Story

Thank you for visiting the ‘Runshaw Gives a Dam’ fundraising page. This year we have chosen ‘Excellent, pioneers of sand dams’ as our charity of the year. Our goal is to raise enough money to build a Sand Dam in Kenya and support the community in terracing the land, planting trees, developing a seed bank and growing a tree nursery. Excellent is a UK charity passionate about Sand Dams and the belief that the only way Africa can develop is through conservation – the conservation of soil and water. Through the building of sand dams, the terracing of the land, and the planting of trees, an area can be completely transformed and the community living nearby will benefit hugely and in many ways. Instead of spending many hours walking to fetch water (which can be as far as 20km away), a family can simply collect water from their local sand dam. The time saved collecting water can then be spent working on the land to grow food to feed a family with some extra to sell. The money made from selling the extra food then enables a family to pay for their child to go to school. Malaria and diarrhoea are the two biggest killers in the world today of children under 5 years of age. Because the water in a sand dam is kept under the sand, it is naturally filtered and not open to disease or infestation contributing to much improved health – sand dams really are wonderful things! The College's funds will support the Muuo wa Kiumoni community in Kenya. Once we have raised enough money to fund the community's sand dam we plan for a group of students to go out to Kenya to help the community members to build it. Whatever money we raise over our target will go towards sustainable farming and conservation activities which will help the Muuo wa Kiumoni members to improve their harvests. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity. So please dig deep and donate now.