signed Mogwai 'BIG MUFF' Guitar pedal:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180411482999&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:GB:1123

Signed Portishead 'Third' Box set:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180411489445&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:GB:1123

Great things from Beak>
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180411496943&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:GB:1123

Signed Invada Invasion goodies:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180411575157&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:GB:1123

Signed Julian Cope 'Teardrop Explodes' record:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180411601980&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:GB:1123

Way Out West Record box:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180411505447&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:GB:1123

Inavada Invasion Ebay Auction

2009-09-10T05:46:00.000-07:00

Malawi Education Project has teamed up with the crew behind this Saturdays Invada Invasion at the Colston Hall, Bristol, to host one of the most enviable online music auctions Ebay has ever seen, with all money raised going directly to the charity. The auction goes live at midnight on Saturday 26th during the event, and has prizes donated from every act performing, as well as exclusive signed box sets from Portishead, as well as Geoff Barrows new band, BEAK>...

Some of the prizes included in the auction are;

* A Big Muff Pi effects pedal, owned and (ab)used by members of Mogwai. The pedal has been signed by all members of Mogwai.

* A copy of Portisheads 'Third' album box set. This includes the double 12" album, a 7" copy of debut single Machine Gun, a 'P' USB containing the entire album in digital format, as well as footage by John Minton, director of the 'Machine Gun' video. There is also a print from Nick Uffs video for 'We Carry On'. The box set has been signed by all of Portishead.

* There will be signed merchandise from every act performing at the Invada Invasion event, including Fuck Buttons, Zu, Gonga, Team Brick, Joe Volk, Crippled Black Phoenix, Thought Forms and many more.

* Julian Cope, the legendary musician, author, antiquary, musicologist, poet and good friend of Invada, has been kind enough to donate some signed albums for your listening pleasure.

* As a special bonus, Geoff Barrow has donated a limited edition box set from his new band BEAK>. This Box will include the full length CD album, presented in a dvd style case with a bonus CD /EP disc of 4 new tracks NOT featured on the album. As well as this there will be a 12" Vinyl EP with another 2 tracks also not featured on the album. There is also a BEAK> T shirt, and badge included. The box set will be signed by all members of BEAK>.

We would like to give a massive thanks to Geoff Barrow, Fat Paul, Redg, Mogwai and Portishead and all the bands who have generously donated prizes to this auction.

Please Note:

The Auction will be going live at midnight on Saturday 26th, so check back to this website on Sunday 27th for links to the URLs on Ebay