Freedom Rd residents had several costs that they needed to meet so the project could go ahead: materials for the workshops, public liability insurance (a condition from the council for closing the road), postage to Nicaragua and Australia and room hire for one of the meetings held. We also wanted to send some funds to Esteli to help them cover their costs.

We decided to hold a benefit gig at Walkley Community Centre in March, which could also raise awareness about the project. This was a great sucess, thanks to live acts Service Users, Silverwheel and Fuego Mexicano and DJs Dan Heller, le coq speedcortif and Jess the Cat and of course everyone who came and helped out. one of the highlights was when Luis Emilio, the ambassador from Esteli addressed the crowd in Spanish and led us in the Nicaraguan national anthem (see Connections for more details) We raised £190.

Fuego Mexicano	Fuego Mexicano

Service Users	Service Users	Le Coq Speedcoretif

Luis Emilio addressess the crowd Terry Brown translates	Dancing

Fundraising Meal
Because of the timescale we had to send our parcels by courier which cost more than we had so we held another fundraising event on Friday May 19th. Helen Stathers, Krishna Alageswaran and Roanna Heller cooked a three course Latin American style meal for 9 guests who each paid £10. The food and company were excellent, we had pina coladas and melon for starters, followed by trtillas with refried beans, spainish tortilla, green beans, guacamole, roasted peppers, garlic mushrooms and other dishes... the desserts were amazing, vegan chocolate cake, a summer pudding a lots of cream. Thanks to everyone who cooked and everyone who came.

Plant sale
We made £68 at the plant sale on the day of the party (see Freedom Rd Party), thanks Jude Warrendar for organising it and to everyone who took part.