LSI Has a Heart - The Shoe Box Appeal

Shoe Box Appeal

Christmas is usually thought of us a special time spent with family and friends, however, for homeless people or those at risk of becoming homeless it can be particularly isolating and lonely.


This Christmas the staff at LSI Portsmouth decided to support The Society of St James’ Shoebox Appeal. LSI staff filled shoeboxes with small gifts such as warm clothing items, toiletries and food and wrapped them up to be given to homeless people across the city to show them love and support.


We managed to donate a total of 31 shoeboxes of gifts which were all gratefully received by the staff of the All Saints Hostel run by The Society of St James.

Thank you to everyone who donated!

Update May 2017.  LSI Portsmouth had a bake off last month (April) and managed to raise another £168 (because we are all greedy lol). Hopefully, there will be another one very soon. 

The Gig - The Uncountables Return

Continuing from yesterday's blog about our annual ‘Great LSI Bake Off’ to raise money for a local charity called ‘Home-Start’, the day continued with the charity theme when the FANTASTICAMAZING Uncountables played their gig at the Edge of the Wedge with DJ Hugo.  Another £300 pounds was raised, and a night of fun, music, singing and dancing ensued. 

The gig was sold out with all 100 tickets being sold (and lots of blackmail going on).  The Band: Lewis Richards, Alan Daysh, Tom Easey and Will Munroe played two sets to an incredible audience of teachers, students and friends of the band and LSI. DJ Hugo played between the sets and then kept the crowd happy until closing time at 1 am.  All in all, Thursday 1st December was a highlight of the year and all in a good cause.

 

Looking Back Over 2015

2015

What a fantastic year we have had this year. Happy, sad, funny and interesting. Here is a round up of all the fabulous things we have been involved in this year.

January:

We started off the year discovering how many languages in total our teachers speak, with a great little info graphic. Then came the sad part where we said goodbye to our lovely Bill Phillips, a hugely popular teacher who has been with the school for 20 years. He decided it was time to stop, but he is now a host family. We also had some of our staff start on a management course. Probably one of the most fun things to happen in the school this month was some of our teachers started learning Arabic with Arif.  See stories here

February:

In February, we welcomed back an old friend, a student who attended the school over 25 years ago. And we said a temporary goodbye to Hannah who started her maternity leave to have her and Adam’s baby. We were delighted to hear that Allan Gray’s (who used to be the marketing director here) G Boutique hotel had won yet another award.  See stories here

March:

We launched our first quiz, ‘What type of student are you?’ which proved very popular, and we finally launched our new study centre, with Becky telling us on video what was available. We also had another rooftop interview this time with Belle telling us about the LSI Social Programme. As always, the generous side came out for Comic Relief day and there was a charity cake bake. See stories here

April:

In April we had a celebrity visit us in the executive centre and gave us a lovely interview. Paul Rosenmöller is a well know TV face in Holland, dealing with hot political topics. There was also a great little story about LSI’s involvement with Karaoke.  See stories here

May:

Once again the LSI team were out supporting charity, this time with a fun run in Oxford along with a lot of other language school’s teachers and students. However mostly May was dominated by the General Election. One of our teachers Jeremy made a lovely presentation which explained how are elections are carried out in the UK.  See stories here

June:

In June we finally revealed the long awaited reveal of LSI’s fantastic facelift. For months we lived in a building covered by netting and scaffolding, but it was most definitely worth it to finally see the fantastic new face. Once again we focussed back on the many language skills our teachers have by showing an interview with two of our bilingual teachers.  See stories here

July:

Quite a few events of note happened this month. Firstly our sweet little Ellis I Bear arrived at the school, hoping to go travelling with as many people as he can. Lovely Hannah (teacher and marketing lady) had her baby, and then the incredible Americas Cup race event happened in Portsmouth.See stories here

August:

Yet another charity event happened in August, this time football. A wonderful video interview with Amelia and two lovely Arabic students and another big event in Portsmouth; Victorious Festival.  See stories here

September:

England was agog with Rugby mania but closer to home was a milestone in LSI’s history. This year we reached the grand old age of 30 years! We decided to celebrate it this year with two parties and a video showing the journey from where we started to where we are today.  See stories here

October:

The Halloween theme seemed to dominate most things in October. So to continue with the fun theme we made a quiz for people to find out how well they knew Portsmouth. This proved incredibly popular and was taken a few thousand times. Amelia interviewed two wonderful Chinese students and our Vice Principal and his band headlined a refugee charity gig.  See stories here

November:

Joel rounded up a very successful year for him by being promoted to GE/Exam ADOS. One of our teachers had a surprise (to us) wedding. We had not one but two charity events, one was a bake off in aid of the most wonderful charity in this area – the Rowans Hospice, the other was the Great South Run which not only included teacher Jenni (running for DEBRA), but also two Swiss students, who talked with Jenni in an interview about their experience. Finally, being November, it couldn’t pass without a visit to the traditional fireworks display held every year in Cosham.  See stories here

Class Charity Week!

