The Kipawa Trust International has raised more than £350,000 since being founded by a group of friends in Edinburgh
An Edinburgh charity is marking a decade of providing vital support in Africa.
Kipawa Trust International, a charity set up by a group of friends in the capital, is this month marking its 10th anniversary, and celebrating raising over £350,000 for children and families in need in Kenya.
The charity was founded by a group who had spent time volunteering in children’s homes in rural Kenya. They had seen a pressing need especially for additional feeding and support programmes for deprived communities there, and decided to establish a charity to help in some way.
Working with a local Kenyan foundation, Macheo, it now focuses on helping children, families and wider communities in the town of Ruiru (two hours north of Nairobi), supporting them in several ways.
This includes feeding more than 1000 children at primary schools; providing nursery education, health checks and counselling support for young people with additional physical and emotional needs; making improvement to school infrastructure and creating a small grants scheme which helps parents to set up small businesses or get into stable employment.
Kipawa is run solely by volunteers. The £350,000 raised has been from donations and contributions from supporters in Scotland and the wider UK: from regular monthly giving; from comedy and quiz nights; marathons, bike rides and Kiltwalks; golf days, Lego exhibits and bake sales.
David Welsh, chair of the charity’s board, said: “We want to say a huge thanks to all of our donors, fundraisers and supporters. Because of their contributions and help over the years, the daily lives and long-term opportunities of thousands of children, families and their communities in Kenya have been significantly improved. We hope we can mark the anniversary properly with a few events once coronavirus restrictions are lessened.
“But the impact of Covid-19 is a real concern in Kenya too. As in Scotland, the Kenyan authorities have locked down communities and closed schools, but there is substantially less health and social care provision to support people through this crisis.
“With our partner organisation in Kenya, we’re working to make sure that the children and families we support are looked after: our 10th anniversary fundraising plans are now focused on helping those communities with direct cash transfers: giving money directly to families in crisis so that they can afford essentials like food and rent. We have at least 250 families in that situation, requiring us to raise an additional £2000 a month until the crisis is over.”
The charity has launched the 10 Challenge with supporters asked to donate £10 while we’re all locked down: running 10k or reading 10 new books or hopping round their garden 10 times; the more creative challenges the better!
You can donate £10 via text message by sending the message KIPAWATEN to 70085.
