The Star Ya Thange Self Help Group are ready to build the largest sand dam that Excellent Development has ever been involved with. This sand dam is vast - the length of a football pitch.

They have gathered 452 tonnes of stone and 411 tonnes of sand with which they will build the sand dam by hand. But they can't buy the materials like cement and steel bars that the sand dam needs. That's why they desperately need your support.

We need £24,777 to fund this sand dam. Can you go down in Excellent history and be a part of this huge project? The construction timeslot is in July, which crucially ensures they won't miss the next rains.

The 50 members of Star Ya Thange live in Ngwata district in Kenya, about halfway between Nairobi and Mombasa. Traditionally, farmers in this area have relied on rain-fed agriculture to subsist. However, climate change has made this method too unreliable. Farmers urgently need another way to water their crops.

In the dry season, most people are forced to trek five miles to collect water from the River Athi. It takes many hours every day - precious hours that could be spent growing food, and in the case of the children, studying.

Successive seasons of water shortage have created a vicious circle of crop failure and seed shortage. The ensuing poverty means that parents cannot pay their children's school fees, condemning another generation to a life without opportunity.

But there is a way out of this cycle of poverty for a hard-working and innovative community like Star Ya Thange. It starts with a sand dam, to give them a lifelong supply of clean water close to home. They have already built one sand dam, but this mega-dam is in a different league altogether.

If you can support them today, this sand dam will give the community clean water for life. It will enable them to work their way out of poverty by growing more crops, and eventually have enough to sell to make money. With this money, they can pay for school fees for their children or buy medicines when they are sick - life essentials which are currently out of so many people's reach.

Please support the people of Star Ya Thange to transform their lives today. Every day that goes by without a sand dam is one of lost opportunity. Together, we can give them the chance to work their way out of poverty in dignity.

Can you donate a whole star? Each star is worth £1,000. If you are able to make an exceptional donation of £1,000 or more, you will have the option of having your name (or someone else's) inscribed individually on the plaque (as well as the Star Appeal Supporters).

This is by far the biggest appeal Excellent has ever run. But we reckon we have a fighting chance of reaching the target of £24,777, or at least getting close. In the event that we are so amazingly lucky as to exceed the target, any extra funds will be put to wherever the need is greatest in our work pioneering sand dams.