Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

 I am please to announce that over £2,000 pounds has been raised so far - thanks to everyone who have made a donation to CEN. £1,100 has so far been paid in cheques direct to CEN whilst £1,065 has been raised from this site.

Here is a short video I made of me at the top of Boxhill in Surrey keeping you up to date:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S52cyiZ3XgI

I will be embarking on a 220 mile sponsored bicycle ride for Communities Empowerment Network (www.compowernet.org) starting in Street in Somerset on May 24th, making a detour into mid Wales and ending at Peckforton Castle on May 25th.

I am aiming to raise £3,000 towards continuing the provision and continuation of the charity's advocacy and representation service.

Since its inception 10 years ago CEN has supported some 5,000 pupils who have encountered problems with their education, particularly school exclusion. We are proud to have had a nearly 100% success rate at reintegration through providing a highly personlised advocacy service to pupils and their  parent/s or carer/s.

Year in year out over the last 10 years the demand for our service has grown at an extraordinary rate whilst our staffing level has remained relatively stagnant due to the short term nature of funders grant giving as well as the limited range of funders willing to fund this kind of unpopular and adverserial work. Incredibly in the last reporting year CEN has dealt with over 700 cases with a mere two advocates which speaks volumes for the commitment and passion of its staff.

The situation for many black pupils remains stark. Exclusion represents the most stark denial of education. Even with the best efforts to improve provision for excluded pupils, the continued existence of the exclusion gap means that Black pupils are disproportionately denied mainstream education and the improved life chances that go with it.

I am therefore asking you to sponsor my 220 mile bicycle ride for as much as you can afford.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Thanks for you help

Deuan

This video is me completing the ride: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dz88u55Pxg

Testimonials:

Dear CEN,

Both my son and I are sincerely grateful for the help and guidance you gave us during our recent successful appeal.

It has been a very difficult time for the family, but the support we received from you and the professional way the appeal was handled was very reassuring.

Trevor will be starting back at school following a reintegration meeting.

Dear CEN,

Thank you CEN for everything you have done for us and for believing in us. Thank you and we won’t let you down.

God bless

Dear CEN,

I am writing to you to express my thanks for the work you have done with our students. In particular the recent work you have done with a year 9 student and her family in persuading her to see the benefits of a managed move as a very positive alternative to the real likelihood of permanent exclusion has been something the school would not have had the time and resources to do