The Good Life Orphanage

Wonderful fundraiser from Mulberry Bush Nursery Group who support us year on year! Thank you for all that you do, there’s going to be some very cute characters next week!

🎉 Charity Week is coming! 🎉

From Monday 8th June, we’ll be celebrating our annual Charity Week with a fun-filled Fancy Dress Week across all nurseries! 🌟

Children are invited to come dressed as their favourite character - or anything they’d love to be!

We’ll also have exciting visits from Winnie the Pooh, Iggle Piggle and Catboy throughout the week!

This year, we are raising money to replace the life-saving defibrillators outside our nurseries and to continue supporting the wonderful The Good Life Orphanage

If you would like to support our fundraising, donations can be made in nursery or via our JustGiving page (link in comments)

Thank you for your continued support and generosity!

May fundraising efforts are a go!

Eddie (Hattie's Dad) is back to breaking rowing records after last years success. "Following on from breaking a World Indoor Row record last year, the team now aim to break the 36 hours World Continual Ski-Erg record at the WellEnergy Festival in Wimbledon Park on 12-13 June.

Funds raised will once again go to supporting Hattie’s House which is based at The Good Life Orphanage in Kenya. Hattie's House is a specialized therapeutic and respite centre, named in memory of Hattie Dixon who suddenly left us in 2021, provides essential care for vulnerable and disabled children and offers crucial occupational therapy services to the local community."

Please show your support for him in the comments and with any donations you can send his way! Link below.

https://www.justgiving.com/page/eddie-dixon-7?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=WA&utm_campaign=020

Wishing one of our lifelong supporters so much luck - Damien - who is on the Everest Trek for his 50th birthday in order to raise money for the GLO!

Damien and his family have been supporting us for years, including funding the McKenna Transition House which opened in 2014 in honour of his grandparents Johnny and Mary, and Damien's daughter Shannon volunteered with us back in 2016.

Thank you for all that you do Damien, we're rooting for you on this momentous challenge!

Damien's fundraiser for The Good Life Orphanage Help Damien McKenna raise money to support The Good Life Orphanage & SBM School

A long awaited addition to the sensory room at Hattie's House - a beautiful fish tank!

I did a bit of research into the benefits of fish tanks in a therapy context, here's some interesting things I learned. For children specifically, aquarium therapy is gaining popularity as a tool for kids with autism, as the rhythmic movement of fish and soothing sounds of water help regulate the sensory environment and ease sensory overload.

Pediatric therapists have found that fish tanks in waiting areas and consultation rooms help facilitate therapy by promoting stress reduction and encouraging children to engage in the therapeutic process. And some research on "hyperactive" children suggests that aquariums can help improve focus and attention span.

Sharing some photos of Bakari being one of the first children to benefit from it, as you can see he's absolutely loving it.

Our latest newsletter (free to read!), where we share news on some of our older kids taking their first steps into the real world with internships, apprenticeships and some into higher education.

As well as a few updates from the farm, sewing room and a new counsellor joining the Hattie's House team.

It's been a productive start to 2026 over in Kenya.

Four Jobs, One Dream Young People Finding Their Way

We're so grateful to Vicky and Leanne, the Community Champions at Tesco Little Lever, who truly go above and beyond for local groups like ours!

Tesco's Community Champions support amazing causes across Bolton - from school breakfast clubs and library events to Bolton Hospice, Bolton Animal Destitute Centre, Baby Basics, and so much more. They have collection points in store and even a book donation shelf, with all funds raised going directly back into our community.

Vicky and Leanne have been incredible supporters of the GLO and Hattie's House - they provided the cakes for last year's Hoedown, and this year they've had collection buckets at the tills raising funds for us.

Thanks to the generosity of local customers, we've been able to purchase 2 manual sewing machines for our sewing room! These will be invaluable during power cuts, but even more importantly, they'll give our trainees the chance to practice on manual machines as they prepare for their final exams.

Thank you to everyone who donated and to Vicky, Leanne (and to Gaynor who has, as always been hands on helping make all this happen) for your continued support. You're making a real difference!

Our new science block is officially open, and no time has been wasted in making the most it! Watching our kids dive into hands-on experiments and discover the wonders of science has been fantastic.

A huge thank you to everyone who made this possible. This dedicated facility is opening up a world of learning opportunities for our children at SBM school including GLO kids.

Parents and guardians were invited in to visit and have been thrilled to see their children so engaged and inspired.

Here's to nurturing the next generation of scientists, innovators, and problem-solvers!

The GLO has had a very productive start to the new year! So we thought we'd share some of the updates from January:

Growing Our Team: We're thrilled to welcome Md Zipporah who has joined our SBM teaching staff. And Md Anisa joined the HH team as a part-time counsellor.

Student Leadership: Democracy in action! Our students are participating in elections for new school leaders. We're so proud to see them stepping up and engaging in the democratic process.

New Science Lab: Our students have been exploring our new science laboratory. These photos capture them getting familiar with lab safety rules and procedures. Seeing their curiosity and excitement about hands-on learning is wonderful to see.

Practical Skills: Printing lessons are underway, equipping our students with valuable technical skills for their future.

Professional Development: Endricah had the privilege of attending this year's annual conference. Investing in our staff's continued learning means better care for our children.

For our final edition of this year’s 12 Blogs of Christmas series over on our newsletter, we hear directly from Sinéad, who as many of you know took on the role of Director after Mary passed away.

Dedicating numerous hours and so much energy into the project, she shares with us five lessons she will take into 2026.

Thank you again for everyone’s support this year, wishing you a very happy and peaceful year ahead.

Five Things I Have Learned, Sinéad Harding: Twelve Blogs of Christmas 2025

Yesterday on the newsletter we shared Hemed's reflection of 2025, read all about it on the link below!

Hemed's Reflection on 2025 Twelve Blogs of Christmas