Kodjo Agounde

Well, the poll was run and the results were overwhelming – 100% of the votes went to Kodjo Agounde.

Mr Agounde is a young entrepreneur aged 27. He is married and father of one child. He is an electrician by training has a small general electrical stall situated at the town roundabout.

His main line of work is general electrical work and rewiring.

With the loan that he has asked for, Monsieur Agounde is going to buy 25 electrical cables and other supplies to meet his clients needs.

Mr Agounde has big ambitions for the development of his business thanks to the loan that he hopes to get.

You can support him by making him a loan through LendWithCare – a microfinance scheme run by Care International.

KindaAngels is a voluntary project to bring together like minded people and support the LendWithCare cause.  KindaAngels help by lending money through LendWithCare and also using social media and traditional contact to encourage others to get involved.  Together, we have sponsored a number of individuals through LendWithCare including providing over half the money for one entrepreneur.  You can find out more by clicking on this link or by coming over to Twitter and asking questions of the KindaAngels team.  There is more KindaAngels news coming soon – you can subscribe to this blog to be kept informed!

So, you want to get involved and become a KindaAngel?

Here are the instructions:

1 – the link that you need is http://www.lendwithcare.org/entrepreneurs/index/230

2 – please pick the amount that you want to lend (the minimum is £15 – which is what most of us are lending)

3 – once you’ve signed up and lent the money, please amend your lendwithcare site profile to include the words “I am one of the #KindaAngels and you can find out more at http://www.socialholic.co.uk/?cat=90!” in the ‘About me’ section

4 – please then report back here using the comments and also spread the word on Twitter or LinkedIn or wherever you hang out!

All #KindaAngels will be added to the Twitter list at http://twitter.com/jamesmb/kindaangels and please follow the KindaAngels at http://twitter.com/kindaangels

In addition, the beautiful and wonderful people at Starbucks Exeter have agreed to give you a Starbucks mug as a thank you! More details can be found at http://www.socialholic.co.uk/?p=373

Well done and keep it going!!

So, it’s ‘pick the entrepreneur’ time again! Please take a moment to look at the potential entrepreneurs that we will promote next with #KindaAngels.

Ooh, and there’s now a KindaAngels Twitter account at http://twitter.com/kindaangels – do come and join us there!

Right, here’s the poll – I’ll be closing it on Monday 31st at about 6.30pm – so share, tell and vote!

Thank you!

I have taken the liberty of picking our next entrepreneur myself – slightly undemocratic, I know – but there’s a simple reason for it!  When I first thought of seeing whether #KindaAngels could work, I did not expect the response that we got.  I did not think the entrepreneurs would get funded so quickly and so much would be lent so speedily.  I did not expect the support that we have had from LendWithCare, bloggers or Starbucks! It’s just been incredible.

Now, we could wait for a few days while everyone chooses the next person in the poll.  But I know that there are people who are willing, ready and able to fund someone now.  And I think it makes sense to seize the moment! So…

You are cordially invited to help by loaning £15 to Ayefo Ahouedehou, an entrepreneur based in Atakpamé, Togo.  She is married and mother of 3 children. Her husband is a retired policeman. She runs a restaurant. She has been running her business for 8 years where she serves hot meals to travelers and civil servants. Ayefo hopes with this loan to increase her clientele and therefore grow her business so as to meet the educational needs of her 3 children.

You can find lots of information about LendWithCare by clicking here.

Here are the instructions:

1 – the link that you need is http://www.lendwithcare.org/entrepreneurs/index/258

2 – please pick the amount that you want to lend (the minimum is £15 – which is what I’ll be lending)

3 – once you’ve signed up and lent the money, please amend your lendwithcare site profile to include the words “I am one of the #KindaAngels!” in the ‘About me’ section 

4 – please then report back here using the comments and also spread the word on Twitter or LinkedIn or wherever you hang out!

All #KindaAngels will be added to the Twitter list at http://twitter.com/jamesmb/kindaangels

In addition, the beautiful and wonderful people at Starbucks Exeter have agreed to give you a Starbucks mug as a thank you!  More details can be found at http://www.socialholic.co.uk/?p=373

Well done and keep it going!! 

