June meeting and Sponsored Swim this week!

The next meeting of OLAT is on Tuesday 25 June at 7 pm at Oxford Town Hall and on Zoom.  

This meeting will focus on our Sponsored Swim next Friday 28 June, 4 pm to 7 pm – help needed to set up from 3 pm – please contact me if you can help!.  Please see flyer attached and display if you can.  This is our biggest fund raising event of the year and is to support the visit of the musicians and also to support NECAT (Nicaragua Education Culture and Arts Trust).

We will also be preparing for the exciting visit of the two young classical musicians from Nicaragua to play in the Youth Twinning Orchestra in July.  Cesar and Jose will arrive on Thursday 4 July and return on Thursday 18 July.  Young musicians aged 12 to 25 from Oxford’s twin cities will rehearse together 8 – !3 July, culminating in a performance of Carmina Burana at Oxford Town Hall on Saturday 13 July, 7 pm!  Cesar on Cello and Jose on Violin will play in the orchestra and also visit schools and community centres.  It will be an amazing experience for the young musicians and good to have a cultural exchange from Nicaragua!  Many thanks to their hosts for enabling this to happen – Sue Matthew, Jan Marshall, Dr Latifa Noman and Angela Alban.  The orchestra will be led by John Lubbock, conductor of Orchestra of St John’s:

Carmina Burana – Youth Twinning concert – 7pm at Town Hall, Oxford – Orchestra of St John’s | Taking classical music out into the community (osj.org.uk)

You can book now – I’ve got my tickets!

We are going to hold the lovely Misa Campesina at Blackfriars on Sunday 1 September, at the 9.30 Mass.

Thank you for your continued interest and support for León!  Hope to see you on 25 June, all welcome!  Or at the Sponsored Swim 28th!

sponsored swim Friday 28 June 2024

Our Fund-Raising Swim is on Friday 28 June 2024, 4 pm – 7 pm at our usual pool – Hinksey Heated Outdoor Pool, Abingdon Road, Oxford OX1 4RP.  We are very grateful to More and the staff at Hinksey Pool for their hospitality. 

This year we are raising funds to bring two young classical musicians from Nicaragua to Oxford to play Carmina Burana with the Youth International Twinning Concert on 13 July 7 pm at Oxford Town Hall.  We are also raising funds for NECAT, an educational charity for disadvantaged children in a poor area of León.  

This is our most important fund-raising event of the year!  We really need you!  León needs our support more than ever in these challenging times, and we want to keep this link with a city in the global south going!  We can learn from each other and enjoy the Latin American culture!. 

To register, simply email: jen_houston@hotmail.com

 You can ask for donations to go to our JustGiving site, and/or attach your own page to our JustGiving site:  www.justgiving.com/OxfordLeonAssociation

You can swim between 4 pm and 7 pm.  The “official” opening will be at 5 pm.

Please note that if the above time and date are not convenient you can still take part in your own time and location between 28 June and 12 July.

Half of the money raised will go to NECAT – Nicaragua Education Culture Arts Trust:

The Nicaragua Education Culture and Arts Trust, a UK registered charity, raises funds for sponsorship of after-school clubs and other educational projects and for the relief of poverty in impoverished communities in Leon, Nicaragua. The projects use the medium of culture and the arts as a vehicle for this education.

Whether you have taken part in lots of Sponsored Swims and will be trying to equal your personal best, or whether it will be your first time taking part, whatever you raise small or large will help the cultural exchange and also make a big difference to poor children in León and help to keep the centre going!  Refreshments will be provided for swimmers and helpers.  Let’s hope that the sun shines!