Tommy takes Christmas to Kenyan orphans

Tommy Yorke, our software support manager, is spending Christmas in Kenya as part of a party of nearly 50 Scouts and Leaders from across South East London  who are currently busy raising £20,000 to take Christmas to over 100 Kenyan orphans.  They will be leaving the UK on 18th December to take part in a variety of different community and environmental projects before returning on New Year's Day. 



Students at St Matthew Academy were so moved by the film Tommy showed them of the way children their age live in the shanty town of Kibera, outside Nairobi, that they started fundraising. "We were so shocked by the conditions that young people in Kibera live in, with no running water, no toilets and hardly any schools, that we decided to do what we could to help," says year 9 student Jordan-Marie Burnett, who along with her friend Leoni McKie proposed an international non-uniform day. Along with a cake sale,face painting and selling traditional food, students have raised around £1700.



The money raised will pay for materials to be used in building a new play area and providing play equipment for the local young people who have been orphaned by the ravages of HIV/AIDS and the recent civil war.  On Christmas Day, Scouts will prepare a special meal for the local children before a surprise visit from Father Christmas where presents will be handed out. They also intend to raise sufficient funds to be able to leave all their equipment behind for use by the Kenyan Scouts.



Tommy Yorke said:  "I'm glad I have been given this amazing opportunity to make a difference to the lives of Kenyan children over the Christmas period and have been extremely impressed by the enterprising skills of our students, who, after seeing the conditions children their age are living in took it upon themselves to fundraise for the project work the South East London Scouts will be undertaking."



Anyone who would like to support Tommy and the south London scouts' venture in Kenya can give here: http://www.justgiving.com/Taking-Christmas-to-Kenya-Team