Olivia was the guest speaker at Kimbolton School Speech Day May 2017, she was asked to speak about how she got to where she is now and the challenges along the way. It was a great way to say thanks to the Kimbolton students and parents who have played and continue to play a large role in Rise Africa UK.

Olivia was delighted to speak, if you would like to read her speech Click Here

A group of incredibly kind and passionate woman in and around Kimbolton have started ‘Meals for Wheels’. It is a fundraising supper group, where the members meet once a month for a dinner party and each month they raise enough money to buy a child a new bicycle, helmet, pad lock, arm and knee pads and a puncture kit.

Having a bicycle means so much to these children, whose families have very little, and they would never have imagined ever owning a bike. It cuts out the long walk to school, meaning less time and energy spent walking to school and more energy spent in the classroom. It also means less absent days, children will be less inclined to miss a school day as it will now be easier to get to school. But also each time a child receives a gift, they feel special, loved, grateful for their sponsorship and encouraged to work harder at school.

It is a wonderful fundraising activity and goal and we can’t express how happy we are to see these children receive such amazing gifts. We have three more children in Government secondary schools (2 girls and 1 boy) and one more boy in his last year of Government primary school, so we hope to buy all these children bikes and then we have more children in the private schools who would also hugely benefit from having bikes.

Thank you to everyone who’s involved!

Angie, Molly and Ben King organised the most fantastic Andy King Memorial Football Tournament, and they decided to donate the money that was raised to Rise Africa UK; Andy was a great supporter of our work and would be very happy. Thank you to the wonderful King family, with the money raised we were able to buy all of our 80 children, sponsored through Rise Africa UK, a football and football strip to have and play with at home.

We went to the best quality football store in Arusha to make sure that the balls don’t break after a week, we bought 80 footballs and strips, as well as 10 football pumps, and received 80 whistles for free. We then squeezed into the car and then back at the lodge we pumped them all up. We delivered them to the children at school. It was such a great experience giving them all out, all the boys and girls were so excited and happy! It’s the only sport they play out in Tanzania and so boys and girls alike were over the moon, especially to have something to play with at home.

The children in the village don’t have any toys at home and so this made them so happy.

Next year – trainers! 🙂

Thanks so much Angie, Millie and Ben