Tag: challenge

Joanne’s July Journey

Please show your support for Joanne who is fundraising for a new classroom for Bright Futures Secondary School. Read today’s blog to find out how brave and strong she is.

Sarah’s blog 31/07/23

My sister is amazing. My sister is strong, brave and determined. She has been through so much in the last few years; finding out she had breast cancer, having her breast removed, several operations, lots of infections, not to mention the mental trauma of all of that.

Whilst she was waiting for her original surgery, she raised money towards the shower block by doing a walking challenge. Now, whilst she is waiting for reconstruction surgery and needing to reduce her BMI slightly, she has taken on another challenge for us. Thank you Joanne.

Bright Futures Secondary School opened last year with two classrooms. Secondary education needs to be paid for in Malawi and none of the teenagers we help to support could afford this. There will be another intake of vulnerable teenagers wanting to start at Bright Futures Secondary School in September, but we need to build another classroom. As there will be more students, we also need to build another toilet block. Will you help us?

She set herself the challenge of walking 200km in July….she’s almost finished…5km left to go and this is her last day. It’s pouring with rain here today, so she would welcome some support. Can you help?

Joanne’s fundraising link is here: https://gofund.me/91721cad If you could spare a few £££ it would be much appreciated. Joanne has taken photos from her walks round the village of Killearn where she lives. If you are a business in Killearn who would like to support Joanne we will give you lots of mentions on social media. We welcome businesses partnering with us to help support the hundreds of orphans we help in rural northern Malawi.

Hope you enjoy Joanne’s photos and please support her if you can. Thank you, Sarah x

Joanne’s walk for a classroom for Bright Futures Secondary School

Joanne is taking on another challenge on behalf of the vulnerable young people we help to support http://www.changinglivesmalawi.com

Sarah’s blog 30/06/23

In November 2020 my sister, Joanne, was waiting for surgery for breast cancer. She used that time to do a walking challenge to raise money towards the shower block that was being built.

Now, as she’s waiting for reconstructive surgery and needs to lower her BMI slightly, she has said she’s going to challenge herself again. I have no doubt that she will reach her target of 200km in July. As well as being one of the bravest people I know, she is also one of the strongest.

So she has set up a fundraising page to raise money towards a new classroom for Bright Futures Secondary School. Please support her in her challenge as it will mean a great deal to her, to us and, of course, the children who need a new classroom for term starting in September. Joanne’s fundraiser is https://gofund.me/91721cad .

If anyone else wants to set themselves a challenge to fundraise for our charity we would be so grateful and would promote it on social media for you. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Good luck, Joanne and thank you…we know you can do it! Thank you all for reading and your support, Sarah x

Bright Futures Secondary School – phase 2

Joanne one one of her walks in November 2020

From here to Malawi – The challenge is complete!

The challenge is complete! Yay!

Sarah’s blog 21/04/23

Well it has taken longer than we originally planned….but the small, dedicated team has done it! What an amazing and fantastic group of dedicated supporters!

We planned, in order to raise money for Bright Futures Secondary School, to run, walk, swim, scoot, cycle and sail to add together kilometres to cover the distance that the boxes travel between here and Malawi. It was a bigger challenge than we anticipated, for a small team, and the container covered the distance way before we reached our target, but the challenge is now complete!! Well done team!! We never give up!

As of yesterday, the total kilometres travelled was 13,161.195km! That was 17.195km more than was actually needed.

As you know, Phase 1 of Bright Futures Secondary School was built and opened in November 2022. This comprised of staff accommodation and two classrooms to add to the other buildings that we had previously fundraised for which included the library, shower block and clean water supply.

Now fundraising is well underway for phase 2 of Bright Futures Secondary School. We need at least one more classroom to be in place for the new term starting in September 2023. We also need some more staff accommodation and a dormitory block for the most vulnerable girls to be able to stay on campus. This will enable them to be safe rather than risking being attacked on the long walk to and from school. These are big plans but education is the way out of poverty for these very vulnerable children and young people, many of whom are orphans.

The photos below are just some of the lovely people who helped us achieve our goal. Thank you to everyone who took part. You are all brilliant and we couldn’t do what we do without you. If you would like to contribute towards phase 2 of Bright Futures Secondary School then you can either email me for bank details contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com or donate at https://gofund.me/ece5753a Thanks so much for supporting, helping, donating, volunteering, sponsoring….whatever you do to help us….thank you from the bottom of our hearts, Sarah x

Previous stories…. More Kilometres! – Changing Lives Malawi Keep collecting Kilometres! – Changing Lives Malawi

Phase 2 0f Bright Futures Secondary School – classrooms 3 & 4 – Changing Lives Malawi

Traci on top of the world!
Brilliant effort Traci!
One boy, his scooter & his dog
Team Mottram reached the top of Ben Nevis on a rainy day
Team Mackay, wearing their team t-shirts in Lanzarote
The kids in Malawi were keen to join in and added some kilometres by running
Team Mackay in the news!
Team Mackay climbed Scafell Pike on a very hot day

A visit to the Health Centre

Sarah’s blog 21/2/23

Some of the wonderful donations of clothes and knitting for babies that have been donated were delivered to the Health Centre that is near to The Foundation. There is a maternity ward in the health centre and staff are very happy to have the connection with The Foundation and to receive clothes for the new babies.

