PAGEANT - "Education is the future"
Carol's Fundraising Page
Background
Pageant members Carol and Richard Grace are regular visitors to The Gambia, and have helped us out with visits to schools and families. Carol works for the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust, where she is known professionally as Carol Peckham. So we will always refer to her as Carol Peckham (Grace) on this page.
In 2015 Carol and Richard decided to have a 'project of their own'. They chose to help Humanity Nursery School. Their project was to finance a chicken raising scheme, so that the income from this could help to pay teachers' salaries. Carol ran in the 2015 Donington Park Half Marathon. Her sponsorship and other fundraising exceeded the original target of £500, and the chicken raising project was successfully started. Carol has continued her fundraising for Pageant and her projects in The Gambia, and is now running in the Stafford Half Marathon on 19 March 2017, trying to raise a further £500. If you would like to help, click the donate button at the bottom of the page.
Donington Park Half Marathon
The 2015 Half Marathon at Donington Park took place on Sunday 15th November. As well as the usual sponsorship, Carol asked her NHS colleagues to guess her finish time, with a minimum donation of £1 per guess. She exceeded her target of £500, which was used to fund a chicken raising scheme at Humanity Nursery School in The Gambia. Now read on for details of her training and the race itself:
Carol training for the half marathon
Update 4 October 2015 - Carol reports "Well, today I ran over 6 miles so my training so far is going according to plan. I have 6 weeks left to increase the distance, so to keep me motivated please donate your pennies to such a worthy cause"
Update 4 October 2015 - Carol reports "Well, today I ran over 6 miles so my training so far is going according to plan. I have 6 weeks left to increase the distance, so to keep me motivated please donate your pennies to such a worthy cause"
Update 19 October 2015 - Carol writes "I have only 4 weeks to go before the hilly half marathon, and to date I have sustained no injuries whilst training, so fingers crossed this continues. I managed over 8 miles last Friday so all is going according to plan. I have also hit the £300 donation value so only another £200 to go - please give whatever you can as this money will make such a difference to the people of Gambia. Another update will follow next week."
Update 27 October 2015 - Carol writes "Its just over 2 weeks now until I run the very hilly Donington Park half marathon so fingers crossed I don't develop any illness/injuries. On Sunday I ran 10.3 miles so feeling confident that I will complete the full course in a decent time and raise money for the needy. Happy days ahead!!
Update 1 November 2015 - Carol latest update "Had a weekend without training apart from the usual 5k Parkrun on a Saturday morning. Instead I got up on a very foggy Sunday morning to sell some goods at a local car boot. Managed to raise a further £82.20 for my special charity so well worth the early start. Training will resume once again this week."
Update 16 November 2015 - She did it! "Well, on a very windy and wet Sunday morning I lined up with another 500 runners to take part in the Donington Park half marathon - braving the elements was one thing but having to complete 5.5 laps of bends and hills was a challenge to say the least. However, I finished in one piece and am delighted to have raised over £500 for Pageant. My official time will be announced on Wednesday 18th November but just to have completed it without stopping or walking is good enough for me. Thanks to all those who donated and have supported me during the training weeks - more events to come after Xmas."
The Run Britain Results Service give Carol's time as 2 hours, 7 minutes and 42 seconds. So far Carol has raised £462 for Pageant (£556 including Gift Aid). Our online donation page is still open, so please show your appreciation of Carol's achievement by clicking the button below.
Photo of Carol at Donington Park looking somewhat windswept!!
Update 5 March 2017 - Pantomime Proceeds - Carol works for the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust. The staff there put on an annual pantomime at the end of January each year, and Carol has performed in the pantomime for the past three years. Proceeds from ticket sales and the raffle usually go to local charities. This year the proceeds have been split between four charities that staff are involved with. Carol has been given £500 for Pageant's work in The Gambia. Carol and Richard will be going to The Gambia later this month, and we will let you know soon how this money will be used.
Humanity Nursery - how your sponsorship money was used
In December 2015, Carol travelled to The Gambia, and visited Humanity Nursery School in Farato Nema.
