Thanks to the generous donations to our recent Ebola appeal we have been able to make a good start in helping the local community in Sierra Leone as they begin to recover from the effects of the Ebola outbreak. This was continued with the shipping of the latest container of humanitarian aid supplies to the region.

The container was packed with filled boxes containing clothes, shoes, educational supplies, school uniforms, school equipment, toys etc This will help families who have been unable to earn a living during the crisis or children unfortunately orphaned as a result.

The container has just arrived in Sierra Leone and should be unpacked in the next couple of weeks.

The school supplies are particularly timely as schools have just started to go back following several months closure during the Ebola Crisis. Many children are now back in school but some parents have struggled to pay the small school fees to be able to send their children back, having been unable to work during the crisis. School fees are typically only around £10 a term per child, but what may seem a relatively small sum to us, it’s the price of a cinema ticket or 3 cups of coffee!, will be hard for some families to find. Education is more important than ever for these children, and should anyone wish to donate towards this they can do so through the website or by contacting us directly. Many thanks to all those who have supported our appeal so far, your contributions, both financial and in goods, are very much appreciated by us and those who will be helped.

Nigel Bostock, a RAF Policeman NCO, currently working at Freetown International Airport in support of the Department for International Development-led effort to combat the spread of Ebola, has undertaken a solo half marathon, running 13 miles around the airfield to raise funds for the Foundations work in the local area. Local Westminster staff were on hand to provide support to Nigel. Donations are still coming in but to date several hundred pounds have been raised by Nigel, with donations coming from the local community at the Airport, colleagues, family and friends of Nigel’s including his local church. It’s not too late to support Nigel’s run and should anyone wish to donate they can do so through the Foundations Donation page. Well done and many thanks to Nigel.

At the recent BIRA Conference our Trustee Alan Wolstencroft, the owner of Fashion Fabrics in Banbury, was awarded the Charitable Champion Award, at the Gala Dinner, for his outstanding work in Sierra Leone.

Delegates were informed that during the past year, although Alan had not visited Sierra Leone because of the e-bola crisis, he had continued fundraising for the development at 3 schools that he supports including providing subsistence allowances for the teaching staff.

Alan had undertaken 36 speaking engagements raising £14,350 of a total of £33,600 raised during the year. Since his first involvement in Sierra Leone, 10 years ago, Alan has delivered 290 talks raising a total of £63,400 of a total of £124,100 for his Sierra Leone projects.

Alan was presented with a certificate, a plaque and a bottle of champagne and a cheque for £1,000 towards his ongoing projects.

Alan acknowledged the support that he receives from his family, his staff, customers and suppliers, BIRA members, Westminster Group PLC, Goodwill & Growth for Africa UK Banbury Rotary Club and dozens of organisations and hundreds of individuals.

Alan explained that he is returning to Sierra Leone at the start of June and some of the money may well be used to pay school fees (£10 per term) for children whose families cannot afford to pay the fees due to the increased cost of living caused by the e-bola situation.

Alan explained that every £ goes directly to the projects and that the money will help him to continue to “make a real difference” in Sierra Leone.

This 10 year old lad is carrying 20 kilos of water – he has just walked half a mile with it from the local standpipe BUT it doesn’t have to be like this.

On my first trip in 2005 I saw this time and time again but when I returned in 2006 I took some Rotary rollers with me BUT transporting them out has always been an issue. However with the support of the Westminster Group I was able to send 23 out by sea freight and whilst in Freetown I distributed them with Pastor Mark from Calvary School in Lunghi, a really good friend of mine.

Rotary Rollers with their new owners whilst other children carry water the traditional way!!

I hope to send many more Rotary Rollers out to Freetown in the future to help improve the daily chore of children carrying water long distances.

Thank you to Adrian at Roll Out The Barrel for donating the barrels & Westminster Group for all their support with the shipping of goods.

Alan

As a “thank you” to Westminster Group for all their help with the shipment of goods to Sierra Leone Alan Wolstencroft donated a football kit to the staff team.

The latest sea freight container is being loaded with some furniture and nearly 100 boxes of school uniform, sports kits, corporate clothing, knitted items and books for distribution in 5 communities.

Joanne Fowler, Westminster Aviation Security Services (left) met up with Anna Vines from Enable The Children to hand over a batch of stability boots which will assist the work that they are doing with disabled children in Freetown. Many thanks to Joanne for taking these much needed boots out to Freetown.