Thank you for your donations!

Challenge completed! Jem and I successfully completed our Pennine Way challenge on 10 August. We are hugely grateful for your support and donations, which are already funding vital projects for schools in Matabeleland.

In August, I ran the Pennine Way to fundraise for our Link with the Diocese of Matabeleland in Zimbabwe. I was inspired to take on this challenge - running a marathon a day for 10 days - by the incredible children and teachers I met on my trip to Matabeleland last year. Thanks to your extremely generous support, we smashed my fundraising target of £30,000!

The money raised will be used to build schools like the brand-new St Cecilia’s School in Lupane, still under construction, but already offering an education to local children. When I met fourteen-year-old pupil Ntokozo she said “Before we had hope, but now we have hope realised.”

St Cecilia's Secondary School, Lupane

St Cecilia's School will allow many children to attend a local secondary school without having to make long journeys to do so. Many children currently walk up to 10km to get to their nearest school, a dangerous journey leaving many, particularly girls, unable to attend. The land was cleared and a bore hole was dug by a team of local volunteers, allowing for latrines, a caretaker's house and garden, and goats! This foundation is the first step towards a vision for classrooms, dormitories, a dining hall and rectory.

The Kingston-Matabeleland Link

The Kingston-Matabeleland Link seeks to share fellowship and faith across dioceses, connecting the Kingston Episcopal Area with the Diocese of Matabeleland in Zimbabwe.

Creator God, who is present in the wind in the trees, the sun in the sky, and the rain on the earth, in Matabeleland and London, bless our Link that we may reflect your loving Trinity, in partnership, prayer and friendship, and make known your Kingdom across our communities. Amen

We invite you to make a donation to support the work of the Link and the churches and schools in the Diocese of Matabeleland. To learn more, and to follow the projects supported by your donations, go to: https://southwark.anglican.org/about-us/who-we-are/kingston-episcopal-area/

Monies donated to the Kingston-Matabeleland Link will be used to

• support projects identified by the Diocese of Matabeleland

• facilitate exchange visits

• support Link events and other means of promoting the Link

Expenditure decisions are approved by the Link Committee and reported annually. The signatories to the Link bank account are the Bishop of Kingston, the Link Chair and Treasurer.

All projects are conducted in accordance with the Diocese of Matabeleland’s safeguarding policies.