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What an incredible summer!
Most children look forward to their summer break from School – often
enjoying a holiday away, extra lie-in each morning, free time at home
and plenty of visits to relatives. But not so for the children of the
Tileagd Choir, who spend much of their School Holidays working hard on
Tour.
Tr avelling thousands of miles in a mini-bus, many early mornings
and often facing late nights after Concerts or more travelling to the
next venue.
The summer holidays in Romania give children a long break. Finishing
around June 12th and not returning until September 15th. The useful
thing is that UK Schools only get about 6 weeks holiday, finishing as
early as mid-June in Scotland (end of July in England) returning
August 25th in Scotland and by September 7th in England.
As a result, Smiles planned 2 major Tours for the Choir during the
holiday and scheduled a staggering 55 performances over the two trips.
The tours comprised 27 School Presentations through-out Northern
Ireland, Wales & England between June 22nd and July 9th, then a
further 20 schools between August 31st and September 13th in Scotland
and England plus 8 Church Concerts.
Visiting 47 Schools across the UK was a demanding schedule, but worth
the effort as The Smiles Foundation endeavours to create ‘School
Partnerships’ with UK Schools aimed at providing direct support for
Tileagd Community School through Child Sponsorship
– enabling children
in Romania to benefit from the life-changing opportunity a good
education can provide.
Many Schools are joining us through the Partnership programme and
sponsoring children to attend Tileagd Community School.
£420 a year is
the cost of a fully accredited education at the Smiles School which
includes the enormously important and helpful support, which only The
Smiles Foundation provides, of Breakfast, Lunch, Showers, Hygiene and
Medical Care including Dental and Optometry.
 Every school in the UK is involved in fund-raising for Charity and The
Smiles Foundation is honoured to be chosen by so many for Sponsorship
support. Some schools are sponsoring more than one child in Romania
and all Schools enjoy the communication and special relationship the
‘Partnership’ programme provides.
For the UK School, they firstly receive a Sponsorship Pack which
includes a laminated A4 picture of the sponsored Child. Along with
History of the Tileagd School and the most recently published Schools
Newsletter. Details are also enclosed of the Partnership’s approach to
Global Citizenship allowing for Romanian children to visit the UK and
opportunity for British children to visit Romania.
This is a tremendous initiative for the UK schools to twin with a
school 1,250 miles across the European Union.
The Smiles Foundation is targeting 100 UK
Schools to join in ‘Partnership Sponsorship’ and any school interested
and wanting more information should contact
The Smiles Foundation now.
E-mail:
education@thesmilesfoundation.org
Telephone: 0113-276-5060
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