Ambitions for 2024 and funding requirements: Can you help?
This year 39 young people from St. Mary’s School, Menston, University of Leeds and Newcastle College will volunteer in South Africa developing existing programmes and introducing new ones. Between them they have raised a remarkable £102,000 to fund their volunteering; many of them have worked incredibly hard for almost two years to raise this amount of money.
We are not seeking funding for our volunteers; this is their responsibility and we believe that there is much learning to be gained from this process. These are remarkable young people who have a real desire to become global citizens and make a difference in the world, they are a constant inspiration to myself and the rest of the Bambisanani team.
All of our projects are driven by community needs and engage local community members at all stages of planning and delivery. We have a policy of never funding 100% of any project. We always insist on an element of funding or contribution ‘in kind’ from South African sources. The partnership is absolutely committed to building capacity in the communities in which we work and empowering the people that we work with. Bambisanani means ‘working hand in hand’ and we are committed to that principle. All over the world I have seen ‘100% grants’ develop a ‘dependency culture’ within the communities that they are supposed to serve. This approach is frequently accompanied by a lack of real consultation with the local community - at best patronising and ultimately self-defeating; we operate very differently.
Total funding requirement for 2024 = £119,600
Amount already raised by UK student volunteers and their institutions = £102,000 (85% of total)
Remaining funding required for 2024 = £17,600
In the year ahead we would like to develop five community ‘needs led’ projects as identified below. There may be one that you may consider supporting in some way?
1. Cycling to Success
Our cycling project has proved a remarkable success in those remote, rural hills transforming lives as a means of transport, sport and recreation. Working in partnership with KZN Cycling (the Governing Body for Cycling in KZN) we aim to train 5,000 children (a year) how to both ride and maintain bikes. We need to raise £9,000 a year for the next two years which will be matched by KZN Cycling.
2. Bambisanani International Athletics Challenge
This project started during Covid to link primary schools in the UK and in South Africa in a series of athletic challenges. Principals have hailed the programme as a tremendous success - improving academic performance, behaviour, attendance and self-esteem. The majority of the South African schools had no prior experience of athletics. £2,300 is required to provide the basic equipment for the South African schools. £900 is available from South African sources and UK primary schools (fund raising events) so we need to raise £1,400 to make this programme happen for over 500 learners.
3. Leadership programmes
Our ‘leadership through sports programmes’ are our longest running programmes and they have proved an exceptional success in both primary schools and secondary schools. In my first ever meeting with the local Zulu Chief he spoke about the importance of developing young leaders with integrity in his community. The medium of sport has proved a tremendously powerful vehicle for developing generic leadership skills. Many young people who have successfully completed this course have gone to use their skills in the wider community to great effect. We need to purchase £2,200 of sports equipment each year to facilitate these programmes in both the primary and secondary schools. £1,000 is already in place to fund this programme but another £1,200 is required to train 150 young Sports Leaders.
4. Special School Physical Education and Sport
The latest school to join the Bambisanani Partnership is Thembinfundo Special School (a school dedicated to children with special educational needs) where we are introducing Physical Education or Sports programmes for the learners. We made a good start with this in 2023 introducing some basic equipment and training which had a significant impact. We are currently working with a number of agencies in South Africa to expand this programme at the school and we wish to introduce more activities for learners and more training for educators. This next stage of development will cost £4,200 of which £2,000 is already in place. £2,200 is therefore required. The development of Physical Education and Sport will transform the school experience for its 200 learners.
5. University Bursaries
Each year we try and support at least two students, who, against all the odds, gain a university place, but cannot raise all the funding required. We are currently supporting two young ladies who are training to become teachers at the University of South Africa. They have both raised between 70 and 80% of course fees themselves and we will try and make up the shortfall (that will make the difference) i.e. £2,000 (£1,000 each).
Administration
Not the most exciting aspect of our work to fund but nevertheless vitally important. With no staff to pay or premises to look after our administration costs are absolutely minimal but we do have pay some basic but essential costs for insurances, shipping and website use and development. Our costs for the year ahead will be in the region of £1,800
For the future we also have a longer-term plan to build a Football/Sports pitch near Mnyakanya School to serve both the school and the wider community. The land has already been gifted to us and the plans have been drawn up. The total cost of the project will be £85,000 with over half of the funding to come from South African sources. There is no such facility in the area; it has the potential to have a transformational impact on the lives of young people through all the benefits that sport can bring.
I would be more than happy to supply further information if required and indeed to meet with you to discuss our programme and aspirations in more detail.
David Geldart
Founder/CEO The Bambisanani Partnership
Also see related article:
Bambisanani in the news: Small Charity Big Impact (20/02/2024)