Levison and the teachers at Bright Futures Secondary School want the young people, who are receiving free education, school meals, uniform etc to give back to their community. A trip was organised to the health centre today for some of the students to go with their teachers to deliver the baby clothes and blankets. They also cut the grass round the buildings and swept debris from the outside areas.

It looks like everyone enjoyed the visit and the staff and mothers were delighted to receive some clothes for their babies. On the last visit there were some new born babies but today there were some older babies with their mums and also some women who were due to give birth. One person commented that these gifts had come from angels….so thank you so much to each and every person who has knitted blankets and baby clothes or donated baby clothes that their own children have grown out of. You can see where your gifts have gone and that they are very much appreciated. Enjoy the photos and thanks for supporting, Sarah x

The latest beautiful donations from Torrance Church that I received on Sunday. These will be going on the next container.

Kilometre Challenge News

Sarah’s blog 08/11/22

Because of all the exciting news about Bright Futures Secondary School opening yesterday, we haven’t had an update on the Kilometre Challenge recently.

First Day of Bright Futures Secondary School 07/11/22 – Changing Lives Malawi

Our Kilometre Challenge is to virtually add kilometres to total the same distance that our boxes travel between here and The Foundation. On one of the routes that the container ships follow (plus land kilometres) the total kilometres are 13,144km. We have been asking people to donate their kilometres from their daily walk, run or cycle. Whether you only walk 2km or you’ve cycled 20km – every little helps so please get in touch to give us your kilometres to add to our total. The race is definitely on as the container ship gets nearer its destination. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

We took our boxes to Dundee to the Bananabox warehouse. Once their warehouse is full, they order and pack a container which then goes to Grangemouth Docks. The container started off on The Alana which went from Grangemouth to Antwerp. The container then changed ship to The Chloe. This container ship left Antwerp for Le Harvre and then onto Las Palmas. From there The Chloe travelled to Cape Town and has now reached Durban.

Some of the people who have been supporting our challenge are Team Mackay. They were on holiday recently and, between the four of them, clocked up 574km. Very well done and thank you for your support, Team Mackay! One of our other supporters had t-shirts made for Team Mackay, and as you can see from the holiday photos Jackie has sent, the t-shirts were worn proudly! Thank you to Jim for the t-shirts!

The new update on the totals is (drum roll) 8,249.205 which is 62.76% of the total journey!! Amazing!! Please do message with your kilometres so we can try to win the race against these boxes that will arrive very soon! contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Although phase 1 of Bright Futures Secondary School has been completed, we still need desks and more textbooks and then will continue fundraising to provide more classrooms. If you can donate and support education for the most vulnerable children in rural northern Malawi, then please donate here https://gofund.me/44a92444 Thank you all for your continued support and for helping us continue Changing Lives Malawi, Sarah x

More Building updates

Sarah’s blog 17/10/22

Things are progressing well with both the staff accommodation and the first phase of Bright Futures Secondary School.

The staff accommodation has been having windows put in during yesterday and today and will need painting and doors fixing. Apart from a bit of tidying up outside, that will be it ready!

The builders have finished their work on phase 1 of Bright Futures Secondary School and the carpenters are working on the roof. There are still some jobs to do after that but it’s exciting to see it taking shape! It won’t be long until the first students arrive.

A teachers latrine block is also being constructed and, when finances allow, we will be building another girls and another boys latrine blocks.

The children still need your support. As yet we still need to find money for windows in the school block, doors, chalkboards, desks, more textbooks and notebooks.

Can you help us help the children please? We are nearly there but need your support to give the gift of education to some of the most vulnerable teenagers in rural Northern Malawi. They wouldn’t normally be able to afford secondary school without help. At Bright Futures Secondary School, none of these vulnerable children will have to pay anything.

Here is the link to our fundraiser and we would be so grateful if you could spare a few £££ for the children. Https://GoFund.me/44a92444 Let’s give the gift of education! Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x

At sunset – the wooden roof supports on the first phase of Bright Futures Secondary School. Please help us complete this phase https://GoFund.me/44a92444 Let’s build a school!

