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
Because of all the exciting news about Bright Futures Secondary School opening yesterday, we haven’t had an update on the Kilometre Challenge recently.
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 kilometres collected by Team Mackay at the weekend. They walked from The Kelpies (the two horse statues) to The Falkirk Wheel and back. That’s a distance of 16km x 4 = 64km. Well done and thank you Team Mackay! Please show your support for Team Mackay https://gofund.me/44a92444
Jackie has given me the latest total. Now 5,088.003km completed which is 38.71% of our journey from here to Malawi! That total is getting bigger…well done to everyone but there is still a long way to go! Please give us your kilometres. So if you have walked 2km today for example then just message me and we can add it to our total….it’s as easy as that. Or if you’ve been for a run or a cycle then let us know how many kms you’ve done. Every little helps and you don’t need to send a photo or get a mention in a post if you don’t want to. But the more people who donate a few kilometres then the quicker we will get there. Please help. contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
To donate financially to our fundraiser you can email me for our bank details or donate at https://gofund.me/44a92444 We still need to raise lots of money to build phase 1 of Bright Futures Secondary School. Please help us give the gift of education. Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x
Ewan, Adam, Jackie and Ben AKA Team Mackay with The Kelpies in the backgroundBen and Jackie at the KelpiesBen and Jackie at the Falkirk Wheel
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 3kmThese 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.comChimwemwe and Ivet received new clothes and ran 3km to add to our total. Both need sponsors.
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 “
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
Wow! Traci is still clocking up those kilometres to help us with our challenge. She also set herself the challenge of walking 500km in July/August. When she saw that she could do more than that she decided to set her self the target of 700km in July/August. She’s amazing! and the photos of the scenery on her walks are beautiful. It’s been very hot during the last few days so I’m sure that it has been hard work. Very well done Traci and thank you.
Here’s what Traci wrote ‘Still clocking up km for Changing Lives Malawi, but this weekend I have swapped the Campsie Fells and the River Kelvin for the Moffat Hills and the River Annan. Just 129km to go to meet my 700km target. https://gofund.me/dd3a1be3‘
We need people to show their support for Traci and the rest of the team who are taking part in the kilometre challenge – travelling the distance boxes of aid travel from here to Malawi – to raise money for a much needed secondary school. Please donate so that the most vulnerable young people can go to school – education should be available for all. Please donate a few £££ and give the gift of education today. https://gofund.me/dd3a1be3 Let’s build a school! Thank you Traci for your hard work and raising awareness of the importance of this project. Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x
Some wonderful photos from Traci’s latest walks. Fantastic Traci, thank you.
We still have a very long way to go on the challenge to travel the same distance the boxes go on one of the shipping routes. It’s over 13,000km from central Scotland to The Foundation in rural Northern Malawi. We are raising funds for a much needed secondary school. https://gofund.me/44a92444
Currently there are not enough places in the nearest secondary schools and they are too far away to walk to so young people have to board. Young people don’t get to go to secondary school unless they’ve passed their primary school leavers exams and they don’t get to go to secondary school unless they can pay the fees. Because there are not enough places, if you don’t get picked for a place at secondary school, despite passing your exams and having the fees, then unfortunately you don’t get to attend secondary school which is heart breaking for the children who are trying their best to achieve against the odds. That is what happened to 11 of our sponsored children.
We need to build this school to ensure that education is available to all young people. They shouldn’t miss out just because of where they were born and family circumstances. The children are desperate for an education as they know that this is their way out of poverty and a way to a brighter future.
We need your help. We know this is a huge challenge but we can do it as part of a team. We need more people to join in by donating your kilometres. Whether you are walking the dog, doing the shopping, out for a run….whatever you are doing…you can donate your kilometres to us towards our total journey. Here is the form to join in https://forms.gle/twQYfx7LRRrtvdhx9 or you can email me contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com .
Unfortunately, we cannot wave a magic wand and the school will appear. It is taking a lot of hard work and requires a lot of money. Costs are rising in Malawi and the currency has been devalued so things aren’t as cheap as you might think. Each classroom is costing approximately £7,000 and we are hoping to start with a block of 4 classrooms and a latrine block. Then build more year on year including a science lab, IT room and teachers accommodation. We are committed to the 500+ children who are supported by The Foundation and we want the best for them. Please help us?
If you know someone who might donate to help build the school then please do tell them. We have been very lucky to have had a few generous donations already. If anyone donates £500 or more then they can name a classroom. We need lots of small donations too! So can you give a few £££ today? https://gofund.me/44a92444
Bright Futures Secondary School is for all children to have a brighter future. They need a team to help them achieve this. Can you be part of the team to help build the school? Whether you can give us £5 or £50 or more….please give what you can and share our posts. The more people who can give then the quicker the children and young people can go to secondary school in their village.
