The Kittiwake Trust was constituted as a charitable voluntary organisation in 2009 in Gateshead, UK as sister to the Dutch Kittiwake Stichting which registered as a non-profit in 2004. We applied to become a CIO and on 26 January 2016 became registered charity number 1165318.
The objectives of The Kittiwake Trust are: To advance education for the public benefit including by donations of books and other items to not-for-profit organisations and school libraries, a multilingual library and support of other projects in such ways as the trustees see fit.
The oldest and largest project of the Kittiwake Trust is Borderline Books. This project aims to save books from destruction and redistribute them - free of charge - to people and organisations which have neither a budget for books, nor the time to go in search of suitable titles.
Borderline Books, based in Gateshead, works closely with local charities and community groups working with homeless people, men and women recently released from prison, young offenders, families fleeing domestic abuse, young people living in hostels and care homes, youth groups running homework clubs and other educational support, organisations working with refugees and asylum applicants and many other small charitable groups for whom books are simply unaffordable.
People frequently ask if we can also take toys or clothes or other items and we rarely say no (as long as things are clean and in good condition). Obviously the people who are receiving books are in need of other items and we pass them along in just the same way.
Some years ago Staples in the Netherlands donated a huge supply of stationery items which mainly go to local small charities, community groups, homework clubs and other organsations. Friends collect toiletries which are passed on to women's refuges, Making Winter Warmer and various organisations working with teenage mothers, organizations supporting homeless people and special appeals at Christmas.We also collect items that were left on some local bus services and redistribute the unclaimed items to people in need in the areas where we work.
In March 2016, the Bradford Bikery took over the local branch of Borderline Books which was started a year earlier by Incommunities. In the longer term it is hoped that more and more BookSpaces will open in different parts of the country. Please contact books[at]borderlinebooks [dot]org if you would like to know more about the possibility of starting a BookSpace in your area. We are particularly interested in seeing new branches run by people leaving prison, as the project affords a wonderful range of opportunities for work experience in many different fields and would also give the people running it plenty of scope for putting their own stamp on an individual BookSpace.
www.borderlinebooks.org
To donate to this project via Paypal, please visit our Total Giving page.
Through friends living in India, we also collected donations to support some children in Kerala, South India, to attend the English school which offers a more complete education which will eventually lead to better job prospects when they get older, and a chance to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. If you are interested in sponsoring a child, please get in touch: kittiwaketrust [at ] gmail.com The cost of supporting a child for one year, including books uniform and extra-curricular activities is often less than £200, depending on the age of the child - approximately the same as 4 tanks of petrol, less than half the cost of an iphone 5...
Our current governing document does not allow us to collect for the children in our charity's name, but we will gladly put you in contact with the organisation in India who are distributing the school funds.
Friends sponsored the boys in the photo above - Sachin, Sanju and Nandhu (Sachin's brother) as well as Apu and his sister - photos below.
For two years we worked with a local radio station in Newcastle and Gateshead, NE1fm, to produce a monthly radio show called No Excuse which focuses on some of the problems experienced by local people and seeks to offer a variety of solutions and information about local organisations offering support. In 2012 we made several programmes as live panel discussions at Crisis Skylight in Newcastle. No Excuse has covered subjects such as Racism and Hate Crime, Problem Drinking, Eating Disorders, Homelessness, Financial Crises, Domestic Abuse and Ageism. Almost all of the shows are still available as podcasts - No Excuse
There are always more ideas lurking, but these three are live and functioning. Please get in contact if you want to know more - we also have a Facebook page that could be more lively if you join us there.
The objectives of The Kittiwake Trust are: To advance education for the public benefit including by donations of books and other items to not-for-profit organisations and school libraries, a multilingual library and support of other projects in such ways as the trustees see fit.
free books - free minds
Some years ago Staples in the Netherlands donated a huge supply of stationery items which mainly go to local small charities, community groups, homework clubs and other organsations. Friends collect toiletries which are passed on to women's refuges, Making Winter Warmer and various organisations working with teenage mothers, organizations supporting homeless people and special appeals at Christmas.We also collect items that were left on some local bus services and redistribute the unclaimed items to people in need in the areas where we work.