The roof is going on the first phase of the school… two classrooms are being built in this phase
The carpenters have been working hard today please help to get it finished https://gofund.me/44a92444
The staff accommodation is almost complete. Female teachers will be offered accommodation due to the remote location. Eventually there will be male staff accommodation too.
Bright Futures Secondary School is taking shape… thank you to all who have donated so far
Putting the windows into the staff accommodation block
Female teachers will be offered accommodation
The staff accommodation is almost ready

Bright Futures Secondary School

Sarah’s blog 12/10/22

As most of you will know by now….a secondary school is being built at The Foundation….Bright Futures Secondary School. Because of costs it is being built in four phases. Work is progressing well, and Phase 1 is nearly finished. We need your help to get the roof on and to get desks made and more textbooks for the students. Will you donate to provide a textbook? Will you help with the cost of desks? What can you do to help these vulnerable children? Education is their way out of poverty https://gofund.me/44a92444

We have been raising funds and awareness for the new school by going on a virtual journey….following one of the routes that the boxes we send travel between here and Malawi. That’s a total of 13,144km. We are asking people to donate kilometres to our total to help us complete the journey quicker. So you might be out walking the dog, walking to work or round the supermarket or going for a run….just email your total and we can add it on! Or are you a runner or a cyclist? We would love your kilometres too.

Email contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com to add to our total kilometres travelled. Let’s see if we can finish our journey before the container arrives! The latest total is 5943.493 kilometres! That’s 45.22% of the journey completed. Well done and thank you so much to everyone who has and is contributing to our kilometre challenge only 7,200.507 kilometres to go! Every little helps, so please do get in touch to add your kilometres to the total.

If you can, please donate to our fundraiser to give the gift of education to some of the most vulnerable young people in rural northern Malawi https://gofund.me/44a92444 We need your help to complete phase 1 of Bright Futures Secondary School. Please help us help the children who will have a brighter future if they can go to secondary school. I hope you enjoy the photos of the school build. Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x

How many kilometres now?

Sarah’s blog 22/9/22

Lots of people have been busy in the background adding kilometres to the total for our challenge. We are fundraising to build a desperately needed secondary school in rural northern Malawi and decided we would follow one of the routes that the boxes of aid travel. The total route is over 13,000km and we need more people ‘donating’ their kilometres to help us get to our total.

Do your children walk to school? Could they take part and let us know their totals for the week? Do you walk them to and from school? That means you will do double what your children do. Are you walking the dog every day? Or supermarket shopping? We need your kilometres please whether the total is big or small. The more people who help then the quicker we will get to our total. The local newspaper said they will feature our fundraising story every time we get to a significant goal. So please join in and tell us how many kilometres you’ve walked in a day/week. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

A few of the children that the Foundation supports ran 3km yesterday adding to our total. They were delighted to be helping and they also received some new clothes and flipflops too. So, the new total is 4,940.423 km which is 37.59%. Very well done everyone who has helped us so far…and if you’ve not donated any kilometres yet….please can you help us?

We are building Bright Futures Secondary School as there are not enough places available in the secondary schools nearby. Also, young people have to board as it’s too far to walk every day. Secondary education has to be paid for, so it makes it prohibitive for the majority of young people who are supported by the Foundation unless they have sponsors.

The school is being built in phases as we are on a shoestring budget as usual! Two classrooms will be built to start with, and we will add to the school over the next few years. Please will you help? These young people need a way out of poverty… they are desperate for education as they know this is the way to a better future for them and their families.

To donate you can get in touch by email contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com for our bank details or you can donate here https://gofund.me/44a92444 You can make a difference today. We need you to help us continue Changing Lives Malawi. Hope you enjoy the photos and videos of the children running yesterday. All of these children (apart from Catherine) would benefit from being matched with a sponsor, so please get in touch if you’d like to support one of them. Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x

The two boys running 3km
The four girls running 3km
These four girls ran 3km and also received some new clothes. Only Catherine (pink top) has a sponsor. If you’d like to be a sponsor email contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
Chimwemwe and Ivet received new clothes and ran 3km to add to our total. Both need sponsors.

Team Mackay visits Dundee!

Sarah’s blog 11/9/22

As you know from yesterday’s blog, Team Mackay have been very busy clocking up kilometres for us in our fundraising event. We want to travel over 13,000km from here to Malawi following one of the routes the boxes take on the container ship, raising awareness and funds for Bright Futures Secondary School. Team Mackay made the news! – Changing Lives Malawi

The Mackay Family are from Drymen and Ewan was involved in the planning of the recent refurbishment of the bus stop in Drymen. It was painted by a talented local artist Cameron Reid and highlights The Rob Roy Way which starts in Drymen.

Yesterday, Team Mackay aka Jackie, Ewan, Ben and Adam, volunteered their trailer to take the last of our boxes to The Bananabox Trust warehouse in Dundee to await the next container. The warehouse is almost full, so it won’t be too long until the next container is packed and sent on its way.

