Bermuda End-to-End Charity Walk are invited to attend a free public workshop sponsored in conjunction with the Centre on Philanthropy.

The special workshop will be held at 5.30 p.m. on November 6 at the offices of the Centre on Philanthropy in the old Bermuda Pharmacy on Church Street.

Bermuda End-to-End chairperson Paul Rowlerson said: "This is our 14th year and we have asked Greg Peters from the Centre on Philanthropy to help us guide charities through the process of a successful submission.

"Mr. Peters will serve as the moderator asking questions of members of the End-to-End donations committee in order to help charities design a proposal suited to their target funders.

"The audience will have an opportunity to ask questions as well.'' Mr. Rowlerson continued: "Participants will learn about the key elements of a proposal including defining the problem, objectives, methods and budget.

"We will talk about how long your submission should be, how much should you ask for, who should sign the application, the importance of certain enclosures, the advantage of nurturing collaborative relationships and some specific dos and don'ts as well as a few pet peeves.'' When asked why the committee was holding the special workshop, Mr. Rowlerson replied: "During the last 13 years we have raised over $1.85 million which has been distributed to 70 charities.

"In total we have received hundreds of applications for these funds.

"In recent years some well deserving groups were turned down because they were not registered charities.

"We also have had to reject some who were obviously outside our field of interest, but some simply did not submit the information we requested.'' Mr. Rowlerson noted: "We want to help every charity make their request more persuasive and informative.

"The panel discussion format will help each registered charity to think and write from the perspective of the grant maker.'' Anyone interested in attending should reserve a seat by calling the Centre on Philanthropy at 292-5320. Proposal applications are due by December 1. Next year's walk will be held on May 5.