Let Yourself Trust         
       
 
 
Hello all.
 
It’s been nearly four months since we checked in and we thought it important we gently drop into your lives and give you an update on what’s happening in the Let Yourself Trust camp.
 
We sent our last newsletter back in April, in the midst of the second month of Covid-19, after it had been settled in for 6 weeks or so and we optimistically thought perhaps we were halfway through this shocking and horrifying new world we were in.
 
As we enter our sixth month of quarantines, lockdowns, face masks and Covid headlines, we do so having accepted that this will remain the way of life for the foreseeable future.  Consequently, we’ve shifted our way of thinking and embraced the new challenge of keeping LYT hopefully not only viable but flourishing over these next 12 months.  
 
Obviously, we are more than aware that many of you and your families are suffering a wide array of Covid-related repercussions.. being furloughed, or even made redundant, or perhaps now having to deal with illness.  Every situation is different but we are all being effected in a variety of ways and it can be difficult.  Some of you have called us to cancel your standing orders, apologising as you do so..  It’s heartbreaking to hear you apologise.  We want you all to know that we completely understand.  Please don’t apologise.  
 
On our end, Martyn’s touring has been cancelled since March and will encompass 8 months of 2020’s events having been cancelled or rescheduled.  Wonderfully, he has currently just released a handful of UK dates for November shows, though they will all be much reduced capacities (see his website for details).  He has agreed to some nights of playing 2 shows in one evening, to allow for more folks in those areas to potentially get a ticket for a show that has very limited seats.  This equates to twice the workload on him for half the financial return, but he is more than happy to do so!  Many of you also know, as Martyn mentions during his streaming concerts, that Covid has hit directly within his camp, with Nikki, MJ’s longtime PA, still battling on a daily basis.  We continue to struggle to book events even for the Spring of 2021 in other parts of the world, and ultimately, have no idea when he will return to a normal touring schedule.  As LYT runs as an extension of Martyn, keeping the MJ train running is as vital to us as it is to him.  
 
 
 
 
However - we don’t recap all of this to complain, nor is our aim to sound negative in any way.  We are a family, and we simply wanted to share with all of you with complete transparency.  What an unprecedented time we are in, and while it has its difficulties, we also want you to know we are firmly firing away daily with new ideas.  Martyn is thinking outside the box with how to connect with all of you in new and exciting ways.  Pipefest has been cancelled, but a special online MJ show is being planned, as are other things headed your way from his camp soon.  LYT is likewise hard at work with our Board and our partners, as well as MJ.  
 
In fact, I’m wrapping this newsletter up with a bulleted run down of our latest accomplishments because I can’t think of a better note to end on than this incredible list of achievements you’ve helped us reach.  I’d like to add a special note of deep thanks to all of our current donors, both long standing and some even brand new, that have continued to support us during these difficult times.  Not only are you helping to keep LYT’s work going, but Covid’s effects are astonishingly more punishing in some of the more vulnerable parts of the world we work in, and your sustaining gift is literally helping some families to survive.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.
 
 
To all of our family - we are with you.  We will - and are - getting through this, together.  
 
In gratitude, support and optimism,
 
Justine Ferland, Executive Dir LYT & the LYT Team
 
 
 
 
 
LYT’S ACTIVITY IN 2020 SO FAR:
 
  • We’ve raised 1/2 a Million pounds!
 
In June of this year we reached the half million pound marker of funds raised since our inception 6 1/2 years ago.  Un. Be. Lievable. 
 
  • We donated £50,000 in July — our biggest donation yet!
 
A huge percentage of income in vulnerable countries comes from street economies - buying and selling your wares on the streets.  In places like Africa, Haiti, etc, Covid has led to governments enforcing strict lockdowns, with no one allowed outside their homes.  With their sole means of income removed, starvation is a very real threat.  Our partners in these areas are currently literally going door to door with food parcels, helping folks survive.  Consequently, in our June Board meeting, in support of our partners faced with these enormous tasks of emergency Covid relief in various parts of the world, we voted to donate our largest 6 month donation yet - a total of £50,000. 
 
 
Donations were made to the following:
 
  • £10,000 to Haiti Allies
  • £10,000 to Project Somos
  • £15,000 to Advantage Africa 
  • £15,000 to Umthombo, via their work with Amos Trust
 
  • Postponement of Camp Jojo
 
Our wonderful partners at Camp Jojo in Essex, UK were in touch with us in the early days of Covid.  They gave us the news they had been forced to postpone their 2020 Summer camp activities to Summer of 2021.  As Covid targets those with already vulnerable immune systems, and as Camp Jojo’s guests are families with a child with complex physical needs, there was no question of going forward this year.  Consequently, we mutually agreed to postpone their support in 2020 and to immediately focus instead on more urgent needs by our past partners.  We will be re-partnering with Camp Jojo in the near future in support of their 2021 Summer Camps, and we thank them for their encouragement and understanding of supporting more immediate Covid-related partner needs.  
 
  • We launched “Kiss the World, Vol. 2” 
 
 
Finally, for those that missed it, we put together “Kiss the World, Vol. 2” in early 2020.  An incredible collaboration effort with MJ from our LYT Ambassadors Antje Duvekot, Grace Petrie, Sam Kelly & Willy Porter, who contributed 2 songs each, including some original tracks related to their trips with LYT to some of our projects.  Martyn also adds a beautiful version of Ralph McTell's 'Streets of London'.
 
You can purchase the album in our LYT Store here.
 
 
 
In our next newsletter:
  • A look at our time in Haiti 
  • An introduction to Umthombo
  • An update on our Palestine trip in 2021 & more!
 
 
 
To help us via a gift of support, please click below or visit our BRAND NEW SPACE at www.LetYourself.net to donate.