A father and son team joined the kilometre challenge yesterday. They each did 4km, one walking and one scooting. I’m not sure that the dog’s kilometres should be counted…I wonder how many she did? Thanks for adding your kilometres to our total! To show your support for them and other team members doing our challenge you can give here https://gofund.me/44a92444
one boy and his dog
Jackie had done another great cycle at the weekend 19km….well done! She also told me that 20.17% of the journey has been completed now – 2,331.755km in the UK and 320km in Malawi = 2,651.755km. That’s brilliant but we need more people joining in and donating their kilometres and others donating money to show your support for the team! Where do you live? Can we get kilometres from all around the world? Join in an tell us where your kilometres are from! Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x contact_us@changinglivesmalawi.com
Traci is doing an amazing job and is so committed to achieving her goal of walking 700km by the end of August. Here is what she’s written today:
“Just logged another 129.34km for the Changing Lives Malawi km challenge from the last 8 days bringing my running total to 480.56km. Today was my biggest walk yet walking 30km from Torrance to the Falkirk Wheel. (Thank you to Mart for collecting me because there was no way I was walking back!) I’m still aiming to hit 700km by the end of August. Thanks to everyone who has donated so far via https://gofund.me/dd3a1be3 “
Thank you so much Traci for helping us with the challenge to travel over 13,000km – one of the routes the boxes travel – from here to Malawi to raise money for a much needed secondary school. Please can you donate a few £££ to support Traci? Hope you all enjoy Traci’s pictures. Sleep well tonight Traci! Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x
Traci that’s an amazing achievement! Very well done!
Jackie has written an update below of how the challenge is going.
Douglas & Lynda have been walking some of the Fife Coastal path and clocked up 67.5km. They also sent some beautiful photos. Thank you to both of them for their continued support.
Stuart and I managed some r&r in the East Neuk of Fife too and have added our km although nowhere near as impressive. Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x
“Hello All – Well the BALFRON TO BRIGHT FUTURES SECONDARY SCHOOL CHALLENGE has just passed its first month
The various people involved (a small team of 7 so far) have clocked up 1,817.805km. In addition the kids in Malawi have run 320km to join in.
This is a total of 2,137.805km an amazing 16.26% of the way to walk/cycle/run/hop/skip/jump the 13,144km that represents the journey from Balfron to Ibuluma in Northern Malawi.
So far over £8k has been raised (a lot off line so the GoFundMe looks a bit light!) but as prices are rising fast in Malawi just like here the sooner material can be bought the better so we really need to raise lots more money sooner rather than later.
Can you help Build the Bright Futures Secondary School? Ways to help:-
Wow, how did we get to the end of July already? It’s certainly been a busy month!
Just thought I’d do a quick post with an update as to how many kilometres have been travelled so far on our journey to help build a secondary school for some of the most vulnerable children in rural northern Malawi. We are following one of the routes that the boxes of aid travel between my house and until they arrive at their destination. That’s over 13,000km!
We have several people working hard and adding their kilometres from walking, cycling and running…however, we need more people taking part…we need you! Do you walk round the supermarket? Do you walk the dog? Or take your children or grandchildren to the park? All of those kilometres count! Can you attach a pedometer to the children whilst they are doing football training or playing with their friends? Every kilometre will help us help the children. Please get involved.
Jackie has just updated the total and has completed a bike ride with her son, Ben, this afternoon…well done both of you!
So the UK kilometres are 1,652.655 and the Malawi kilometres are 320 so the total so far is 1,972.655 = 15.01%
This is brilliant but the more people we have taking part then the quicker the journey. Please take part. Please add your kilometres. Every kilometre counts.
The whole point of this journey is to raise funds to build a desperately needed secondary school which is going to be named Bright Futures Secondary School. Currently, there are not enough places in secondary schools in that area so if you don’t get chosen for a place then you don’t go. We want all children to have access to education. The children know that education is their way out of poverty…their way to a brighter future.
Here is the link to donate to help build Bright Futures Secondary School https://gofund.me/44a92444 and give the gift of education.
This is the link for all the information you need to take part in the challenge https://forms.gle/twQYfx7LRRrtvdhx9 We’d love you to join us! This is a huge challenge and we need your help. Thanks for reading and supporting, Sarah x
Thank you Ben and Jackie… you can put your feet up this evening!
Traci is doing a brilliant job! She’s so committed to this challenge to help build Bright Futures Secondary School in rural Northern Malawi.
You can join in too… even if you are walking round the supermarket your kms will count. We would love children to join in and this could help with getting them out of the house for some fresh air! You can help us give the gift of education to vulnerable children who wouldn’t otherwise get to secondary school. Education is their way out of poverty.
This is what Traci said last night. “Here’s my latest photos of knocking off more Kilometers for Changing Lives Malawi. I’ve now reached 351.21km in the first 28 days. I’m upping my pledge and now aiming to reach 700km by the end of August. https://gofund.me/dd3a1be3 “
Well done Traci! The more people who join in then the quicker the challenge will be finished!
