Thanks so much to everyone who joined us at The Lighthouse on Sunday evening, 13th November 2016!
The evening was a great success again with fabulous people and wonderful food and service from Hugo and his team.
Thanks also to the volunteers from Rafiki 2017 Oliver Godding, Nicky Pollard, Alex Arnold, Matthew Burditt, Ed Wilkinson and Olivia Greenwell, who worked hard to help with fundraising on the evening.
Including donations, tickets, Raffle and the auction we raised just under £15000 which will enable us to build a dormitory for the boys at our new Agricultural College near Katito! Thanks again from all of us at Footsteps!
Over the last 12 years Footsteps has built or refurbished 7 Primary Schools, 2 Nurseries, a Medical Centre and a Children’s Ward. We have completely refurbished and equipped the Technical Centre in Katito and built new classrooms to house additional skill centres including mechanics, carpentry and dress-making. In 2015 the facility was renamed the Footsteps Vocational Training Centre and officially opened during the Rafiki visit by the Local MP. However, despite the fact that Kisumu is a lush and heavily agricultural area it lacks any training facility for the local people to develop the skills they need to make best use of their environment. Earlier this year we were awarded a grant by the E D Charitable Trust to provide a much needed Agricultural College affiliated to the Technical College. The generous grant is enough to enable us to buy the necessary land, build and equip the classrooms and provide a dormitory for the girls. We had hoped to provide accommodation for boys as well but the rising costs as well as the recent drop in the value of sterling has prevented us from completing that part of the project.
With your help we would like to put that right. We need to raise a further £15k and tonight is the first event we have held to try to achieve that.
There is always more and more we could do but please don’t forget that there is a whole community on the outskirts of Kisumu, on the edge of Lake Victoria, that is beginning to see a better future, very largely because of your help.
Thanks again for all your support. Perhaps one day you will be able to visit us in Kenya and see the fabulous work you have been a crucial part of.
