Getting co-ordinated

Here I am at Starbucks in Golden Square, Warrington. Usually the star attraction is the coffee, but today it was my "coffee mate"

I was lucky to meet up with Liz, who is the volunteer co-ordinator for FAST charity in Romania. Liz was visiting family and friends over Christmas as a break to her busy schedule in Romania, where she makes arrangements for visiting teams, works hard on the music project, makes airport runs and much, much more

It was great that Liz could find time to meet up and tell me just a little about all the fantastic work that FAST is doing for marginalised children and families in and around Sacele, in the mountainous heart of Romania

Fundraising bazaar

At the end of last year I went to a Christmas Bazaar being held to raise funds to support the work of FAST charity with destitute children and families in Brasov County, Romania

Lots of hard work was put in by members of two teams from King's Church, Warrington that will be visiting Romania in June and August to work on FAST projects

As a result, more than £450 was raised that will go direct to FAST charity's valuable work in Romania

Walk in the woods

Often, as I walk in the woods here in Warrington, I remember fun times visiting Romania

One such occasion is when I visited Parc Aventura. It is a fabulous place where humans can swing around between trees, doing things that us monkeys find natural

Better still, it is only about 5km from the FAST charity Ziurel Centre in Sacele. Check out a review on the FAST UK website

However, as you can see from the photos, pride sometimes comes before a fall

Happy Christmas 2011

Well, what a difference a year makes. Last year I was freezing in the snow, but this year it felt like a Spring day!

However, just like last year, monkey and team volunteer to help Santa

The team wish a very Happy Christmas to all

Fun in Caernarfon

A particular favourite place of mine is Caernarfon in North Wales. I've visited lots of times this year

Here you can see me looking at the wonderful Caernarfon Castle, dating back to the 13th century

The castle is quite recent when compared to the 1st century Segontium Roman fort in Carnarfon, the excavations of which are an intriguing way to both learn and play

Memories of summer 2011

Looking back on 2011, it has been a busy year for me

One particular highlight was in July, when I helped out for a week at a holiday club for children. Each year, Julia Shutt organises an amazing KidZone Holiday Club in Warrington and this year I was privileged to help out

The theme was Egypt in the time of Moses, and it was fab learning how to “dance like an Egyptian” and much, much more

Number eleven!

On 27th May, an eleventh child, Delia, was born to a family in Tarlungeni

It was a blessing to be able to provide much clothes and nappies for the family. Many thanks to all at King's Church, Warrington, who collected these and many more gifts for Rroma children in Tarlungeni

Teams from King's had helped build a new home for this large family during visits in 2007, 2008 and 2009

Music practice "al fresco"

What do you do with those long summer evenings? At the Ziurel Centre in Sacele, the music group, Grupul Ziurel, are often to be found practicing

It really is a great way to wind down for the day listening to some great Romanian folk music

In the video below you can find Daniel (co-founder of FAST charity) leading practice for the forthcoming Vlahia folk festival in Moeciu de Sus

Garden furniture

When visiting FAST charity in Romania, it is always good to relax on the garden furniture in the back yard

This is typically rustic furniture made by skilled Rroma craftsmen in local villages. FAST charity has been helping fledgling businesses in Tarlungeni and Zizin, and provide an outlet and publicity for the sale of this garden furniture

See slideshow for several examples of what is available or visit the gardenis web site. It may not fit in your suitcase but I'm sure would look great in your garden if you could ship some examples home

Thanks, Dave

Many thanks to Dave Willis and family, who donated much needed, good quality clothes for children in Rroma villages in Brasov County

Dave is Business Manager at Lightcliffe Honda in Warrington, and was moved to action after hearing about the work of FAST in Romania whilst taking me for a test drive!

Check out the slideshow, where you can see how excited just 3 children (from a family of 13) were to receive the clothes