Jennifer Fash, Fundraising & Events coordinator

One of my favourite Actionaid supporters is being properly acknowledged - the King's Theatre Southsea are putting on a huge gala event to celebrate the amazing things Nigel Hearnden has done for ActionAid and other charities. Visit his blog to read about how his wife's death inspired Nigel to walk to Rome, raising £17,000 in the process.

And then if you're anywhere near Southsea (or even if  you're not, actually - he walked to Rome, you can drive to Hampshire!) you should definitely buy a ticket or two for 'Strolling', in which a magician and 15 other great acts will put on a grand gala to celebrate Nigel's achievement.

You can see the first part of our gallery here.
(All photos: AJWhite/ActionAid)

Sophie Anderton flexes her bling for the cameras.

A little comedy before the main event.

Neil Morrissey looks a little less glam. But very sweet.

Toyah Wilcox puts on a pleasingly mad performance.

Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly gave it everything they'd got.

(All photos: AJWhite/ActionAid)

Doors opened at 6 for an amazing 5 1/2 hours of live music. ActionAid volunteers collected change outside the venue

The Futureheads played scaled down versions of hits like 'Hound of Love' and 'The Beginning of The Twist'.

Marcus Brigstocke pulled up a member of the audience for an impromptu beatbox-off!

Mr Hudson brought a Caribbean influence into hit 'Supernova' with kettle drums.

 The crowd getting worked up before Paul Weller...

The Modfather played a mix of old classics and new material which had the whole room jumping. Even the ActionAid volunteers snuck in for a boogie.

The Magic Numbers even started a singalong!

KT Tunstall treated the audience to some brand new material, and joined Seasick Steve onstage at the end of the night for a duet with a flute!

Kerstin Twachtmann, ActionAid youth team web editor

Well, that was pretty intense, wasn't it? There's a great review in The Times, with Peter Paphides saying Paul Weller's 'version of A Town Called Malice was possibly among his best ever'. That was a definite highlight for me, but there were loads of others:

•    Marcus Brigstocke's audience beatboxing competition - they were both really good!

•    Mr Hudson's lo-fi 'Supernova' - with kettle drums...

•    Bill Drummond talking about visiting Haiti in December and getting the audience to sing for the members of his choir who were left dead or disabled by the earthquake.

•    The Futureheads acoustic set.

•    Harry Shearer made a very moving speech. He made the most important point of the night: that if the earthquake had hit LA, 8 or 9 people would probably have died, and that the crisis in Haiti was due to the extreme poverty there. "Don't let your concern for these people end with tonight."

•    Paul Weller. Everything he sang, everything he said, everything he did. Amazing.

•    KT Tungstall's crazy duet with Seasick Steve, playing the flute!

•    Rick Edwards telling the audience to get drunk for Haiti! Unfortunately he was wrong, the bar proceeds didn't go towards the relief effort. Apologies to those with hangovers for Haiti...   

•    Seasick Steve's awesome blues finish to the night.

Thanks so much to everyone who came. Tell us your favourite moments in the comments below!

Katharine MacVine, ActionAid Community Fundraising Officer

Our fundraisers have been busy as ever this month, organising a string of events to raise money for Haiti (and beyond).

Here are just a few highlights:

A young supporter from Cheshire has arranged ActionAid collection boxes for eight shops in his town. He also plans to do an eight hour sit-in in a cupboard box!

De Montfort Union recently held an evening collection and are now planning a fundraiser with cake sales, a Guitar Hero tournament and collection buckets.

Davina Goodchild is walking an epic 2010 miles in 2010 to raise £20,000 for Haiti.

Chris Larkin climbed Kilimanjaro this month to raise funds for ActionAid. He aims to raise £10,000 and is going to sponsor five children in Kenya for 11 years!

Gustav Fenyo's concert in St Mary's Cathedral raised £1841.92

And finally, from studying to space-hopping: a group of AS Level students space-hopped a mile around Wimbledon - in fancy dress - raising £372 for our Haiti appeal. Find out how their hopping went.

If you'd like to organise a fundraising event, we'd love to hear from you! Please email us at events@actionaid.org or call us on 020 7561 7667.

Ghiniya Tharu, Kamaiyan community leader

I first heard we were having visitors from the UK in July 2009. The whole village was eagerly looking forward to their visit and very excited about seeing what our sponsors looked like in person! Before our new friends arrived we helped prepare by getting cement, sand and bricks to the site.

We also formed committees to make sure everything went smoothly for the visitors, that their stay was comfortable, and that we could share our Tharu culture with them.

Before the arrival, local carpenters and masons got a head start on the window frames and doors. Once building began, I would be helping construct my own house.

There was an atmosphere of great anticipation and happiness throughout the village when the visitors arrived, and we made floral garlands as part of a welcome ceremony for them.

It was a great experience for me and all the other villagers. Even though there was a language barrier, the visitors were friendly and kind. They tried their hardest to adjust to us and live like us for a week; I couldn’t help but feel that they are real friends to people like us.

A safe place
This project will bring about a huge change in my family’s life. From now on we can save money on repairs to our old wooden huts after the monsoon, and we won’t have to worry about the fires that used to threaten them. We can invest that money in something more useful, which will help our income.

And our new, permanent house will definitely provide safety for myself and my children when my husband’s not around. My husband, along with most men in the village, migrates to India for work seven to eight months a year, during which time we used to feel insecure, as our huts had no doors or windows. But now we can sleep without worry.

I became very close to all our new friends during their stay, and felt sad when it was time for them to leave. It was really very difficult for me to say goodbye. But now we not only have a beautiful new house, we also know that we have friends and well wishers who, though they live far away, will always remain in our hearts.

Read more about this trip A home from home: Andy's story

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