Nursery education is not part of the Gambian state system, and many nurseries are run as community projects. Fabakary Saidykhan, whose day job is head of the Automotive Engineering Department at Gambia Technical Training Institute (GTTI), built this school in his own compound. When Pageant first visited the school in April 2011, it consisted of a single room. Since then Pageant has helped Faks add extra buildings and facilities. When Carol visited, Faks was starting a project to raise chickens at the school. Sales of both chickens and eggs could provide an income stream to help pay teachers' salaries.
Carol handing over the money to Faks
outside of the completed chicken houses
Pantomime
Staff at the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust put on a pantomime towards the end of January each year. This year it was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Carol played the role of Fairy Goodheart.
The cast of Snow White
Carol as Fairy Goodheart
The proceeds from ticket sales and raffles are usually donated to selected local charities. This year the money was split between three charities, and because of Carol's association with Pageant, she was given £500 to be used for Pageant's work in The Gambia.
The photo shows Carol receiving the 'cheque' from the Trust Chair, Jagtar Singh, at a Trust Board meeting. Carol will be travelling to The Gambia later in March, and will be handing over funds to selected projects there. We keep you up to date with news about this.
Carol receiving the 'cheque' from Jagtar Singh
Stafford Half Marathon 2017
Carol took part in the Stafford Half Marathon on 19 March 2017. Here is her account of her run:
"Well, on a rather windy Sunday morning I managed to drag myself out of bed at 06:15 to travel to Stafford to run the 2017 half marathon. It wasn't an easy course but the volunteers giving out water and the kids supplying jelly babies and haribo certainly helped. I completed the course in 2:09:35 - not a brilliant time but happy to have got round. Now, I'm suffering with 2 black toenails and 2 huge blisters - however, this is nothing compared to how people suffer in Gambia so I'm not complaining. Thanks to all my friends and colleagues who have made such generous donations - its knowing the difference that this can make to others that keeps me going."
Carol aimed to raise a further £500 for her Pageant projects, making a total of £1000 on her donation page.
Carol at Humanity Nursery
Carol was in The Gambia in March 2017, and again visited Humanity Nursery in Farato Nema. This is her report on her visit:
"Visited the new Humanity Nursery School to see how the project is expanding - the shaded play area is now complete and it provides such a wonderful place for the children to play. The classrooms are neat and tidy and the children are happy and contented in this nurturing and learning environment. Faks continues to develop this local facility by making it accessible for children with disabilities - this is truly commendable and mirrors Faks' values about true integration, fairness and equality. The school staff spend time with the parents of these disabled children to help them accept and manage the difficulties the children face as well as bring the children in to the school to enable access to education. Faks was pleasantly surprised at the £500 donation by CWPT (Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust) and it was an absolute pleasure to hand over this money to such a worthwhile project."
Carol pesenting a 'cheque' for £500 to Faks
"We then visited the 'old' Humanity School site where the chicken house project has expanded beyond belief! - there were loads of healthy chickens and now 2 large turkeys!! The eggs are being sold and providing a regular income to help the school be more sustainable. Again, Faks is continuing to extend the project by using the old school classrooms to house more chickens. I don't know where Faks gets his energy from but he is amazing and an incredible inspiration."
Chickens at the old Humanity site
June 2018 - Carol awarded MBE
Pageant is pleased to announce that Carol has been awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for services to the NHS and voluntary service to Education in The Gambia.
Carol, professionally known as Carol Peckham, is General Manager of Community Health Services for Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust. In an interview published on their website, Carol said "I feel very privileged, enriched and humbled to have been given the opportunities to make a difference to the lives of others, both personally and professionally. Compassion costs very little - as the saying goes 'To the world you may be one person but to one person you may be the whole world.' I now feel very honoured to receive this award but I also feel that I wouldn't be where I am, and doing the things I do, without the faith and support of others around me."
Congratulations from everyone at Pageant - so heartening to know that one of our fundraisers has been honoured in this way.
Donate to help Carol's projects in The Gambia
You can donate online using your credit card, debit card or PayPal. Carol raised over £1,125 using previous fundraising services. This service is now provided by Charities Aid Foundation. They add a small handling charge, and also charge card processing fees. If you are a UK taxpayer, they also collect Gift Aid for us, meaning that an extra is added to your donation without costing you an extra penny. [more about Gift Aid]
We will keep you updated with news about Carol, her fundraising and how the money raised is spent in The Gambia. So keep checking this page!