Recently a class of students did an amazing thing, here they explain what they did.

"Two weeks ago our class organised a charity week for collecting some money for the Rowans Hospice in Portsmouth.  Over a whole week long we offered to other students some activities.  On the first day there was an amazing auction, where we purchased a lot of lovely things.  The day after we made a quiz for all the students who were interested in it, and for all sport fans we prepared a table tennis tournament and a pool tournament, each activity cost £1.

On Friday finally there was the ceremony of all winners of the activities during the week and we declared how much money we collected. With this charity week over £200! To organise these activities and to practise them was always a lot of fun and we all had a good experience."

Luis
Victor
Omar
Lama
Valeria
Veronika
Eva

The Great South Run with Jenni, Lara and Annabelle.

At the end of October, thousands and thousands of people joined together to run ten miles for fun and for charity. The seafront was filled with runners, supporters, charities and volunteers. 

One of our teachers Jenni trained hard for months before to run for a charity very close to her heart DEBRA and with such determination managed to raise over £750 for her cause. Her passion for the event persuaded two students in her class to also join in on the run.  Here is their story:

To see more details about the run click here to go to the official website

Kicking Off for a Good Cause

Last month, as part of the LSI Social Programme, we entered our very own football team into an 'all day' football tournament, to raise money for the Feel Yourself Campaign, which aims to promote awareness in younger men and women about the importance of checking for breast and testicular cancer. To say we were going in as the underdogs was certainly an understatement having never really played together before. However, the players were focused, ambitious, and ready to work hard. Our team comprised of:
Sercan (Turkey)
Thomas (Swiss German)
Patrick (Swiss German)
Basim (Saudi Arabia)
Abdullah (Saudi Arabia)
Oscar (Colombia)
Abdulrahman Kicking Off for a Goo(Saudi Arabia)
Kazuki (Japan)

The group also included one of our teachers, John Hick, who was the team manager, with Belle as photographer, and a whole group of fans. The team looked absolutely fantastic wearing our specially printed LSI Portsmouth t-shirts, in the school colour of royal blue, and after a 30 minute warm-up, the team were ready to play their first game.

For their first game, the team was quick-paced and eager, but their formation lacked structure and they required a stronger tactical approach. Under the shrewd coaching of the team manager, John, the team quickly found their footing, and managed to narrowly beat Rocker Soccer FC with a 2-1 result.

The team then went from strength to strength, with another win, an unfortunate narrow defeat, and finally a complete victory over Strong Island Records, defeating them 10-3!!! The huge goal difference from the last game meant that LSI Portsmouth came top of their league, and qualified for the semi-finals.

For our semi-final game, we faced ILDFC, and really put on an impressive performance. When the final whistle blew, it was a 3-3 draw, and the game went to a penalty shoot out. Our goalkeeper Sercan was incredible and managed to save a few shots, before going on to win the final penalty!!! (6-5 pens)

During the final game, the team were incredible, but again the game finished on a draw, and the team had to once again face a penalty shoot out. Although the team were so close to claiming victory, we had to settle for second place, being defeated by Tobacco Dock, 2-3 on penalties.

After the tournament, the crew headed to a local pub for a buffet, some drinks and to receive their 'runners up' medals. John even scooped the Manager of the Tournament award, which was thoroughly deserved. It was such a wonderful day out, a great opportunity for our students to meet local friends, and to raise money for a brilliant cause. To the LSI Portsmouth football team, well done for your amazing efforts, and for helping raise money for the Feel Yourself Campaign. Also, a huge well done to Sercan Temel, our goalkeeper, and Man of the Tournament!

