SPECIAL THANKS

It is a great honour to report that Mrs McCall has been made a Winston Churchill Travel Fellow. The Fellowships and grants are to enable men and women, from all walks of life and every corner of the UK to acquire knowledge and experience abroad. Well done Esther.

Everyone on the Back2Africa team would like to thank Emma Thompson, British actress, comedienne and screenwriter, for her incredibly big-hearted donation towards our community project in Zambia. We feel really honoured to have Emma's support. Her help will ensure a much brighter future for the children at Twabuka School.

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Words can't express how grateful we are to Hudson & Yorke for their generous donation to the project fund. Their financial contribution is sincerely appreciated and and will make a huge difference to Sindie Village.

We would like to extend special thanks to both Incorporatewear (one of the UK's premier corporatewear companies) and LittleJohn (the independent firm of chartered accountants and business advisors) who, together, have very generously agreed to sponsor a set of team t-shirts.

Thanks to all the staff at Waitrose (Upminster) for their friendliness and patience and to the customers for their generosity in supporting Back2Africa 2010. On Saturday 19th July our help as 'bag-packers' raised £555 and during the week before Christmas we managed to collect the incredible sum of £1,700. These two initiatives have made a fantastic contribution to our work in Africa.

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We can't thank Janette at Mala Leather enough for her very kind donation of leather goods for our raffle. Please know how much we all appreciate it.

Huge thanks must go to Toby Hancock from Pink Elephant (Portugal's new rosé) who has very kindly offered to donate two cases of wine for us to use as raffle prizes at our dinner/dance in April.

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We have a been given a rather 'special' donation from findmeagift.com who were delighted to help us out with a prize for our raffle. Thank you so much.

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We would like to thank Simon Kessler from star&rose.co.uk for his gracious offer to contribute to our fundraising dinner by donating a 'safari' themed gift.

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Sincere thanks must go to Vlad Vassiliev from the ScentedCandleShop.com who very kindly responded to our plea for help with our fundraising raffle. The donation of some Swazi candles is very much appreciated.

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With the largest selection of South African wines in the UK we would like to give our thanks to SA Wines who are supporting our endeavours by donating a mixed case of wine.

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A big thank you from all of us to Beechfield who came to our rescue with the offer of beanie hats and gloves (for the cold evenings) and also the set of team caps to protect us from the heat of the midday sun.

Wishing the team all the very best is Peter Karsten from Surfax Ltd. He has very kindly offered us two cases of Tusker Lager for use as raffle prizes at our Spring Ball. Thank you very much.

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Our fundraising "bag pack" held over the weekend of 19th/20th September at the Dagenham branch of Morrisons was a great success amassing the grand sum of £1,300. We would especially like to thank the management, staff and customers for all their support.

Special thanks must go to Fizbag who have kindly donated a number of their appropriately themed 'animal print' bags to be used a raffle prizes.

We'd like to thank The Exotic Paper Company who manufacture and distribute 100% recycled paper, stationery items and paper gifts made from elephant dung! They have kindly sent us a few of their products which we can use as raffle prizes.

There was great delight when Design Go, one of the world's largest firms dedicated to providing travel accessories for adventurers like ourselves, offered to give us a helping hand when we needed to purchase some of our kit. Thank you so much.

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Kate Van Kampen from Silly Jokes has kindly offered us a donation which not only fits in with the theme of the evening, but is also sure to raise a smile from the guest who is lucky enough to win this prize! Thank you.

We would like to send our thanks to the Merlin Entertainments Group, especially Adrian Mahon, for the pair of complimentary tickets to either the London Eye or Madame Tussauds. Another great prize for our charity raffle in April.

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BAFTA award winner, Ricky Gervais, has kindly donated a signed DVD of his latest film. The expedition team members are all angling to win this prize in the raffle! Thank you so much.

Huge thanks must go to David from JustDucks, (the UK's leading and probably the largest specialist supplier of PVC, Rubber and Fluffy Ducks) who was only too pleased to respond to, and support, our plea for some 'safari' themed ducks. These are guaranteed to add an element of fun during the raffle.

Place your bids! Stock Brook Country Club, have very kindly donated a 4 Ball (18 holes of golf for 4 golfers) for our Silent Auction.

We would like to send special thanks to Joe Marston from MAREX Financial for securing sponsorship for a set of team hoodies.

We are very grateful to Russell Brands (a global leader in the sporting goods industry) for the provision of a set of JERZEES® team polos.

We would like to take this opportunity to send our thanks and appreciation to Peter Stone at Prestige Leisure for working tirelessly on our behalf to source donations of team kit. Thank you so much.

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We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Gertrude Gourvitch Charitable Trust for their most generous contribution to our project fund and also Anthony Behrens for the role he played in helping to make this possible.

We are incredibly grateful to 'The Thremhall Trust' for their gift of money for use during the project fund of our trip. Their support of our work in Zambia will unquestionably transform the lives of those we are trying to help.

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We are indebted to the Lions Club of Romford (Rugby) for their big-hearted support of our efforts in Zambia. Thank you so much for the cheque.

We would all like to thank Mrs Nishi Data (the school’s Cover Supervisor) who recently took orders from Staff and made Indian food. Her personal fundraising for the Africa projects currently stands at £1046.20.

Thanks must go to the Upminster Residents Association for their generous donation to the "Back2Africa" fund. It is heartening to know we have such strong community support for what we are trying to achieve in Zambia.

Providing a range of beauty, manicure, pedicure and nail enhancement treatments, we are thrilled with the donation of a £25 voucher to use at The Nail Sanctuary in Upminster. Thank you.

Capture the moment with 'National Kodak Portrait' award winner, James Carter, who has kindly donated a private sitting at his Emerson Park studios and a free ‘Framed Family Portrait’. A wonderful addition to our Silent Auction. Many, many thanks.

We would like to send a huge thank you to Mr. and Mrs Scanlon for their cheque and let them know we are very touched by their support.

Grateful thanks must go to Mr. and Mrs McCrory for their contribution towards the project fund. Your kindess is very much appreciated.

Zeeshan Sunny has kindly made a donation to put towards the project fund. Thank you very, very much.

Everyone is absolutely over the moon to learn that Lee Pridie wanted to acknowledge all our efforts by endowing Mrs McCall with the most generous sum of money to treat us while we are away in Africa. There simply aren't enough words to express our thanks and gratitude to him for being so thoughtful.