This is our first Honorary #KindaAngel!  And it’s Starbucks Exeter!

Starbucks Exeter have very generously agreed to give each paid up member of the #KindaAngels a Starbucks mug as a ‘thank you’!  And so I say a massive THANK YOU to Starbucks for their support of the #KindaAngels.

The free mug is available to existing and new #KindaAngels (until I’m told there are none left!).  So, here’s how to claim your mug!

Existing #KindaAngels will need to email me at kindaangels@socialholic.co.uk.  Please include who you are lending to in your email and make sure that your profile at LendWithCare includes the magic words “I am one of the #KindaAngels! You can find out more about that at http://www.socialholic.co.uk/?cat=90” – as that will help more people find us and join in!

New #KindaAngels will need to find our latest entrepreneur and lend to them (instructions at http://www.socialholic.co.uk/?cat=90 – one of the latest posts should have the details).  Then email me as above.

Once you have emailed me, I’ll send you an email back that you can print off and take to Starbucks on High Street, Exeter.  Do a little jig, sing the #KindaAngels song and they’ll give you a mug!  Okay, I made that last bit up – but instructions are in the email that I’ll send you!

Please remember, these are available to existing and new #KindaAngels – so feel free to mention it when spreading the word!

I will be sending out emails as quickly as I can but they will mainly go out in the evenings!  Any probs, ask the manager in store (Charlie or Kasha) or contact me.

MASSIVE THANK YOU TO STARBUCKS EXETER!!! *MWAH*

Today marks a special day for you and a whole bunch of other people.  Six months ago, I set out to see whether we could get enough money together for a Shelterbox.  Your response led to Team2Quid being set up and your support meant that we easily reached the target.  Those who got involved then set about trying to get a second one within 12 months – and that project is still ongoing.  You can see how you are doing at http://bit.ly/team2quid

Then, the fabulous Devon Air Ambulance was hit by a theft from one of its shops. In response, you replaced the value of the flute (£130) within 24 hours and #KarmicFlute was born (http://bit.ly/karmicflute). And, being you, you then replaced it again with another £130 the day after – the final total being £265 plus a load of GiftAid. And good Karma was spread all around!

Then, I saw a thing called LendWithCare.org – a micro finance site that helped people in some of the poorest countries in the world set up businesses and support themselves by means of microloans. So, we set up the #KindaAngels (http://bit.ly/kindaa). The #KindaAngels too part in a poll and then each #KindaAngel backed Lia Puspita with a £15 loan so that she could buy a new sewing machine that would help her and her four employees grow their business. The #KindaAngels have pledged £165 so far… and then it dawned on me what you’d done…

In the six months since February 2010, you have raised, donated and lent well over £1000. You’ve got nothing out of it but others are benefitting from your huge generosity.

So I just wanted to say a massive

Thank you!!

I have the best, kindest bunch of readers, followers, contacts and people-I’ve-never-met reading this blog and you are all fab! It’s a privilege to have you here. Thank you!

Hello! Well, this isn’t going according to plan!

You may remember that over at http://www.socialholic.co.uk/?p=332, I set up a poll and introduced you to LendWithCare and KindaAngels.

The poll led to our support being declared for Lia over at http://www.socialholic.co.uk/?p=352 along with a description of how you can help.

Well, you raised £165 and then, all of a sudden, her loan was completed!!  So, in the space of 48 hours, Lia is sorted! Hurray and well done to all of you!

But, here’s the problem – there are still some KindaAngels who have yet to invest but have pledged! So, I propose that we now concentrate on the person who can second – Akoua!  Akoua runs a food shop in Togo and needs your help to expand her business.

Here are the instructions:

1 – the link that you need is http://www.lendwithcare.org/entrepreneurs/index/265

2 – please pick the amount that you want to lend (the minimum is £15 – which is what I’ll be lending)

3 – once you’ve signed up and lent the money, please amend your lendwithcare site profile to include the words “I am one of the #KindaAngels!” in the ‘About me’ section 

4 – please then report back here using the comments and also spread the word on Twitter or LinkedIn or wherever you hang out!

