NEWS
Bambisanani supporters ‘March through March’ to raise funds
Supporters of the Bambisanani Partnership recently participated in a sponsored 100-mile walking event – Marching through March – in order to raise much needed funds for the charity.
Supporters of the Bambisanani Partnership recently participated in a sponsored 100-mile walking event – Marching through March – in order to raise much needed funds for the charity.
Jenni Tomes-Green
The event was organised by Bambisanani trustee, Barbara Pounder who said:
“Many congratulations to everyone who took part in the Bambisanani Challenge of walking 100 miles in March. Through wind, rain and shine and more rain! the walkers completed the challenge with a smile. So many different routes and some incredible scenery. The Yorkshire Dales, the streets of Guiseley, Menston, Bramhope, Horsforth, Otley and Yeadon Dam. Along the coast of Crosby in Liverpool, Bamburgh in Northumberland and amazingly also in Thailand, Barbados and Italy. A total of 1,300 miles were walked and just over £2,000 was raised. Using the power of sport to change lives, the Partnership is currently involved in five projects in South Africa and every penny raised from ‘Marching through March’ will go towards sustaining and developing them. Once again, many congratulations to all the walkers and a big thank you to everyone that sponsored them.”
Participants included Jenni Tomes-Green, Tracey Weaver, Katherine Sayers, Duncan Baines, Vincent Bulman, Catherine Chattoe, David Geldart, Christine Wallis, Richard Giles, Graham Chennells, Ali Roberts, Martin Waddington, Loris Stringhini and the Pounder family.
‘Marching through March’ will hopefully become an annual fundraiser for the Bambisanani Partnership charity. To register your interest for the 2025 event please contact Barbara Pounder: bmpounder@yahoo.co.uk
March was a wet and windy month!
Team effort from the Pounder family
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.
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)
Fundraising Event at Michelin standard Indian restaurant
Date: Sunday 12 May 2024
Date: Sunday 12 May 2024
Time: 12.30pm for 1pm lunch
Venue: Tharavadu Indian Restaurant in Leeds
7-8 Mill Hill
Leeds
LS1 5DQ
2 minute walk from Leeds train station
Cost: £25 per adult, £12.50 under 16’s, Under fives free
Food: Two course Kerala Indian lunch
This will be a great afternoon for people to experience Michelin standard Kerala food
There will be the opportunity to take part in an auction and some fundraising games, so could you please bring some cash as well
This will be a fantastic event for the whole family as well as raising money for a great cause
The Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli has referred Tharavadu as his favourite restaurant - the reviews are amazing
Tickets are available from Catherine Chattoe at St. Mary’s Menston c.chattoe@stmarysmenston.org
01943 883000
Also see related article:
Teacher runs, swims, cycles and rows his virtual way to Africa to raise funds for Special School
During the St. Mary’s School, Menston visits to South Africa in 2023, as part of the Bambisanani Partnership, the students and staff had their first visit to Thembimfundo School– a school dedicated to children with Special Educational Needs.
During the St. Mary’s School, Menston visits to South Africa in 2023, as part of the Bambisanani Partnership, the students and staff had their first visit to Thembimfundo School– a school dedicated to children with Special Educational Needs.
A very special relationship was immediately created with the children relishing the opportunity to learn through movement and sound. Unfortunately, there was a lack of resources to promote these aspects of learning and a teacher on the visit, Matt Harvey, wanted to make a difference and ensure that additional equipment was provided. Tragically, over the summer Mr Harvey passed away and never had the opportunity to raise the required funds.
Mr David Farmer, Deputy Headteacher from St. Joseph’s Primary School, Pudsey, who was part of the Bambisanani team to visit South Africa took up the mantle and decided to travel virtually from Leeds to Africa to raise funds by running, swimming, cycling and rowing the equivalent distance.
To do this he:
Ran from Leeds to Dover – 274 miles
Swam from Dover to Calais – 31 miles
Cycled from Calais to Gibraltar – 1,442 miles
Rowed across the Gibraltar Straits to Africa – 9 miles
A remarkable total of 1,756 miles!
