The Magic Future Foundation raise £126,000, at their inaugural shooting day

The Magic Future Foundation raised a staggering £126,000 at their inaugural shooting day held last week, at the prestigious Holland & Holland Shooting Ground.

The Wissenbach Family ready for a day of fundraising and clay pigeon shooting!

Over 100 guests took part in a day's shooting over 10 stands with the aim of fundraising for the 100 Schools Project in memory of Oli Wissenbach. The 100 Schools Project helps alleviate poverty through education, and Oli’s legacy has now funded the construction of 28 schools.

Stefan Wissenbach, Founder of The Magic Future Foundation welcomes the guests at Holland & Holland Shooting Ground

The Magic Future Foundation’s ethos is to provide the most spectacular and memorable fundraising events, including the Magnificent 7 Lunch Le Manoir where 7 Michelin starred chefs (totalling 14 stars) cooked a course each at Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons, skiing every run in Meribel in a day as part of Le Coeur Blanc challenge, and now shooting at Holland & Holland. All of these events were made possible by exceptional ideas and a huge amount of generous support from sponsors and all participants.

Diana Wissenbach and family head out to the shooting stands

The Magic Future Foundation Shoot was a complete sell out.

Firing of the cannon to officially start The Magic Future Foundation Shoot 2023

Guests enjoyed a days shooting, champagne reception, delicious 3 course lunch prepared by Michelin trained chef Josh Hunter, followed by a motivating speech by Jim Ziolkowski, Founder of buildOn and a passionate philanthropist and public speaker who inspired the room with ‘Oli is our ignition’, followed by a heart warming and compassionate speech by Stefan Wissenbach. The day finished with a lively auction by Jonny Gould, a prize-giving, and an ultimate tasting of some of the finest whiskeys made possible by Craft Irish Whiskey.

100 guests off to shoot over 100 clays on 10 stands at the Holland & Holland Shooting Ground

Tom Spanner, Magic Future Foundation Trustee, first masterminded the idea of the shoot before the pandemic, so it was a joy to see it finally come together. He comments, “Our shooting day at Holland & Holland surpassed all of our expectations, and as a first event, we are so delighted with its success and very grateful and hugely appreciative of everyone's support during the day. To be able to have so much fun whilst doing so much good is truly special.  We can’t thank our brand partners, guests and sponsors enough for their generosity, and can’t wait to enjoy the next event with you!”

Tom Spanner, Trustee of The Magic Future Foundation with guests

Stefan Wissenbach, Founder of The Magic Future Foundation comments, “The Magic Future Foundation is about raising money for the 100 Schools Project and helping create a better future for children and families in some of the poorest countries in the world through education. We fundraise by hosting truly exceptional, one off events and continue to strive to create the most remarkable and enjoyable days that can possibly be experienced.”

Sponsors on the day included Aston Martin London, AWS Prime Property, Savile Row Travel, Craft Irish Whiskey, Whisky Genius and Sunseeker London, with everyone inviting teams to enjoy a fun and informal day's clay pigeon shooting and to raise funds to build more schools.

Aston Martin London displayed two Aston Martin cars at the shooting ground, a DB12 inside the Harris Holland room, and DBX707 positioned outside on the terrace

The fundraising auction saw an array of incredible ‘money-can’t-buy’ auction lots, with a number of guests fiercely bidding to secure the ultimate prizes including a trip for 2 onboard The World - an invitation only experience and to be chosen from the 2024/2025 cruising routes across America, South East Asia and beyond. Other auction items included an exclusive movie night in central London with dinner at private club ‘Alfred’s’, a days charter onboard a Sunseeker 76 Yacht in the Solent, the use of an Aston Martin and stay at Coworth Park in Berkshire for the weekend, golf for 4 at the Royal Obidos resort in Portugal, and to be part of a truly fantastic father/child bonding experience by building one of Oli’s schools in Nepal.

Guests having a fabulous time during the lunch

Stefan Wissenbach thanked the sponsors and special guests for attending the day, followed by a speech by Jim Ziolkowski, the Founder of buildOn and who passionately spoke about ‘Oli is our ignition’ and for everyone to find clarity in their greater purpose and ‘world better because’.

Jim Ziolkowski, Founder of buildOn and passionate philanthropist having built over 2,000 schools

The day culminated in an exciting auction of outstanding experiences with the whole room of guests pledging further support towards the 100 Schools Project in the future.

Congratulations to the Top Gun - Aaron Taylor, Top Lady Gun - Reshma Timpson, Top Team - The Barbas, and Glorious 12th - Spanner’s Tools.

Team Scores for the day were:

1st The BaBars

2nd Swing Whilst You’re Winning

3rd Hoof Hearted

4th Swing High Sweet Chariot

5th Spanner’s Spares

6th Aston Martin

7th The Wizzy Shots

8th The Dobletos

9th The Crashing Bores

10th Craft Irish Whiskey Co

11th MC Nutley & The Snowy Wales

12th Spanner’s Tools

13th The Wild Bores

14th AWS Prime Shots

15th Couple of Pairs

16th AWS Sub-Prime Shots

17th The Gentleman & a Pirate

18th The B- Old Boys

19th Little Britain

20th Lucy’s Ladies

A guest fiercely bidding for one of the money-can’t-buy auction lots

The day has been such a success that Tom Spanner aims to replicate the day again in a year's time at Holland & Holland Shooting Ground, on 5th September 2024. For anyone interested in taking a team of 4 guns, or a table of 8, there will be an early bird release of tickets, with your support much appreciated. Click here to book your team.

Stefan Wissenbach with guests enjoying some of the finest whiskey from Craft Irish Whiskey

To find out more on how to get involved with the 100 Schools Project, click here.

