Gaynor Sharp
Mass static 24h cycle
Fundraising for Memusi Foundation
Story
Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.We (my family and friends) are raising money to support Matt in his quest to reduce poverty through improving education in rural Kenya and Tanzania…here is a snippet about his voluntary work:
Matt Norton visited Kenya 5 years ago and loved its beauty and the wildlife but was shocked by the level of poverty. He was astonished by the amount gratitude he got from a 9 year old boy when he gave him 3 Poundland pencils and decided he needed to do something. He chose in the first instance to support a local school (1 teacher and 5 pupils in a shack) and on his return to the UK he sent the school boxes of pencils.Whilst at his desk at a well known Building Society he decided he needed to do more than send pencils…so he got his old bike out, did a little training and cycled from John O'Groats to Lands End (over 1000 miles in a week and raised £15000). He used this money to build a more solid classroom and to fund teacher salaries, food for the pupils twice a day and uniforms (2 per pupil) and another classroom.
He returned to his desk and wanted to do more so he looked at a World map and noted that Holmfirth (his home town) was due North of Magadi in rural Kenya where the school was situated. So he did some training and cycled the 3000 or so miles in three weeks and raised a lot of money.
This money has funded a minibus (to collect pupils who live more than 3 miles away, to develop a Health centre at the school -a 5 classroom school with 225 pupils and 5 teachers…an amazing feat and every penny raised goes directly to this project….and now he is planning to build a secondary school in Kenya and start the same process in Tanzania….
The 9 year old boy now works for the charity that Matt set up…the Memusi Foundation: www.memusifoundation.org.uk
Matt is an amazingly inspirational man and we are proud to support him in his quest to support education of these poverty stricken young people in rural parts of Africa.
Please donate to this very worthy cause-donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity.