Can you help The Bambisanani Partnership in 2025?
Background:
The Bambisanani Partnership is a multi-award-winning UK based charity that originated as a partnership between St. Mary’s Catholic School in Menston, UK and Mnyakanya High School in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa in 2006. The partnership, which is run entirely by volunteers, uses the power of sport as a catalyst to promote education, health, global citizenship and leadership has gained international acclaim for its work. The partnership now involves over 40 schools, colleges and universities in both the UK and South Africa. The University of Leeds, Leeds Trinity University and Newcastle College are key members of the partnership. In South Africa the partnership operates in the Nkandla region which one of most remote and deprived parts of the country with over 90% unemployment and one of highest Aids/HIV rates in the world. ‘Bambisanani’ is a Zulu word meaning ‘working hand in hand’ which aptly encapsulates the philosophy of the partnership which seeks to provide collaborative learning opportunities for young people in both countries. The partnership has been recognised as making important contributions to UN Sustainable Development Goals and is a founding member of Sport and Sustainability International.
Over the past 18 years more than 27,000 young people from the UK and South Africa (from primary school through to university) have participated in a variety of Bambisanani Partnership programmes and projects including ‘Leadership through Sport’, Sports Festivals’ Cycling to Success’, ‘Literacy through Sport’, ‘Numeracy through Sport’ ‘Art through Sport’, ‘Learning through Football’, ‘International Athletics Challenge’ and the joint training of Physical Education teachers and Sports Coaches.
Beyond this the charity has been instrumental in bringing water and computers to schools as well as rebuilding houses and providing university bursaries to disadvantaged young people; always working in partnership with the local community.
The work of the partnership has been highlighted at conferences throughout the world, including the Global Sport for All Summit held at the Vatican and at the International Olympic Academy in Greece. The Bambisanani Partnership was named as International Sport and Physical Education Charity of the Year 2023 and 2024.
Ambition for 2025 and funding requirements: Can you help?
In 2025 40 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 the institutions and students have raised a remarkable £119,000 to fund their volunteering. 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. With £119,000 already in place we are seeking a further £26,500 to fund our priority projects on the ground in South Africa.
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 differently.
Total funding requirement for 2025 = £145,500
Amount already raised for volunteering programmes = £119,000 (82% of total)
Remaining funding required for 2025 = £26,500 (18% of total)
In the year ahead we would like to develop nine community ‘needs led’ projects as identified below. There may be one that you might 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. Thembinfundo Special School Water and Sanitation
is the latest school to become part of the Bambisanani Partnership. This remote rural Residential School has no access to water for toilet facilities – the situation is absolutely deplorable in terms of lack of hygiene and dignity; the environment is certainly not conducive to learning and desperately needs to be addressed asap. As a short-term emergency measure, we are installing two large water tanks at a cost of £1,700 but the longer-term solution is to bring clean water to the school via a Bore Hole – we are therefore seeking £5,000 for this purpose. Access to clean water would transform this school and the learning environment for the 200 children and their teachers.
3. Thembinfundo Special School Sport
We are also working to develop Physical Education and Sport at the school. We made a good start with this introducing some basic equipment and training which has 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 teaching and learning opportunities. This next stage of development for sports and sensory equipment will cost £2,000. The development of Physical Education and Sport will radically improve the school experience for its learners.
4. 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. £2300 is required to provide the basic equipment for the South African schools. £1,300 is available from South African sources and UK primary schools (fundraising events) so we need to raise £1,000 to make this programme happen for over 500 learners.
5. 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. The medium of sport is 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 £2000 of sports equipment each year to facilitate these programmes in both the primary and secondary schools. £1000 is already in place to fund this programme but another £1,000 is required to train 100 young Sports Leaders.
6. Literacy
We are supporting a KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education Department priority of developing Literacy in the remote rural areas. In the year ahead we would like to provide a further 500 books at a cost of £1,000.
7. 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.
8. Educational visits of South African students and teachers to the UK
Such visits have a tremendous positive impact, as indeed we saw in 2024, and would like to encourage further visits (hopefully annually) in the future by raising £2,000 to contribute towards costs.
9. Shoes for children that don’t have any
Despite walking great distances to school many children that we work with do not have shoes or shoes that fit them. Working with the My Walk charity we provide shoes made from recycled hospital waste at a cost of £1.53 (R35) a pair. In 2025 we aim to provide 500 more pairs of shoes. £265 is already in place so we need to raise a further £500.
Administration
Not the most exciting aspect of our work to fund but nevertheless vitally important as it ensures that all the above happens. With no staff to pay or premises to look after our administration costs are absolutely minimal. Our costs for the year ahead will be in the region of £3,000.
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. We also have the opportunity to build an additional classroom for computer use at Mnyakanya School at a cost of £20,000.
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.
Via this link it is possible to make a ‘one off’ donation to the charity or indeed set up a monthly payment.
David Geldart, Founder/CEO The Bambisanani Partnership (UK Registered Charity 1163461)
