KHARPP Fundraiser for safe homes in Ukraine

Many attendees at this year’s Islay Book Festival event with Jen Stout were gripped by Jen’s recounting of her experiences in Ukraine, and of the bravery and strength of Ukrainians in the face of relentless attacks by Russian forces.

Many who heard Jen speak, or who have followed the plight of Ukraine in recent years, have asked how best they can provide support. Jen has shared with us a fundraiser for KHARPP in memory of her friend David Knowles, a journalist who covered many stories from the conflict. David also had links to Islay, and in fact now rests at Kilnaughton.

David founded the now-very-famous ‘Ukraine: The Latest’ podcast, and was a huge supporter of KHARPP. The charity’s founder Ada was recently on the podcast explaining how desperate the situation is for people fleeing the fighting in the east now; her tiny team try to find them houses, fix up windows and floors, but it’s overwhelming – her interview’s the second half of this episode if you’d like to find out more.

If you’d like to donate to KHARPP you can find the fundraiser here:

Support us with Argyll Community Lottery

We’ve launched an Argyll Community Lottery page! As a charity, the Islay Book Festival relies solely on funding from our sponsors and the generosity of the public. You can now support us in a fun way by purchasing Argyll Community Lottery tickets here: https://www.argyllcommunitylottery.co.uk/support/islay-book-festival.

Tickets cost only £1, with a draw every Saturday night. Each ticket has a 1 in 50 chance to win, with prizes ranging from free extra tickets to £25,000. When someone chooses us as their cause, 50% goes to us, 20% to admin costs, 20% to prizes and the remaining 10% is shared between all the other good causes registered with the lottery, so it means it benefits other local charities as well.

We hope many of you will choose to support us this way, and wish you good luck in the lottery. Gun robh math agaibh!

Charity whisky auction for Down’s Syndrome Association

Many of you may know Orla, Islay Book Festival’s youngest volunteer whose principal role is to charm the authors! Orla is a very cute three-year-old, and she also happens to have Down’s Syndrome.

At this year’s festival, Orla worked her magic again and managed to schmooze Ian Rankin into signing a couple of whisky bottles for our raffle (not that she drinks them herself!). The winner of the raffle prize has kindly offered to auction it off as a charity bottle in aid of Down’s Syndrome Association, and you can find it listed at Royal Mile Whisky Auctions, one of Edinburgh’s online auction sites.

Continue reading “Charity whisky auction for Down’s Syndrome Association”

With thanks to our sponsors

We promise not to overload your inboxes!