For those of you that signed up months and months ago and may have forgotten who we are exactly, Let Yourself Trust is internationally acclaimed musician Martyn Joseph's Non-Profit organisation founded in early 2014.
We have come a long, long way in these last few months, and want to tell you all about it.. including our recent trip to Palestine in support of our first project, the Alrowwad Children's Theatre, where to find videos and photos, a personal note from Martyn and more.
Before we get to all of our news, however, we wanted to clarify- this is the very first newsletter from LYT, and we want to quickly tell you why it took so long to reach your inbox, as your connection and support are so important to us.
While Martyn tours the world and performs in the UK, the US, Canada and all over Europe, Let Yourself is a UK based charity. To be clear, we support projects worldwide, and can also accept donations worldwide. However, we are governed by the UK Charity Commission, and currently, they are inundated with charity applications. Because there is (appropriately) such a rigid code of submission rules and regulations, they are backlogged by months in their processing and approval department. For those of you from elsewhere, in the UK, once you have your official Charity number and tax number, the UK government has a program called Gift Aid that matches every donation with a 25% donation on top of it, from the government. It's a brilliant program, and one we didn't want to miss out on, so we've been waiting for our charity # and Gift Aid status before we reached out to all of you that have indicated you wanted to hear more about, and possibly support, Let Yourself Trust.. Hence the months and months that you haven't heard from us!
We have been contacted by our processing 'agent' at the Charity Commission, who has informed us of these delays, and we made the decision that we couldn't wait any longer to send this newsletter.. we have SO much to tell you, and so many exciting stories, videos and updates! We will keep everyone posted in the coming newsletters on the status of our official # and Gift Aid certification, and we point anyone with further questions/inquiries on this subject towards our Executive Director, Justine Ferland, who will happily answer any additional questions (please email Justine@letyourself.net).
Now - on to the news!!
THE ALROWWAD CHILDREN'S THEATRE IN BETHLEHEM, PALESTINE
As many of you know, the spark of inspiration for Let Yourself Trust began over a year ago, when Martyn visited Palestine in 2013, and came across a Children's Arts Theatre in the Aida Refugee camp behind the wall in Bethlehem. He was so deeply moved by the work that he saw Director Abdelfattah Abusrour doing there, that he came home and founded Let Yourself.
To honour this inspiration, Let Yourself Trust's first project is the Alrowwad Cultural Theatre. For the last 6 months, many of you have heard Martyn speak from stages all over the world about the beautiful people of Palestine, and the amazing outlet of expression and creativity this theatre gives to these children who know only oppression, heat and concrete. For the last 6 months, many of you have donated at shows - an extra $5 with your CD purchase, or just whatever you had in your pocket. We have been humbled, and so appreciative of the warm reception you have given to this first project, supporting the truly important work Abed is doing with Alrowwad.
In thanks, and to give you a better look at exactly where your money is going, we put together a 5 minute video on our time there, which you can watch here: Martyn & Alrowwad.
You can see more photos of our trip on Let Yourself Trust's official Facebook page (please join!):
OUR NEXT PROJECT - WE NEED YOUR HELP
To those who may not yet know, how Let Yourself works with regard to projects is that we focus on one project for 6 months, with all money raised during that period going to that project. In this way, we can highlight and spread awareness about the amazing work Martyn comes across in his travels for a fairly significant amount of time, as he tells their stories from stages all over the world. We will absolutely continue to monitor, support and send news on each project as we move on to the next, but in this way we can spotlight and spread support to as much of the good work being done out there as we can.
As such, with renewed vigour we start our fundraising efforts anew as we move on to our second project of the year - a children's village in Guatemala called Project Somos. The project is run by Heather Knox and Greg Kemp, who moved to Guatemala in 2011, and have made this children's village their life's work. As an orphan prevention program, the Village supports widowed and single mothers who are at-risk of losing their children due to poverty and difficult living situations. Project Somos offers a stable, loving environment for women and children to heal and start their lives over again as they educate mothers and children in nutrition, hygiene, and offer opportunities to learn the skills and self-confidence to prepare them to eventually return to their communities and live independent lives.
Greg and Heather are doing vital work, empowering women who have never had a chance to give their children basic, essential comforts such as a home, basic medical care, and a sustainable way to provide for their family. We have 6 short months to give them as much support as we can - and we need your help.
If you have been waiting to support Martyn and Let Yourself Trust, now is the time to donate. You can donate here, on our website:
(Top right 'Donate' button via PayPal. Please note: options for a one time or recurring/monthly donations available.)
Any and all donations are extremely appreciated, and we thank you in advance for kickstarting our support of Project Somos.
VIDEOS, TWITTER & A NOTE FROM MARTYN
Our first newsletter is getting rather lengthy, so we'll leave you with a quick, bulleted list of links and a note from Martyn himself..
- CANADIANS! Martyn is headed your way for the next 3 weeks.. Tour Dates here!
- Martyn's new CD, "Kiss the World Beautiful - Songs for the Let Yourself Trust" is now available to order through the Pipe Records online shop. This was a special album first available to folks who attended the launch shows a few weeks ago, and it's a collection of Martyn's more political and social work, rerecorded, and with the addition of 2 cover songs and new song "Luxury of Despair", inspired by his trips to Palestine. Additionally, all proceeds of the album go to Let Yourself Trust.
