In July I will be travelling to Africa again and I will be working as a volunteer in Tamariki Educational Centre in Kenya, which is a Not-for-Profit primary school set up in a slum in Nairobi. My aim is to take as many supplies as possible to them.

Tamariki School opened in September 2014, and it's set up as a Community Based Organisation Project, with an emphasis on providing quality education for children in need aged between 3-9 years. The school is expanding steadily each year and nowadays, it is able to keep students until the age of 14.

The school is fully registered and officially recognised as a learning institution in Kenya. However, this school does not receive any funding whatsoever from the Kenyan government and not everyone in the school community can afford to pay the small school fees. Therefore, the school relies very heavily on sponsorship & donations, and they are extremely grateful for any help offered - a very little goes a long way in Kenya.

As a teacher, education is a very important part of my life and I believe that every child in this world should be able to attend school. This school provides needy children with a passport for the future which is really inspiring.

I have helped this school in the past. In October 2018, I ran my first half-marathon to raise money for Tamariki. I raised over £600, which was double of my target goal. A third of that money came from my current school, thanks to my yr9 tutor group at the time (current yr13), who did a very successful car wash & a wonderful cake sale.

With the money raised, Tamariki was able to create a new classroom in 2019 with13 brand new 2-person desks. Our help provided education to 26 students which was amazing 😊

My plan was to visit the school in 2020 but we all know what happened that year… Now, after a very long wait, I’m delighted to be able to return to Africa this summer and I look forward working as a volunteer Tamariki School. I would be grateful if people would like to help me provide supplies to this school. I will be taking the supplies myself and all our donations will help their education. See below ways that you could help.

• Donating important supplies such as stationery products, sanitary products and/or black beanies for their uniform (I will put a collection box in reception)

• Donating money to pay for extra luggage to transport the supplies or to provide more materials for Tamariki School (https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/tamariki-school?utm_term=j6kZxbxar)

To find out more visit: https://www.tamarikieducationcentre.com/

Thank you very much for your kindness (Asante sana) 😊