In October 2008, I completed a 4-month secondment working in Thomas Barnardo House Children's Home in Nairobi, through my employer Bank of Scotland Corporate. TBH is home to 180 orphaned, abandoned and destitute children, who are housed in 9 family units, each with a resident 'Mother'. Most of the children attend the Jonathan Gloag Academy situated nearby. Both the orphanage and the school are supported bythe Balcraig Foundation and directed by Ann Gloag (a co-founder of Stagecoach plc). The home is entirely reliant on donations and has a growing commercial department, where I was based, which runs a number of projects to generate income to support the home and reduce dependency.
It was an amazing opportunity to make a difference to the lives of the children in the home. Following my 4-month secondment, I attempted to climb the 3 highest peaks in Africa; Mt Stanley in Uganda (3rd highest), Mt Kenya (2nd highest) and Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. I was joined by my Glasgow Hawks team-mate Ally Maclay and another friend, Iain Mackay (a.k.a Chick). To date, we've raised over £5,000 for the Balcraig Foundation and hopefully inspired the children in the process.
Many thanks for supporting us and donating to this very worthy cause. A full expedition diary with photographs is available at:
Many thanks,
Ricky.
