t-shirts Archives

Giving out gifts from the Balfron 10k

Thank you for the donations from the Balfron 10k last year. Some great photos from Malawi. We will be collecting preloved shoes at this year’s event too.

Sarah’s blog 3/3/26

We were at the popular Balfron 10k race last year collecting preloved training shoes to send to the vulnerable people we support in rural northern Malawi. We were given almost 100 pairs of training shoes (children’s and adults) to send. Over the last few days, Levison and team have been giving out gifts from the Balfron 10k event.

There were t-shirts left over from previous races and the organisers kindly gave these to us. As you know, it takes a long time for things to arrive at their destination. However, last week, trainers and other shoes were given out to students at Bright Futures Secondary School and also to staff and volunteers. Everyone was very thankful for these gifts.

Yesterday, staff and volunteers were gifted the Balfron 10k t-shirts. On behalf of everyone who received these gifts, thank you so much. They are delighted to have been thought about. A small gift like a t-shirt means a great deal to the people who are living in extreme poverty.

We are going to be at this year’s Balfron 10K race again on Sunday 3rd May…exactly two months from now. Changing Lives Malawi will again be collecting trainers and other shoes of all sizes (no heels please). We must ask that all footwear is in good CLEAN condition. Would you be still happy to wear them? Do they have holes in the soles? The people receiving your preloved shoes and trainers walk miles every day, so the footwear needs to be functional and clean.

Can you tell your friends and spread the word so that we collect more than 100 pairs this year? There are hundreds of children and adults that we help to support and they would all love a new (to them) pair of shoes. Also, we would be grateful for a donation of £1 per pair of shoes to help towards transport costs. We are based in Balfron so this is our ‘home event’. Lets make it another successful one this year. Thanks also to Shoe Share Malawi who also donated training shoes to us and put us in touch with the organisers of the Balfron 10k event. Thanks so much, Sarah x

Also, some other news to share, myself and another trustee, Liz, are visiting the projects we support in Malawi for the first time in May. We are very excited and you can read about our plans here https://gofund.me/866bf18f0 and if you’d like to get in touch, our email is contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com Enjoy the photos. Thanks again, Sarah x

Balfron 10K – collecting shoes

Thanks for the t-shirts West Group!

Thank you West Group Technical Services

Sarah’s blog 26/07/23

Levison and his helpers arrived back safely yesterday afternoon from Ekwendeni with all the boxes and parcels. Boxes will be opened over the next few weeks and a bit at a time. The first box to be opened contained workwear that had been kindly donated by West Group Technical Services. They replace clothes for their staff each year and asked us if we could make use of their preloved uniform.

Members of staff and apprentices were delighted to receive a polo shirt each today with the West Group logo. There are still sweatshirts and fleeces that will be given out when the weather is a bit cooler. We would like to thank West Group Technical Services for their generosity and for partnering with us in this way to make a difference to the young people we are helping to support.

Most of the young apprentices we help to support are helping care for the goats and crops. Jean is becoming competent at sewing and cooking and Loveness supports the preschool children in the nursery and also coaches team sports. Soon, some of these young people will be helping on the project to bring clean water from the health centre to Chambo Primary School. Anold is Levison’s right hand man and supervises the apprentices and other young people who are learning how to grow crops.

West Group Technical Services are a growing, well respected electrical contractor based in central Scotland and their website link is https://www.westgrouptechnical.co.uk Thank you again for supporting our young people, Jack Lyon and team.

Hope you enjoy looking at the photos and there will be more photos soon when other boxes have been opened. Thanks, Sarah x

before receiving their new t-shirts from West Group

Gifts for the nursery children

Sarah’s blog 10/1/23

There are 75 vulnerable pre-school children, ages 4-6, in the nursery at The Foundation. All are malnourished, some have stunted growth. We are doing what we can in order to help them have a better start in life.

Today, because of the rains, only about half of them were there to receive the gifts we had sent. The others will get their gifts another day. Proper records are kept to ensure none of them miss out.

Today is an exciting day for them…it’s the first time they have received a book of their own to keep and take home. This is part of The Literacy Project. I am an Early Years Educator and so am passionate about these children having the opportunities that our children have. When we have access to books pre-reading starts when babies are on an adult’s knee, having a story read to them. They look at the pictures and can anticipate certain points in the story because of the way the adult reads and shares this special time with them. Toddlers will bring their favourite storybook to an adult in order that they can share the story together. They can point to things in the pictures, they know that you turn the pages and they ‘pretend’ to read by tracing the words with their fingers. They know that these letter shapes are where the story comes from.

The children at The Foundation nursery have missed out on all of these experiences. We want story books to become an every day part of their lives. We want every home to have at least two books to support literacy. I had a video call with the headteacher of Bright Futures Secondary School yesterday and she was delighted that books were being given to the children in the nursery. She said they are trying to ‘play catchup’ with the students at Bright Futures Secondary School as they have missed out on having access to reading materials from a young age. Many of the students missed a lot of school to work for a pittance to buy food….it’s been so hard for them. We look forward to seeing how having books at home makes a difference to these children and their families.

Today, each child received a drawstring bag containing, a blanket, 2 red t-shirts, pants, toothbrush & toothpaste, soap and a picture book. As I said in a recent post, in future, we want to be able to include a knitted teddy in each bag for children starting nursery. If you are able to help support this nursery project in any way then please email me contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com

Here is the link to Sunday’s post 10 Teddies – supporting the nursery children – Changing Lives Malawi Enjoy the photos and thanks for your support, Sarah x

New t-shirts -thank you!

Sarah’s blog 30/09/22

These lovely blue t-shirts were sent by Julian of whose small charity is called ‘Wear a Sports Shirt Day’. Julian collects sports clothes and other clothes like school uniforms every weekend to send on to people who will make good use of them. He’s previously sent boxes of gifts to The Foundation including football strips and boots, tracksuits, hockey equipment and Christmas jumpers and hats. We are very grateful to him for all he does and to the people who donate to him.

I’m going to be doing a few posts over the weekend as there is so much going on at The Foundation! It’s exciting to see the school building progressing and the children will be adding some more kilometres to our total virtual fundraising journey over the weekend. The link to the fundraiser is https://gofund.me/44a92444

Julian thank you again and thank you to all our supporters. We couldn’t do what we do without your help. Thanks for reading and supporting. Sarah x

l-r: Chance Kaonga, Laston Nyondo, Loveness Siyame, Austed Silungwe, Tryness Sichamba, William Nyirenda, Weston Nyondo, Bonface Nyondo, Maria Chizumira, Peter Kaonga and Obrain Nyondo are all delighted with their new t-shirts.

Gifts for the staff

Sarah’s blog 13/09/22

Some of the boxes have been opened and clothes are being sorted into age groups so they can be given out at the weekend.

One box that we had sent was for the staff and volunteers. I had found a large quantity of blue adult t-shirts in a sale so I bought them and boxed them up for the adults. Levison gave out some of the t-shirts this morning and everyone was pleased that we had thought about them.

In the video, Alice, thanks us for remembering them and for their gifts. To us, a t-shirt is just an ordinary item – nothing to get too excited about. However, when you aren’t used to receiving gifts, and don’t have many clothes of your own, it means a lot to them. I hope you enjoy the photos and the video, Sarah x

Levison distributing t-shirts to staff and volunteers

Levison with the female staff and volunteers

Nakaonga – the sewing instructor with Loveness

Alice thanking us for the t-shirts

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