Red Balloon Day
On Saturday 6th February Needham Market Football Club host Daventry Town in the 5th Round of the FA Vase competition.
The Committee of the club has agreed to my request to take a collection at this match for the Red Balloon Charity.
Why this Charity and why now?
- With so many other good causes collecting for disasters such as the Haiti Earthquake it is easy to forget about the work being done by other charities in the UK.
- The UK has had seen some natural disasters of its own such as floods etc. but we also have many underlying human problems that surface from time to time.
- The recent case in South Yorkshire of young boys bullying boys of a similar age caused us to remember James Bulger and "googling" the web I discovered the Red Balloon Charity, see below for some more details regarding this charity.
- The Charity has local bases in Norwich and Cambridge.
- And of course the fact that Needham colours are red struck a chord as well.
We would have liked to donated some of the receipts from gate in the same way that we did for the Breast Cancer event back in October but in the FA competitions there are strict rules about this.
We hope that those attending the game will join in the FUN perhaps joining in the red theme and make it a day to remember.
Alan Jopling
About the Red Balloon Charity
About Bullying
No-one has to put up with bullying. Bullying makes you feel miserable, sad, angry and worthless.
Adults and young people who are bullied blame themselves, sometimes hurt themselves, are afraid to go to work or school or appear in public places.
One of the worst things that can happen to people who are bullied is that they think it is their fault. It is not! But feeling it is your fault often prevents you from telling anyone about what is going on. Sometimes people keep quiet about it for weeks and even months.
About The Red Balloons
The first Red Balloon Learner Centre was set up in a private home in Cambridge in 1996. The vision is to provide an 'intensive care' programme of full-time education in a safe learning environment for children unable to go to school because they have been severely bullied.
Why was it called "Red Balloon"? The boy in the film "Le Ballon Rouge" was befriended and supported by a red balloon.
Red Balloons offer a safe learning environment for students of secondary-age in Cambridge, Norwich and Northwest London at Harrow. Some of our students have written their stories for you to read. You may have had similar experiences. You may need some advice and support.
You can see what a typical Red Balloon is like by clicking on: http://www.redballoonlearner.org.uk/video/
At Red Balloon we can restore self-confidence and self-esteem, the capacity to trust others and the ability to learn.
"Coming to the Red Balloon was the best thing that's happened to me. When I stopped going to school and before I came to the Red Balloon I always thought I was a loser, a no hoper, but thanks to the teachers I now believe I have something worth living for."
A former pupil
Red Balloon Learner Centre - Merseyside: £1,000,000 appeal.
Esther Rantzen, who is a patron of Red Balloon, was inspired to develop the idea of this memorial to James Bulger during a visit to Merseyside in 2007. "16th March 2008 would have been James' eighteenth birthday. No life has been more cruelly cut short than that lovely two-year-old, who was murdered fifteen years ago. It is extraordinary that there is no memorial to him. With the help of people in Merseyside and around the world who love and care for children, together we will create James Bulger House, to protect our children and save more lives."
Denise Fergus, James Bulger's mother, says: "I have witnessed the work that Red Balloon does with bullied children and I am sure that there is a very great need for a learner centre refuge for victims of bullying on Merseyside. If James Bulger House can help save the life of just one child in that terrible situation then it will be a fitting tribute to my son. "
