Oxford Half Marathon

by | Apr 30, 2018 | News

Oxford Half Marathon

Love running?  Want a challenge?

Join our growing group of Oxford Half Marathon runners, who will be pounding the city streets on 7 October 2018 to raise money for us!  If you don’t want to run, then come on the day to cheer them on!

Contact us if you’d like to join in, keep up with plans on Facebook in our Alexandra House Oxford Half Marathon group, and keep an eye on our blog and Facebook for details of how to sponsor our runners nearer the time.

We look forward to seeing you there!

 

Register for Virgin Sport Oxford Half Marathon

Join the AHoJ Team

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Bicester Volunteer Fair

by | Apr 21, 2018 | News

Bicester Volunteer Fair

On Friday 20th April, we attended the Bicester Volunteer Fair, to meet over 150 Sixth Form students offering their skills and time to help local organisations.

Many of the students we met had little or no knowledge of learning disabilities.  I explained a little about how learning disabilities affect children and adults, and the impact the cuts to local services is having on our adults with learning disabilities.

There were several students genuinely interested in finding out more and 12 have signed up to help!  Many are skilled in online communications, and others have offered to support us with music, craft and secretarial roles.  We are absolutely thrilled!  Watch this space for more news of how our new volunteers are making a difference for us…

A teacher visited our stand, explaining that her student wanted to invite us to the school to talk further about who we are and what we are doing.  How heartening to have received such an enthusiastic response from these local students!

It was also great to meet representatives of the other charities there, to get to know more about them.  We’re really delighted to have made great connections, and to have offers of help from the young talent in our local community!

Check out the photo of our stand on the Volunteer Connect Facebook page!

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Golden Wedding Celebrations!

by | Apr 13, 2018 | News

Golden Wedding Celebrations!

On 6 April 2018 Ian & Rachael Scott-Hunter celebrated 50 years of marriage with a service of blessing at St Andrew’s Church, Oxford followed by a lunch and reception at the Littlebury Hotel in Bicester.

For Rachael & Ian, the day provided an opportunity to celebrate with friends and family, and to share with their loved ones their newest adventure together – the launch of the Alexandra House of Joy project.  They asked for donations to AHoJ in lieu of gifts, and were overwhelmed by the generous response…we’ll update you on that when a total has been calculated.

As Ian & Rachael contemplated this milestone, looking back on their lives together and forward to all that is yet to come, we sneaked a bit of their time to ask them a few questions!  Take a look at what they had to say…

Rachael & Ian, many congratulations on your Golden Wedding anniversary! How are you celebrating this wonderful milestone?
Thank you so much! We can hardly believe we have reached such a milestone. Where have all those years gone to? Because we have reached 50 years we decided we needed to celebrate with friends from way back in the past, friends we have gathered over the years, and new friends we have made in recent years…102 in all!
Some friends who are coming to help us celebrate we haven’t seen since our wedding day and Ian is wondering if we’ll recognise one another!! I am especially excited because my bridesmaid Heulwen, who I haven’t seen for 48 years is coming, and I can’t wait to see her.
So, we are having a special service of Thanksgiving to God for our Marriage, at our Church in Oxford, St Andrews, Linton Road.
Our granddaughter Edie is singing a solo; our grandson is reading a poem; our friend (and AHoJ Trustee)’s three daughters are doing a musical trio; a friend Mark, who was lead guitarist with the band Quench, is playing a solo on his acoustic guitar; and another AHoJ Trustee and friend, Stuart (who owns Oxford Opera and is a lovely Baritone Bass singer) will be singing ‘You lift me up’.
After all of that, everyone is coming to The Littlebury Hotel, Bicester (our very favourite Hotel run by our very favourite people, Mike, Malachi and all the other great staff) for a sit down meal and speeches, an introduction to Alexandra House of Joy, and my favourite Jazz played by Matt Crook and his band.
I am sure there’ll be lots of chatter, reminiscing, and laughter. My wedding dress will be on display and there will be our albums of the wedding, memoirs of the honeymoon, and all the wedding cards, telegrams, gift cards, and present lists from 1968!
As you look to the future, what are your hopes and plans for the coming years?
We are now most certainly living in ‘the days of grace’. Each day is precious, and not being wished away like we used to do by always looking to and planning for things months ahead! Each day has such value now, and we thank God for it as we listen to the birds singing, see the bulbs emerging from their winter sleep, and the buds opening their pretty brightly coloured green leaves, and of course all the little lambs playing in the fields.
Our lives are in His Hands, and so we take each day at a time, do the work He has given us to do, and pray earnestly that His amazing Vision for our precious Adults with learning disabilities will be revealed through us and before us if He should will it.
We both feel extremely humbled that He has given us this task to fulfill for Him and for His special children, so we have complete faith that it will happen, and our hope and trust is placed in God. So far He has given incredible gifts and people to AHoJ, so we know and believe that nothing is impossible with God.
You have amazing reserves of energy! How can we help you both as you invest time, energy and creativity in the Alexandra House project?
The AHoJ project is beginning to gather speed, and I am fully aware that at this age now I am definitely not able to ‘run’ at the pace I used to be going at! My mind also seems to have quite selective thinking in that it chooses these days to stay with one issue, and only that one issue, at a time. Very frustrating, and no more multi tasking for me I’m sorry to say!! So….I need other heads and other hands.
I would just love to have the help of someone who has office management skills and secretarial skills to come on board. At this stage in our project we just cannot afford to pay anyone, so we appeal to your kindness to come and help. The aim is to eventually offer a wage, but we need a very compassionate and willing person to please come forward and help us with all the paperwork which is gaining in size.
We would be absolutely over the moon and enormously grateful. We are very nice people to work alongside and we can make great tea and coffee….as much as you like…..with plenty of cakes, biscuits and chocolate if that is your desire!
If you think you would like to give it a go, or even just have a chat and ask more about it all, please do get in touch. We’d love to hear from you, truly we would.
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Friday Fundraising Feature

by | Apr 13, 2018 | News

Friday Fundraising Feature

We’re excited and encouraged by all the donations and pledges that have been arriving at AHoJ HQ.  Already we’ve received offers of raffle prizes; proceeds from sales; a London Marathon entry for AHoJ; individual donations; and the offer of a stunning venue for a fundraising event launch.

Rachael & Ian said, “We are deeply touched by those who have begun to show extremely generous and supportive interest in Alexandra House of Joy. Thank you!“

We want to tell you all the wonderful ways people are showing their support, so we’ve launched a Facebook Friday Fundraising Feature to share news of donations, event and how you can help!  Take a look at our first one here and ‘like’ our Facebook page to be sure you keep up to date.

Our online fundraising page will soon be available; we’re waiting for administrative paperwork to allow us to claim Gift Aid.  In the meantime, contact us to donate or find out more.

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The Amazing Gift of Land

by | Apr 2, 2018 | News

The Amazing Gift of Land

You’ll have already read the wonderful news!  A local landowner here in Bicester has pledged to freely give of a plot of land on which we may build the Alexandra House of Joy.

Can you believe it?  We are delighted by the kindness of this benefactor, who wishes to remain anonymous.  What an incredible boost to us right at the outset.

Rachael says of this news, “It was overwhelming, and we still can’t take in the enormity of the landowner’s generosity and graciousness. God is awesome.”

There is so much administration to do; registrations and forms to complete; letters to write; research to do; and people to brief…so this is a real encouragement to us right at the time we need it most.  The Alexandra House of Joy is another step closer to opening its doors.

Keep informed by giving our Facebook page a ‘like’, and share our story with your friends and colleagues.

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