Birthday girl

Happy birthday to Maria who celebrated her birthday with all the family at Happy House Kidz Klub.

Mama Sue handed over her birthday gift ... but there's no clue to what was inside. Bet, it was something special for our lovely Maria.

Looks like Natasha sneaked up to take the first peep!

Miles for smiles

Friends Mike Jennison and Amanda Dotch are in training to walk 24 miles witha target of £500 sponsorship for our Happy House.

Mike, who hopes to visit Watamu next year, lives in the North East and he and Amanda have been pounding the pavements in training with walks of up to 15 miles a time, ready for their big step-out nn August 31.

If they reach their £500 target figure, the firm Mike works for, Beaverbrooks, will match that making it up to a total of £1,000.

So if you find yourselves flagging,  Mike and Amanda, just hold the picture of our kids in your heads and you'll find those miles powered by their smiles.

Good luck and a huge thank you to you both.

A favourite place

Visiting the Happy House was one of the highlights of their honeymoon for newlyweds Emma and Richard Hales.

Emma, who has been in touch since returning home and is planning to send a parcel to our family, says:

 "We came to Watamu on our honeymoon from the West Midlands.

We wanted to get out and about when in Kenya so we had a good look at the Turtle Bay website and I found a link to the Happy House.

It may sound silly but I knew Sue would be lovely before I even met her! The blog had a lovely feel to it & the children looked so happy.

The Happy House is fantastically run, is bright and fun and the children are so happy and well cared for. The staff are so friendly too and were more than happy to show us round.

Visiting the Happy House one of our favourite parts of our honeymoon...and I think my husband might of smuggled Harry out in the tuk tuk with us given chance!"

What a lot we got ...

Papa Dave never knows what will be waiting for him when he calls into the Post Office to collect the Happy House mail.

And from the looks of things it was parcels galore!

You are all so generous to our family, sending much need items as well as gifts of things we could never buy in Kenya.

As you know, we want to keep our kids firmly grounded and make sure that they are not spoilt by having too many gifts at any one time, so if you have sent more than one item for your sponsor child some may be kept in store ready for birthday or Christmas.

We are a long way off having out full quota of sponsors (our aim is to build sponsor families of five for each child) so we always need things in stock for children who are not yet sponsored. As in any family, we try to be scrupulously fair to ensure that no one should ever feel left out.

We are still appealing for Christmas gifts so Santa has enough for every child, so please add a Happy House child to your Christmas list. If you get your gift posted in the next couple of months it will be there in plenty of time for a Santa stocktake!

The address is Sue Hayward's Happy House, PO Box 796, Watamu, Kenya, East Africa.

Thank you all for being so very kind ... you only have to look at the kids smiles to know how happy you make them.

 

Young singer's debut CD for Happy House

Blackpool's wonderfully talented Melissa Miles has launched her debut-four track EP, Missa, with all the money raised going to the Happy House. 

Rising start Melissa, winner Blackpool High Schools' Pop Idol 2011, sold the very first copies when she appeared in an all-celebrity line-up at The Secret Garden Party.

Melissa,12, who performs under the stage name Missa is hoping to net £400 from sales of the limited edition album for the Happy House ... where her family sponsor Maria, who Melissa thinks of as her "Happy House sister".

Melissa became the youngest winner of High School's Pop Idol title when she triumphed in the 2011 contest in March. A pupil at St George's High School, she entered right at the last minute .. without any time for rehearsals.

"She absolutely loves to sing and has so much fun when she's on stage it's lovely to see.  The talent just comes from within," said proud mum Karen.

As a finalist in the Big One Talent Contest, Missa was invited to rub shoulders with A-lister and Britain's Got Talent judge David Hasselhoff at the opening of Pleasure Beach Blackpool's Nickelodeon Land.

The four tracks on her debut CD, recorded live,  are Run, Ave Maria, First Time I Ever Saw Your Face and Over the Rainbow.

Melissa, who has wowed audiences with her performance at several Happy House fundraisers,  has grown up surrounded by music. Her mum , who like Melissa, plays the flute and sings " a little"  and her dad, John, is dj at the Soul Suite, Blackpool.

Melissa and her little sister Lauren,10, love following the news from the Happy House and seeing what Maria is getting up to.

"I wanted all the money to go to the Happy House because I really love all the children there and I like to see what's happening on the blog, which sometimes makes me cry.

"It's very special and I hope I'll get to go there one day."

Melissa, you too, are a very special girl with a wonderful and generous talent. We are so touched that you should want to share it with us in this way... we know you are set for a fabulous career.

A huge thank you and lots of love and smiles are coming your way from Sue, Maria and all the Happy House family.

To get your copy of Missa (£4 +p&p) call 0771 101 5002  or email: elizabethgomm@childrenofwatamu.net

*You can listen to Over the Rainbow, set against a backdrop of stills from our wonderful Happy House, by following this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dnNSde-ACE

 

 

How do I look in this?

Now then, what does any girl do when she gets a new dress? A bit of fashion parade, of course!

One-year-old Natasha was the lucky recipient of this colourful little number sent by Andrea Manders, a member of her sponsor family.

As soon as it was on she was strutting her stuff like the next Naomi Campbell proudly showing it off to anyone who would care to look.

But where were the specatators hiding?  Luckily when she toddled into the baby room she found Brian in his cot ...a captive, if not entirely captivated, audience!

The SECRET is success!

There's no longer anything to hide .... The Secret Garden Party lived up to all our expectations to be a fabulously fun day for everyone.

Organised and hosted by Scott J Marks, along with Lowri Williams, Jean Parkes, Sarah Petulengro, Lou Blackledge and  our own Lynn McCluskey and Elizabeth Gomm, the sell-out event was exactly what it promised a day-into-night party to beat them all.... with campers keeping the the action revved up until dawn!

There was a great line-up of entertainment throughout the day from top quality artistes including:

Leye D John who officially opened the event with Mal Ford, who worked tirelessly as compere; Angie Lang, David Wainwright, Laine Kennedy, comedian Mick Miller, Joe Little, Scott J Marks, Tracey Jordan, Missa, Diane Lynn, Hula hoop sensation Marawa, Nancy Langton, Ryan Cregan, DJs and andi Musson  for providing more music, Ryan Cregan, Vickee Lester, Rob Eagle, Katie Melling, Shaduows and Lady Gaga tribute Lisa Jones.

Children's entertainment, facepainting, a wishing tree, holistic therapies stalls and much more ensured an a fantastic day out for all the family.

Andrea Manders, who sponsors Natasha, ran the bottle stall helped by her daughter Ellena and Kathryn Pidcock, who with herr family also sponsors Natasha and Janet, came over from Doncaster to help them, camping with them for the night. The two families have become good friends all thanks to the Happy House!

The money is still coming in and we don't have a final total yet, but three charities be sharing the proceeds - our own Happy House, Parkinsons UK NW Holiday Fund and the Meningitis Trust.

Elizabeth answered lots of question from people wanting to know more about the Happy House and we certainly made some new friends.

Huge thanks to Scott and Robbie for hosting the event at their home and to everyone involved in any way at all with lots of love from all our Happy House family.

PS: A certain young talent launched her debut CD at the event, with all proceeds going to the Happy House. She will be getting the blog slot to herself on Wednesday!