We're off to Wychwood Festival with Hope House

This weekend World Vision will be joining our friends at Wychwood Festival to help them celebrate their 10th birthday. We’ll be bringing a merry troupe of artists, events, experiences and our perpetual orange glow of hope for children who are living in the world’s hardest places. Ruby Sweeney, who’s working with World Vision at festivals this summer, tells us more.

crowd_landscape.jpg

By Ruby Sweeney

Nominated as The Best Family Festival in the UK Festival Awards year after year, Wychwood is a family-friendly festival, set beneath the Prestbury Hills. With more than 100 bands on stage over the festival weekend, a Kids Literature Festival, Roald Dahl Museum, comedy and poetry sessions, a Real Ale festival, unmissably great food and so much more. We're really excited to join our friends to debut Hope House.

Hope House is a multi-sensory, interactive walk through of life in Ethiopia from the famine in 1984 through to present day. A journey of discovery and hope amidst the despair and fear, Hope House shows how World Vision’s long-term work helped millions of children and their families, allowing communities to flourish and children to live life in all its fullness. Hope House is truly a unique, thought-provoking, sometimes heartbreaking, but always hopeful experience.

Festival goers will also have the opportunity to take part in another World Vision experience, Calabash, over at the Mountainside venue on Saturday and Sunday. Visitors to Calabash will be transported to Sierra Leone to hear remarkable and inspirational stories of children living in the world’s hardest places and how World Vision has helped and empowered them.

We’re also thrilled to have our Artist Ambassador Paul Ewing performing at the festival, straight off the back of his recent trip to see World Vision's work and meet his sponsored child in Cambodia. Hailed by Marcella Detroit as ‘(a) modern-day Marvin Gaye’, Paul will be joined by the incredible UK Soul Ensemble, whose members have collaborated with artists such as Whitney Houston, Cece Winans, Donnie McClurkin and George Michael.

Back by popular demand, our Artist Ambassador Elizabeth McGovern will be performing with her band Sadie & The Hotheads, following the release of the bands highly anticipated third album Still Waiting and special guest appearance to famed English super group Mike and the Mechanics on the 25th anniversary tour The Living Years.

sadie.jpgElizabeth’s Sadie has received acclaim as infusing “personality and charm… holding the centre stage with a warm mischievous smile”, while her zany and often heartfelt lyrics define the band’s idiosyncratic music.

World Vision has always had a brilliant time whenever we’ve gone to festivals to meet our wonderful supporters and supporters-to-be. This year we’re looking forward to adding more to the World Vision-Wychwood family! So whether you’re rocking out or chilling out, we’d love you to come and say “hello” to us. We’re the ones in the orange tent rockin’ the orange t-shirts!

Wychwood takes place at Cheltenham Racecourse from Friday 30 May – Sunday 1 June and some tickets are still available, so book now at www.wychwoodfestival.com!

Indonesia tsunami: The children who have lost everything

Ten-year-old Olivia lost everything she owned during the Indonesia earthquake and tsunami - including her favourite toy.

Indonesia tsunami: Aid worker's diary of desperation and hope

"Living in a disaster-prone country like Indonesia, I’m not a stranger to scenes of grief, but the devastation brought by the recent earthquake and tsunami in Palu was unbearable to fathom."

Back to school: From binding books to reading them

Day in and day out, 12-year-old Mohsin would work 10-hour shifts hauling around huge piles of books, desperate to know what was written inside of them.

Tania's story: Head of the family but still a child

Instead of going to school, Tania spent many of her days peeling piles of icy shrimp - squatting for eight-hour shifts at a local fish depot.