Dear Ardmore Supporter

Its hard to believe that 2009 is drawing to a close and we would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us. I know it has been a tough year but it is thanks to our Ardmore friends that we have stayed positive and kept going.

An exciting development for us this year has been the growth of The Excellence Fund from an organization that supported our artists basic needs to one that is focused on development of both our artists and their community. Ardmore Cermaic Art contributes 6% of all sales to The Excellence Fund which focuses on Health and HIV/AIDS Support, and Life Skills Development. The annual Spring Festival was organized entirely by the artists and was a huge success. We are currently working with the aritsts leaders to develop programs for 2010. Thank you to those who have supported The Excellence Fund by bidding in our auction and by donating funds.

Ardmore Ceramic Art has also been involved in a number of charity auctions and events around the world. Proceeds have gone to support many organizations. In London the Art for Africa auction raised funds for Africa Foundation and Ikamva Labantu. In South Africa we supported Crossroads in Cape Town - thank you to Cellars Hohenort which held this event; Wildlands Conservation Trust; SPCA; the Pre-Primary School on Goedgedacht Farm; Buskaid; and Endangered Wildlife Trust. In the USA sales through Poverty Not supported the Feminist Majority Foundation, Venice Family Clinic, Women’s Campaign International and the African Millennium Foundation.

I would like to wish you a very happy Holiday Season. If you are planning to travel to KwaZulu Natal and would like to visit Ardmore you can find a list of places to stay or where to get a bite to eat on our website and of course you can download the map to find us. We are open all holidays, even Christmas and New Years Day! We look forward to your visit.

Finally I would like to wish you all the best for the New Year, we have some very exciting new developments for 2010 so stay tuned!

Fee Halsted