After visiting The Bananabox Trust, they clocked up another 20km in Dundee whilst enjoying the sunshine and visited Discovery Point. Another busy day for Team Mackay! Thanks Jackie, Ewan, Ben and Adam. We appreciate all your help.

If you’d like to pay for a box to go on the container, it costs £15, and you can email me at contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Or to donate to our fundraiser to build a desperately needed secondary school in rural northern Malawi here is the link https://gofund.me/44a92444 Let’s give the gift of education!

Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x

The newly painted bus stop in Drymen, the work of local talented artist Cameron Reid
Setting off from Drymen
At The Bananabox Trust Dundee

lots of our boxes awaiting the next container

The Discovery
Clocking up more kilometres

Traci has completed her challenge!

Sarah’s blog 1/9/22

I can’t believe it is the first of September already! That means Traci’s challenge has finished. She emailed her results last night so here are the results.

Traci had set herself a challenge to walk 500km during July and August. However, she realised that she could do some more and changed her target to walk 700km during July and August. She has been sending regular updates and some great photos and I am in awe of how determined she has been to reach her goal. In fact, she has exceeded her goal by 10km. You are amazing Traci! Very well done!

All Traci’s kilometres have been added to the total that Jackie is keeping for us. As of today, 3,625.615km have been completed in UK plus 320km that the kids in Malawi clocked up in their run gives a total of 3,945.615km. This means we have travelled 30% of our journey now! Well done everyone!

We need more people to ‘donate’ their kilometres from their walks, runs or cycles to add them to our total. Whether you are just taking the dog for a walk or doing the shopping…every little helps…so please do tell us and we will add your kilometres to our total. It’s all about teamwork and we need you on our team.

We are covering the equivalent kilometres of one of the routes that the boxes take that we send from Scotland to Malawi. The aim of this challenge is to raise money and awareness to build a desperately needed secondary school in rural northern Malawi. Please donate if you can to help us give the gift of education to some of the most vulnerable young people in northern Malawi.

Here is the link to donate https://gofund.me/44a92444 to show your support for Traci’s brilliant achievement and to give the gift of education. Thanks for reading, Sarah x

Traci says “Well, thank goodness I was well ahead of the game before succumbing to Covid – I have been totally floored by it for the last 6 days and barely managed a lap of the garden. But I’m pleased to say I have still exceeded by target of walking 700km by the end of August. If you are able, donations for the wonderful work of Changing Lives Malawi to build a school would be most gratefully appreciated via https://gofund.me/44a92444 “

Very well done Traci! Amazing achievement!

Scotland to Malawi via New York!

Sarah’s blog 23/08/22

Traci and one of her sons jetted off to New York for a few days holiday. Traci has been doing a brilliant job of collecting kilometres for us for our challenge. We are raising funds to build a desperately needed school in rural northern Malawi by covering more than 13,000km which is one of the routes the boxes travel on the container ship and lorry. We need people to help us by donating a few £££ to give the gift of education. here’s the link https://gofund.me/44a92444

Traci also set herself a challenge and she must be very nearly at her goal…to walk 700km during July and August. She had originally aimed at doing 500km but quickly realised she could aim for more. Thank you so much Traci for all the kilometres you have done towards the total of our challenge. You’ve done an amazing job at raising awareness for our fundraiser and the need for a new school. It looks like you and Murray had a great time in New York!

They each clocked up 45.29km by walking everywhere! To donate to our fundraiser here is the link https://gofund.me/44a92444

Thanks for reading and enjoy the photos. I’ll have the new total kilometres next time, Sarah x

Kilometre Challenge – Team Mackay

Sarah’s blog 18/8/22

I’m totally amazed and in awe of this update from Jackie and her family aka Team Mackay. They have been clocking up the kilometres for us and challenging themselves at the same time!

One one of the hottest days last week, they climbed Scafell Pike in the National Park in the Lake District. It is the highest mountain in England at 978 metres above sea level. It must have been so much more difficult on an extremely hot day but the views are spectacular. Very well done all of you and thank you, Team Mackay, for including your kilometres in our total.

We need to complete over 13,000km which is the distance the boxes travel from here to The Foundation. Please feel free to get in touch and add your kilometres from any walk you do, or cycle or even roller skating! Any kilometres will help us get nearer our target and any donations will help us build a much needed secondary school. https://gofund.me/44a92444 We are almost at 25% and any kilometres you can donate by taking part will help us over the 25% mark.

So far 320km have been recorded in Malawi during a 4km run by some of the older children + 2,887.415km in UK = 3,207.415km = 24.4%

Let’s build a school! We need your help to donate kilometres and £££ https://gofund.me/44a92444 Team Mackay; Jackie, Ewan, Ben & Adam – you are awesome! Hope you all enjoy their photos. Thanks for reading, Sarah x

Well done team Mackay!
Scafell Pike, England’s highest mountain at 978 metres above sea level
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