In March 2016, the Bradford Bikery took over the local branch of Borderline Books which was started a year earlier by Incommunities. In the longer term it is hoped that more and more BookSpaces will open in different parts of the country. Please contact books[at]borderlinebooks [dot]org if you would like to know more about the possibility of starting a BookSpace in your area. We are particularly interested in seeing new branches run by people leaving prison, as the project affords a wonderful range of opportunities for work experience in many different fields and would also give the people running it plenty of scope for putting their own stamp on an individual BookSpace.
www.borderlinebooks.org
To donate to this project via Paypal, please visit our Total Giving page.
In August 2015 we opened the Multilingual Library in Eldon Garden, Newcastle upon Tyne.
We currently have around over 8000 books in more than 75 languages (and Geordie), including a good selection of bilingual books for children. We hope that parents will read to their children in their native tongue - and teach them to read and write it - and the children, who will be learning English at school, can read to their parents in English, so they can all teach each other.
We hope to bring together people from all the different communities around Newcastle and Gateshead and hope that they will take charge of the sections relating to their mother tongues.
Books in English include local history, British and colonial history, history of languages, Black history, novels and poetry by writers from around the world.
Reactions have been wonderfully positive; we learn fascinating snippets about languages, and meet people from all over the world who are delighted to find themselves represented here. We are building up a database of information on the language courses available in the area and hope to be able to match up tutors and prospective learners of languages not yet offered.
We hold Story-time events on Saturday afternoons - the Polish and Arabic groups run monthly, with other events in French, Chinese and whatever languages people offer to do for us.
We are also preparing presentations about world languages which we hope will also be of use to schools. - We are not short of ideas and plans!
If you are interested in joining our team of volunteers from 12 different countries, please contact us: kittiwake [at] multilinguallibrary.org.uk It's a great way of learning a little of a new language, or of practising your English.
To donate via Paypal, please visit our Total Giving page.
Books in English include local history, British and colonial history, history of languages, Black history, novels and poetry by writers from around the world.
Reactions have been wonderfully positive; we learn fascinating snippets about languages, and meet people from all over the world who are delighted to find themselves represented here. We are building up a database of information on the language courses available in the area and hope to be able to match up tutors and prospective learners of languages not yet offered.
We hold Story-time events on Saturday afternoons - the Polish and Arabic groups run monthly, with other events in French, Chinese and whatever languages people offer to do for us.
We are also preparing presentations about world languages which we hope will also be of use to schools. - We are not short of ideas and plans!
If you are interested in joining our team of volunteers from 12 different countries, please contact us: kittiwake [at] multilinguallibrary.org.uk It's a great way of learning a little of a new language, or of practising your English.
To donate via Paypal, please visit our Total Giving page.
Kerala Kids
Our current governing document does not allow us to collect for the children in our charity's name, but we will gladly put you in contact with the organisation in India who are distributing the school funds.
Friends sponsored the boys in the photo above - Sachin, Sanju and Nandhu (Sachin's brother) as well as Apu and his sister - photos below.
It helps if people are able to commit to sponsoring a child for a longer period - when a sponsor drops out we are faced with the dilemma of not being able to assure the parents that their son or daughter will be able to continue at the school.
The exam results we were sent recently show that all the children are doing very well in school and their command of English is impressive. The school fees are so paltry compared to the cost of life in the UK and Europe, and it means so much to these families.
Unfortunately, under the terms of our Charity registration we are not able to take donations via the Kittiwake Trust bank account (we are not yet set up to support overseas projects), so some of us continue to support these children and ask our friends for donations on an informal basis. We hope in future to change our rules so we can raise more funds - they do so well - one girl got 100% in her exams!
Unfortunately, under the terms of our Charity registration we are not able to take donations via the Kittiwake Trust bank account (we are not yet set up to support overseas projects), so some of us continue to support these children and ask our friends for donations on an informal basis. We hope in future to change our rules so we can raise more funds - they do so well - one girl got 100% in her exams!
There are always more ideas lurking, but these three are live and functioning. Please get in contact if you want to know more - we also have a Facebook page that could be more lively if you join us there.