To find out more about the charity, please visit http://www.feelyourselfcampaign.org/

Definitions:
underdogs - A person / team expected to lose
understatement - saying something less than it is.
quick-paced - fast
formation - the assembly / arranging a group
structure - something built or constructed
shrewd - astute / perceptive
footing - established position / stability
impressive - admirable
claiming - to say it is a fact / to take it as a right
to settle - to agree / to accept
headed - a direction
runners up - to come in second place

Be a Stamp Collector - for a really good cause

Everyone loves receiving mail - the hard solid kind (as long as it isn't a bill), and as more and more of us buy online, although the letter writing industry has been hugely reduced in recent years, the Post Office is still going strong delivering all those lovely parcels.  So, now, rather than throwing the wrapping away, help us (or help the charity directly) and save those stamps.

Against Breast Cancer is collecting all donated stamps, and as they explain on their site, they can receive money which can then go towards the fight against breast cancer.

So you now know what to do - go shopping online (guilt free) and save the stamps!  If you are in LSI give them over to (Elly or Anna) reception, if you are not, then read below and maybe send them to Against Breast Cancer.

"We're raising money by recycling postage stamps. Whether they're British or overseas, new or used, send them to us and we'll turn your old postage stamps into funds to support breast cancer research.

Stamps are sold by weight. As a general guideline we can expect to receive around £20 for one kilogram of stamps, so do encourage your friends and family, at home and abroad, to save their stamps for us.

How to donate used stamps:

Please cut the stamp off the envelope. When cutting, leave approximately 1cm of envelope bordering each stamp. The rest of the envelope can be discarded (which will make it cheaper to send)."

Click this link to go to the site

A Knight in Shining Armour

A few months ago, a human bundle of energy arrived at LSI Portsmouth for an Executive course.  Massimilano Fanni Canelles!  Max was extraordinary, he just didn't stop.  It very quickly became clear who this man was, and what his passion was.  He is an Italian doctor who runs a non profit organisation that gives aid in war torn countries.  He is so passionate about his organisation, that he spreads this to all those who come into contact.  In fact his home stay (Maggie Paton) is going out to Sri Lanka with him to help in September.

At LSI Portsmouth, we were so impressed with what he does that we are giving over August to his organisation.  The social events we are holding throughout August will try to raise money to go towards the fantastic work.   

Max took a few minutes to introduce himself to readers of the blog::

'My name is Max and I come from Italy. I am learning English because it is important for any business or activity. English is the international language.  I came to Portsmouth because it is a beautiful city where you can experience the real English culture and have good relationships with wonderful people.  

Back in Italy I am a doctor and professor and president of a non government organization that brings aid around the world.'

He was kind enough to leave us with a lot of information and some pictures about his organisation @uxilia.

@uxilia was founded in 2003, an Italian non-profit organization that carries out voluntary activities.  @uxilia dreams of a world where everyone has rights and opportunities.
They work in developing countries and in Italy. Their goal is to create durable and sustainable solutions to end the vicious cycle of poverty and injustice.

They focus their energies on health care, welfare, education, training, micro credit, emergencies, advocacy and the promotion of human rights.

Max here with friends and with Maggie - his homestay.

The following links give more information about his organisation:
http://www.socialnews.it/category/english-socialnews/
http://www.auxiliachildren.org/index.php/en/

This video gives a clear picture of what they are trying to achieve.

We hope anyone reading this will help us support Max with his excellent work.

Making a Difference - Supporting Rowans Hospice.

As a group of people here at LSI Portsmouth, we are aware that we are lucky enough to lead relatively privileged lives in comparison to many in other countries or even at home who are less fortunate.  It was felt in light of this that we would like to support a charity and hopefully make a difference in some people's lives for the better.

So today we would like announce that we are proud to support Rowans Hospice.
The Rowans Hospice is a very special charity that offers hope and some respite for so many in times of severe illness, that may not have the resources otherwise.

'The Rowans Hospice is a local charity dedicated to improving the lives of people with cancer and other life-shortening illnesses.
Established since 1994, we have helped more than 7,000 patients and families across Portsmouth and South East Hampshire.
We provide our services free from discrimination and free of charge, but each year it costs £4.8 million to continue our vital work.
If you are a patient, carer or have an interest in hospice care, we invite you to explore this site for information, support and ways to get involved.

(from the Rowans Website)

For more information about this charity, have a look at the website link below (or the icon in the side bar).  We feel it is a really worthy charity and we are delighted to support it.

Click here for more information