Architecture for Humanity UK

Those of you who have filled out the membership details form will be recieving the newsletter shortly, those of you who haven’t please see attached PDF…

afh-newsletter-sept_rd-version-4.pdf

Projects, like buses, tend to come along several at a time at random. Well this time the projects have been coming in thick and fast and we need your help more than ever to make them a success. There are definite projects, likely projects and initial enquiries out there at the moment and listed below, without going into too much detail, is the top 10!

At No. 1..

It’s Fareshare, Bermondsey.

FareShare is the national charity working to relieve food poverty by providing quality food and other support services to organisations working with disadvantaged people in the community. A Training centre is being set up to train volunteers in food preparation and fork lift truck driving. Many volunteers may have previously been service users of the charities FareShare supports. The Employability Programme offers recognised vocational qualifications (GNVQ/BTEC), enabling participants to gain confidence, skills and work experience in a supporting environment. AFH UK have provided a pro bono multidisciplinary design service, with Architecture, Structures and M+E input.  The project is on site and is due to be completed by the end of October. Please refer to Project pages for plans etc.Having nearly finished on site we need to put together an aftercare package to analyse what the end users and client thought of our service and design so we can evaluate our performance and continue to support our client wherever possible. So if you know what SPSS is or know how to write a questionnaire and can evaluate the responses please email the info@afhuk.org address and make yourself known. Thanks

At No. 2..

Gyetiase Eye Clinic, Ghana

A small team is now assembled for the Ashanti Development’s scheme in the village of Gyetiase in the Ashanti Region of Ghana but we really need a sustainability consultant – if you are one and are interested in getting involved in this great scheme you know what to do (and please note the project name on your email).

Yes there’s a 3rd..

Euston Shelter Reception Fit out for St Mungo’s, London

Great design opportunity for an Interior designer or Architect in Central London to help St Mungo’s. An initial site visit is to be arranged shortly and we need a keen volunteer to lead the design, please email the info@ address and note the project name on your email.

And 4th..

K-12 School, Western Frontier Province, Pakistan

This scheme for the a school in an impoverished refugee area of Pakistan is for the Ameena Apa Jee Welfare Trust. The scheme is at the earliest of its stages and a team is to be put together over the coming weeks. If you are from that region of Pakistan, or are an Afghan Architect or have experience of working in that region your skills and input will be vital.. please get in touch.

And of course there is a 5th definite project – Crisis Open Christmas..

More info will follow but this will be the best year yet.

As mentioned at the top of the page there are definite projects, those above, and there are probable projects such as:

6 – Eco School South Africa

7 – Community Centre, Jamaica

8 – Dairy, Sri Lanka

and there are top secret projects that i can’t even tell you about yet!

 9 – very exciting planning application

10 – Competition in 2009 related to the above

and as well as all this we have another Lecture Series that will be announced in the coming weeks. We will do our utmost to keep everybody up to date on all these via this page and the newsletter..

Our stand at 100% Detail this year was the best so far,  and the professionalism of this years team of designers, builders and volunteers was second to none. As a result we have had a large response from the public, both in terms of potential new projects as well as enquiries from many new members.All of us here at AfH UK – the Trustee group and the Working Group – would like to express our wholehearted thanks to all those involved.

The concert is raising funds for the great work that Ashanti Developments do in Ghana, details below:

played by Robert Gibbs, Adrian Bradbury,

AFH UK will once again be at the 100% detail exhibition at Earl’ s Court this weekend, from the evening of Thursday 18th to Sunday 21st September. We are stand number U44 which, with many thanks to the hard work of Jana Rock and team, and the kind backing of Make Architects promises to be better than ever, so please come along and see what we have been up to for the last 12 months and the exciting projects that are in the pipeline…

Please see http://www.100percentdetail.co.uk/ for more information.

Gyetiase Eye Clinic, Ghana

Ashanti Development’s mission is to relieve poverty and promote health and development in and around the village of Gyetiase in the Ashanti Region of Ghana by means including the provision of safe and accessible water.

During the summer of 2007, over two hundred Ashanti men contributed their labour free of charge to build the ground floor of a two-storey clinic/hostel in Gyetiase. Building costs were cut substantially, and the work was finished in record time. The new building will be used for several purposes. First, it will be staffed by a state registered midwife or nurse, who will provide general healthcare and teach the villagers about health through occasional workshops. Second, it will provide a base for specialist eye care health workers; Ashanti Development is currently sponsoring two village women for five months training at Kumasi Komfo Anonkye Hospital. When their course is complete, they will live in Gyetiase, provide general eye care and screen the villagers for cataracts and other operable sicknesses. Kumasi Hospital will then send its mobile van to the clinic to perform multiple cataract or other eye operations. Operations will be funded thanks to the generosity of UK opticians, Spec Savers. London Spec Savers Branches have offered to finance one thousand cataract operations, making an enormous difference to the recipients’ quality of life. Spec Savers will also provide a full range of eye testing equipment for the clinic, together with recycled, graded, second-hand spectacles from their London stores.In time, the clinic will also be used to enhance the training of outreach health workers, trained at Ashanti Development’s expense and stationed in many of the villages around Gyetiase. These health workers will be equipped with mobile phones and able to summon hospital transport when necessary.

Finally, the second floor, which has still to be built, will be used to house teachers and other volunteer workers from the UK who may visit Gyetiase from time to time – This is the floor with which we are tasked to design

 How you can help

We are forming a team to work on thye scheme ad are keen for volunteers with expertise or previous experience of working in Southern Ghana to contact us. We also need 2 part qualified architects who would be interested in helping the design team and an expert in grey water systems. If you are a construction professional from Ghana or speak the local language of Twi do contact us too at the info@ address.

More information about our client on this project can be found at: 

http://www.ashanti-development.org/,

More projects coming soon…