Peter Karrie, who has been working on his latest album and is currently mastering his work, willingly allowed Joel, along with the help of Al, to take control of the sound desk while he recorded some additional vocals to his work. It was a fantastic opportunity for Joel to build his confidence and interact with others in an environment that he would not normally have had the opportunity to do. Joel’s grandfather said “It’s wonderful to see Joel enjoying himself”

As a thank you, Karrie burnt the songs that Joel had helped record to disk with a special thank you message signed by the West End star!

We would like to thank Peter and Al for their work and time at the studios, and for helping make Joel’s ‘Dream’ come true.

www.shabbeyroad.com

A big thank you to Southend Utd for their support, and to Simon’s Buses  who transported the boys in a “Disco Bus”

Last week we told you about how you can raise money for Follow Your Dreams, simply by searching for things via Easysearch. Now we’re going to show you how you can raise money for Follow Your Dreams simply by shopping online!

Shop Online and Raise Money!
Have you heard about easyfundraising yet? It’s the easiest way to help raise money for Follow Your Dreams! If you already shop online with retailers such as Amazon, M&S, Argos, John Lewis, Comet, Vodafone, eBay, Boden and Play.com, then we need you to sign up for free to raise money while you shop!

So how does it work?
You shop directly with the retailer as you would normally, but if you sign up to www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/followyourdreams for free and use the links on the easyfundraising site to take you to the retailer, then a percentage of whatever you spend comes directly to us at no extra cost to yourself.

How much can you raise?
Spend £100 with M&S online or Amazon and you raise £2.50 for us. £100 with WH Smith puts £2.00 in our pocket and so on.  There’s over 2,000 retailers on their site, and some of the donations can be as much as 15% of your purchase.

Save money too!
easyfundraising is FREE to use plus you’ll get access to hundreds of exclusive discounts and voucher codes, so not only will you be helping us, you’ll be saving money yourself.

We’ve raised £’s with easyfundraising so far but we need your help to keep donations coming in. Sign up at www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/followyourdreams and start making a difference…simply by shopping.

followyourdreams.easysearch.org.uk combines the results of several search engines such as Yahoo!, Bing and Ask to ensure you can always find what you’re looking for. But the fantastic thing is that EVERY TIME you search, half a penny is raised for Follow Your Dreams. Search just 15 times a day and you can raise around £25 a year for us.

See what people are saying about easysearch

“easysearch is a great idea and just as good as Google for the results! I’ve recommended it to my friends and I think this site is the best around as it does something for people. Well done!”

“What a fantastic idea! I was using Google anyway but this way I get to raise money for my good cause every time I search…brilliant! I’ve made easysearch my homepage!”

So the next time you need to find something online, please use followyourdreams.easysearch.org.uk and raise money for Follow Your Dreams with every search you make.

I Would like to pass my thanks on to you, Follow Your Dreams and Val at Gillingham Football Club for arranging a wonderful day for Carl.

The day started with a presentation of a football shirt with Carl’s name on the back. Carl was so pleased with this he thanked that staff and announced that he was now “A football player”.

After this he joined the day’s mascots for a tour of the stadium. Meeting some of the players and asking nicely for autographs and pictures. The players were great and signed Carl’s autograph book and posed for some snaps.

After autographs and pictures, Carl and the Mascots followed the guides around for a tour of the stadium, before having a kick around on the pitch.

After training, we found our seats, clapped and cheered as Gillingham players entered the pitch.  Eight minutes in and Gillingham scores, Carl jumps up with excitement and cheers along with around seven thousand other fans that packed the stadium.  Gillingham went on to score another four goals, and Bristol Rovers managed just the one.

Carl was engrossed with the game for the full 90 minutes, not once complaining of the cold. Cheering on the Gills throughout the match too.

On the way home, Carl’s words were “Dad, that was the best football day ever!”  A testament that Carl really enjoyed the days event.

You may have seen them on a giant billboard or poster, maybe on a letter you’ve received or on the wrapper of your crisp packet – I have even seen them iced onto a cake and tattooed to a person’s arm! They are, I’m informed, known as QR-Codes!

To be technical about it … originally starting in the motor industry to track car parts as they went down a production line, QR (Quick Response) Codes are a 2dimensional or matrix barcode used to store a mass of data – and with smart phone technology as it is, they are now being used to quickly direct people to all sorts of information, more often than not to a video on YouTube or a company website.

Follow Your Dreams are jumping on the bandwagon and in today’s fast passed culture where people don’t have time to stop and browse the information at our stands or even to write down a website, it’s an ideal way to allow people to quickly take a picture leading them to our website and find out all about us, while still on the go!

If you have a smart phone, why don’t you download one of the many free apps available and give it a go?

Matthew is a young boy whose family made an online application for funding towards an iPad to help with music therapy. Matthew, who has limited mobility, is able to use the touch screen technology to help make sounds with the various apps available.

After some research Matthew’s parents requested that the purchase be made from John Lewis Cribbs Causeway, Bristol as they offered the best support and information for Matthews needs. Although we were unable to pay the full amount of the iPad, we did make a financial contribution and our Bristol Area Manager went along to meet Matthew and his family as they picked up the new iPad from the store.

Here’s the thank you that we received.

“We would like to thank Follow your dreams for your contribution towards the Ipad.  Matthew is really enjoying using it and loves playing instruments such as the piano and the harp as these would otherwise be inaccessible to him.

Thank you again.

Rachel, Stuart and Matthew”

Jamie from St Cenydd school, Caerphilly recently met Cardiff City’s  team Mascot, Bartly, at ASDA Pontprennau where Bartly presented him with the opportunity to be a Mascot at the Cardiff City V’s Reading game on the 2^nd of January. Jamie was so excited at the presentation we knew he was going to really enjoy his ‘Dream’ of playing at the new Cardiff City Stadium.

The ‘Dream’ not only meant being able to have his photo taken with all the players and meeting the manager MALKY MACKAY, but prior to the game taking place, Jamie had the opportunity to have a kick-around on the turf with some of the coaching team before running out with the team before kick off! Not only was Jamie mentioned throughout the game to the fans attending but Jamie also had a reminder of the day by having his details printed in the match programme, and he also had a full strip given to him! Did we mention that Cardiff won the game 3-1!