On Sunday 25 May, James Tarran and William Pitt from Beazley will be joining hundreds of others in braving tropical conditions (plus potholes and stray chickens) to participate in the Sierra Leone marathon. After a damp English winter (James) and a frigid American one (William), we have been promised balmy conditions. Although the races start at 6.00am, temperatures are still predicted to hit 30° Celsius (85° Fahrenheit), with 85% humidity.
Why???
Because the cause for which we are running, Street Child, is worth it. Since 2008, Street Child has reunited more than 2000 children in Sierra Leone with their families and helped more than 20,000 gain access to education.
Sierra Leone’s civil war ended in 2002 but even today it casts a long shadow. Thousands of children still sleep rough in the country’s cities and in many rural regions educational opportunities are scarce. Street Child’s educational programme (Every Child in School) originated in Tambakha in the extreme north, the poorest chiefdom in Sierra Leone. In a part of the world where formal schooling was almost non-existent, Street Child has been working towards offering every child in Tambakha the chance to receive a quality education. The project has also expanded to other rural regions with similar needs.
The model has worked very well and since 2012 Street Child has been conducting needs assessments throughout West Africa in a bid to take the approach developed in Sierra Leone to other nations desperately in need of help. In 2013 Street Child launched its first project in Liberia, helping street children in the capital, Monrovia.
Street Child is also one of a small number of UK charities selected by the UK Government for matching funding in the run-up to the marathon – so your contribution will be doubled.
We think Street Child is a cause that’s worth a little sweat. We’d be enormously grateful for any support you can give us.
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