Registered Charity 1057811

The Charity was founded in August 1996 following an appeal for warm clothes for under-privileged children in Harare. Such was the support that twelve boxes of clothes and educational books and toys were shipped out to the Matthew Rusike Home in Harare , Zimbabwe, courtesy of funding from NCH Action for Children.

One of the principles adopted by the charity is that whenever possible and practicable the Trustees will personally visit the people and the communities that the Charity is trying to help. This has a number of benefits: it enables the charity to get to know the people, their culture and to get a feel for the project(s) for which funding is sought.

The first trip to Zimbabwe highlighted how important such a visit was. The Methodist Bishop of Harare greeted and thanked the Trustees for the visit and for not just using Zimbabwe as a ‘dumping ground’ for second-hand goods.

The charity has links with both Lions Clubs International and Rotary International organisations. Both organisations have exemplary reputations for their respective roles as international voluntary bodies.

In the early days the Trustees placed funds with Lions Clubs in Zimbabwe for ‘drip-feeding’ to people and projects. This provided assurance about the integrity of the projects and re-assurance that money was being used for the purposes intended.

More recently, in 2006 and 2009, a Rotary Mission Challenge and a Mission Direct project visits to Sierra Leone provided the opportunity for the Charity to visit the country and meet up with Peter Dumbuya, who ran the ‘No More Tears’ orphanage in Kamakwie, a village some 70+ miles north east of Freetown.

During these visits the Colin Mansell visited Kagboray, a smaller village approximately 3 miles from Kamakwie, and saw a water well that had been bored but from which no water could be drawn. Thanks to funds from the Charity the water well is now working and the villagers can draw water without the need for long walks to the nearest source. Additional funds enabled the manufacture of school desks and benches for the primary school in Kagboray
 
Trustees
Colin Mansell Noel Mansell ACCA
Ben Fleckney Kate Bellamy Robert Barnes