All #KindaAngels will be added to the Twitter list at http://twitter.com/jamesmb/kindaangels

Well done and keep it going!!

So, the winner is Lia Puspita!

I found it quite difficult to choose but, in the end, I went for Lia myself and the reason was that the loan to her will also support her four workers as well as her family *and* the workers’ families.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about here, you may well find it useful to take a look at this page on my blog!

For those who have already signed up to the #KindaAngels project, here is what you need to know:

1 – the link that you need is http://www.lendwithcare.org/entrepreneurs/index/285

2 – please pick the amount that you want to lend (the minimum is £15 – which is what I’ll be lending)

3 – once you’ve signed up and lent the money, please amend your lendwithcare site profile to include the words “I am one of the #KindaAngels!” in the ‘About me’ section

4 – please then report back here using the comments and also spread the word on Twitter or LinkedIn or wherever you hang out!

KindaAngels, let’s go to work!

—

UPDATE!

The following are confirmed #KindaAngels

@ellisgraphics

@rosamundi

@TheBumble8

@llamakevin

@dangerousmkting

@jamesmb

@beckysw

@hannahemurdock

@coscomputing

@pascalw

You can follow all the #KindaAngels at http://twitter.com/jamesmb/kindaangels

**PLEASE NOTE** The poll in this post is now closed. The results can be found at http://www.socialholic.co.uk/?p=352 and we would welcome more #KindaAngels to join us in funding this project. We still need more Angels. Please consider being one of them. Thank you!**

There is a very healthy charitable strain running through the people I converse with online – and it’s that generosity of spirit that I think makes you all special. And for that I give you a big old *mwaaaaaaaaaaah*!

OK, so I know what you’re thinking – ‘What does he want now?’

Well, shame on you! I’m not asking for you to donate anything!

So there.

I hope you feel ashamed to be thinking like that.

Personally, I can’t believe it.

Especially after I was so nice to you up there ^^^.

…

Well, seeing as you’re still reading, I was just wondering whether you could lend me a few quid. Well, not me. And you’ll not get any interest on it. And you might make a small loss on it. And you might not get it back.

But you might.

You may be familiar with a concept called Micro Finance – small loans to people in developing countries to help them set up and run businesses. It’s a great way of giving people back their independence and self respect while breaking the cycle of dependency that can so easily build up in some of the poorest countries in the world.

Care International have set up a site called LendWithCare and you can find it at http://www.lendwithcare.org

The idea is that you lend a minimum of £15 and that gets passed as a loan to your chosen business. They use the money and then pay it back. If all goes according to plan, the person’s business thrives and you get your £15 back which you can then take and go and spend somewhere else. It’s like being an Angel Investor without the bit where you make a massive profit and spend the rest of your life on yachts.

Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

I’m thinking that too. But it is a model that has worked elsewhere – although I have yet to see it with this Micro Finance fund-raising element too.

So, as you’d expect, I have a proposal to put to you, dear reader.

Proposal

We join together and commit to helping one person. We pick one project, we each (individually) sign up and put our money in and we see how it goes. We use our contacts and social media cleverness to fund their project and hopefully make someone’s life a little bit better. And at the end of it, we might even get our money back.

We’d be kinda like Angel investors – or as I like to think of it #KindaAngels.

If you are interested, please sign up below and vote in the following (majority rules!):

PLEASE NOTE, THIS POLL IS NOW CLOSED!

Just to be absolutely clear (!), this is not investment advice and should not be taken as such. If you decide to get involved, you are doing it voluntarily and without any pressure from me and, if your loan isn’t paid back, it really isn’t my fault!!

As I was playing around with my new lens this morning, I looked up and there were some great whispy shapes in the sky (clouds – I know before someone tells me!) and they contrasted really nicely with the clean lines of the modern glass and steel architecture of Princesshay.