Charity | We Are Wonderland

12 years on and still doing it for the love.

All for Charity

Since day one, Wonderland has been run entirely by volunteers who all donate their time, skills and a whole lot of love to hosting events and getting the word out there.

Since 2010, we have worked in aid of our small and mighty partner charity Wonder Years Centre of Excellence (WYCE).

We have raised over £30,000 so far.

Since 2007

We've come quite a long way since our very first party in our friend Alice's back garden.

We've transformed spaces, thrown indoor festivals and popped up at countless other club nights to bring colour, charm, tea, cakes and tunes (and just a touch of the ridiculous) to the proceedings.

We've also been lucky enough to visit The Gambia to see, first-hand, the amazing work of WYCE.

We're hoping to make our 11th anniversary another phenomenal year for donations to the organisation.

WYCE

WYCE is located in the village of Madina Salam, The Gambia.

This tiny charity has a big vision to make the village safe, healthy and sustainable for the whole community. They provide free education in the school, free healthcare in the clinic, a stable job for many villagers in the working lodge and malaria support for the wider area.

Relying on donations and volunteer visits, WYCE is helping the area become self-sustainable, as charitable donations are invested in enterprises such as shops, a bee farm and a cycle scheme, enabling locals to travel for work and education - securing livelihoods and ensuring a bright future for Gambians both now and in years to come.

Find out more

wyce.org.uk

Where the money goes

2012 - Wonderland were asked to specifically fund the completion of a school building and refurbish the school dining hall. The crew travelled to Madina Salam to help begin construction, where we produced over 500 concrete blocks that went both into the building of the school and were sold to local builders to help generate income.

2013-2015 - Wonderland raised enough money to entirely fund the building of another school building.

2015 - Wonderland donated funds to pay for a solar panel project - electricity is now being supplied to classrooms and the clinic, where medication can now properly be stored and care improved. Also, the children of the school can make use of the wonderful facilities after dark, with homework club and after school activities.

2016 - Wonderland donated £3912 to pay for another two new school buildings, which were completed and opened in February the following year.

Feb 2017 - The crew returned to The Gambia and built a playground for the kids of the village - with a see-saw, tyre swings, parallel bars and climbing pyramid. We also painted the new school classrooms and got to cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony!

Jan 2018 - Donated £8000 raised throughout 2017 to WYCE, along with ongoing funding of school dinners for the students.

On top of that

Africa Jeniba - In 2012, we founded a jewellery and accessory project that sells beautifully simple wares crafted from local materials by the women of the village, and pays them a proper fee. At the workshops, the residents learn to make necklaces, brooches, bags, bunting and more from local materials which will then be sold on at market, in the lodge, and back here in the UK - including at all our events!

WYCE Shop - We paid the rent for 1 year on a new shop for WYCE in one of the larger towns in The Gambia, allowing them to sell their products and services (such as bike repair) with profit going back to the charity.

Textile Workshop - We ran a batik workshop where we hired a local expert to come in and teach local women this wonderful dying technique.

WYCE Lodge - We painted, decorated and generally spruced-up the WYCE lodge to make it more homely for future visitors.

Upkeep - Funding goes towards the upkeep of the four new school classrooms built through Wonderland donations, as well as other buildings such as teacher accommodation, classrooms and the school dining area.