To purchase some of the pictures from the day, click here (password: gun). All purchases will directly go towards the 100 Schools Project for further fundraising.

Running 150km in One Month!

New School Bricks Challenge Alert! ⁠ ⁠

Andrey Ustimenko is helping us build schools by running a staggering 150km in April! ⁠ ⁠

We will be regularly sharing his progress and updates, via Instagram and Facebook so make sure to follow if you want to watch his progress!

⁠ If you want to support Andrey you can click the link below to donate:

Andrey´s Just Giving Page

If you want to start your own fundraiser contact us today or check out our School Bricks page here!

Stefan Wissenbach shares the story of the 100 Schools Project on the Entrepreneur Transition Podcast with Alan Smith

We are pleased to share with you Stefan Wissenbach’s, the Founder of the Magic Future Foundation and the 100 Schools Project, feature on the Entrepreneur Transition Podcast with Alan Smith.

Stefan discusses his entrepreneurial journey, alongside the heartfelt story behind the 100 Schools Project and the amazing work it has achieved so far, and what’s to come in the future.

It’s a must hear! Check it out below here:

ENTREPRENEURE TRANSITION PODCAST: EPISODE 11

1 man, 3 gruelling challenges, 100 Schools: Jacks 100 Schools Aerobic Antics

Jack Hazel, friend of Oli and Max Wissenbach is taking on three incredibly exhausting challenges to raise funds for the 100 Schools Project! 

Jack was originally just hoping to raise £1,000 with all three challenges, however he smashed this goal on the first challenge raising £1,085. Now the challenge is to raise over £1,000 for each challenge! Can you help him reach this?! 

Jack’s first challenge was on the 5th and 6th March 2022 which was the David Goggins Challenge. This particularly challenging event consisted of Jack and his friend Callum Ainsworth running 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours, totalling 77km run fatigued and sleep deprived. Jack and Callum managed to complete the challenge finishing the final run being greeted by 100’s of their uni friends who had come out in the middle of the night to cheer them on!

The second challenge is an Olympic Triathlon which consists of 1.5km swim, 40km cycle and 10km run, Jack will also be completing this with Callum. The third challenge is ‘The Three Peaks’, Jack, Max Wissenbach and Cam Stark, will attempt to climb Ben Nevis, Scafell Peak & Snowden all within a 24 hour period!

Jack and Callum were then planning to take part in an Olympic Triathlon and the Three Peaks Challenge in the Summer of 2022. However, due to Jack completing the amazing achievement of getting into training to be a Marine Officer, he now has to follow their strict fitness regime for the next few months and postpone the challenges. We want to say a special thank you and congratulations to Jack, especially as he is 1 of 60 successful applicants that made it out of the 15,000 who applied to be a Marine Officer - what an achievement, Oli would be very proud! 

Jack truly is one-of-a-kind for putting together and taking part in these three challenges to raise money for such a wonderful cause. Any money you donate to Jacks Challenges will all go towards the 100 School Project. Anything you could donate would make such a difference. Please see the link here or below to donate: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jack-hazel-aerobicantics

We hope Jack has inspired you to make a difference while you are on this earth - as Oli would say, the World is a better place because he is here…

Keep an eye out for updates about Jack’s challenges! You can also follow his journey on instagram: @100schoolsaerobicantics

COEUR BLANC CHALLENGE FUNDS 10 MORE SCHOOLS!

READY, STEADY, SNOW!

On Saturday 19th March 2022, over 80 people took part in the annual Coeur Blanc Challenge resulting in a staggering £315,000 being raised, funding 10 schools!

This year’s Coeur Blanc Challenge was ably led by Pierre Taylor, a dear friend of Oli’s grandparents. The event tests skiing abilities of participants and raise substantial funds for charities. Founded in 2008, the challenge takes place in the Les Trois Vallées in the Alps and more specifically, Meribel which is home to 52 ski lifts. To complete the challenge the teams must complete a full journey on all 52 lifts within the valley during the course of a single day. This works out at one lift every nine minutes! Teams can choose their own routes, but whichever route is selected requires skiing the descent and ascent of over 15,000 metres - or two Mount Everests!

We began the challenge with a ceremony on Friday evening where all teams and supporters met at Arpasson Restaurant which is located picturesquely on top of one of the mountains in Meribel. Here Stefan gave a short talk about the cause and reminded everyone about the WHY behind the event. The atmosphere in the room was one of togetherness and emotion. With tears in our eyes a final ‘cheers’ was given before preparing for the torchlight descent down the mountain.

If you have never seen or been a part of a torchlight ski, we can highly recommend it - it was beautiful. Imagine, 80 people skiing down the mountain in unison, with the only light being from the fire on the torches and the moonlight. There couldn’t have been a better way to start the challenge.

On Saturday 19th, the day of the challenge, at 8:30am the first lift opened especially for the event and the challenge began! The teams embarked on their 52 ski lift journey which had to be completed by 5:30pm on the same day. We were very lucky and were blessed with fantastic conditions and glorious sun. Oli was definitely with us.

Alex and Max were taking part in the challenge as ‘Oli’s Olympians’, they were competing as the first team to ever do it on snowboards! Max rode the challenge on Oli’s snowboard. Not even stopping for lunch, all teams powered through and completed the challenge - some even in record times! Oli’s Olympians were the fourth team over the finish line and were delighted with their achievement.

We are deeply grateful for everyone’s support and how the team came together for this year’s Coeur Blanc Challenge. Funding another 10 schools is a monumental achievement. The 10 Coeur Blanc Schools will all be built by mid 2023. We cannot wait to show you the progress of the schools in build..

#WORLDBETTERBECAUSE