The journey has taken almost a year of visiting the gym and pool; recording distances meticulously throughout. Mr Farmer has raised approaching £1,000 with the Gift Aid included, which will enable the Bambisanani Partnership charity to purchase items such as a sound system, play parachutes, netball, football and boccia equipment and jingle balls for the blind. The children at Thembimfundo will enjoy using the equipment and no doubt Mr Harvey will be looking down with a smile on his face.
David Geldart from the Bambisanani Partnership said, “This is an absolutely amazing feat of endurance and commitment from David and indicative of his tremendous enthusiasm and commitment for the Bambisanani Partnership. We are now working very closely with the Principal, local community and other agencies in South Africa to develop sport and the creative arts at Thembinfundo Special School. This has become a major focus for the charity and will be a lasting legacy to Matt.”
Published 03/03/2024
Happy St. Patrick’s Day 2024 from all at the Bambisanani Partnership
May the strength of God pilot us,
May the wisdom of God instruct us,
May the hand of God protect us,
May the Salvation, O Lord, be always ours,
this day and for evermore,
Amen.
– St. Patrick
May the strength
of God pilot us,
May the wisdom
of God instruct us,
May the hand
of God protect us,
May the Salvation,
O Lord, be always ours,
this day and for evermore,
Amen.
–St. Patrick
The Bambisanani Partnership says Thank You to The Rotary Club of Aireborough
On 27 February 2024, St. Mary's staff and ex-students joined the members of Aireborough Rotary at Horsforth Golf Club where Rory Southern and Anna Ciesluk, who left St. Mary’s last year gave an enlightening account of their work in South Africa in July 2023.
On 27 February 2024, St. Mary's staff and ex-students joined the members of Aireborough Rotary at Horsforth Golf Club where Rory Southern and Anna Ciesluk, who left St. Mary’s last year gave an enlightening account of their work in South Africa in July 2023.
The evening ended with Mrs Chattoe giving the Rotarians an update on the South African projects they have been involved in. They saw photographs of the final delivery and installation of computers for the Computer Suite at Mnyakanya High School that was funded by an International Rotary Grant.
Mrs Chattoe played a video of the South African teachers giving lessons to the girls on how to use the sanitary kits that the Rotarian members had made and the St. Mary’s team had delivered to the rural schools in KwaZulu-Natal.
A special guest at the evening was the son of the late Aireborough Rotary President, Heather Read. Mrs Chattoe spoke of the recipient of the first ever Heather Read Award for Outstanding Resilience. The Award was presented to Samkelisiwe Ntuli in June 2023. Tim Read and the guests heard how Samkelisiwe Ntuli has lived on her own since the age of 14 after her mother and sister travelled 500km to try to find work in Johannesburg. Samkelisiwe Ntuli travelled 20km to school every day and managed to successfully pass her matriculation examinations. Samkelisiwe Ntuli has now left school and will try to find her mother and sister and would like to study Law at University. Anna read out a message to Aireborough Rotary from Samkelisiwe Ntuli, thanking them for their recognition of her resilience.
Mrs Chattoe said: “it was a lovely evening as it is always great to meet up with the Aireborough Rotarians as they have been supporters of The Bambisanani Partnership since its inception seventeen years ago. We have had a long and very special relationship with the Rotary Club of Aireborough and indeed with Eshowe Rotary Club in South Africa that has enabled many life changing projects to be introduced.”
Find out more about The Rotary Club of Aireborough
Published: 01/03/2024
Bambisanani in the news: Small Charity Big Impact
Article February 2024
Article February 2024
Small Charity Massive Impact: The remarkable Bambisanani Partnership [SOUTH AFRICA THE GOOD NEWS]
Marching through March!
Join us for the 100 Mile Challenge. Individual Family or Group. Make Every Step Count!
Join us for the 100 Mile Challenge. Individual Family or Group. Make Every Step Count!
The challenge is to walk 100 miles either as an individual, a family or a group of friends in the month of March – you choose when you walk, where you walk, how far you walk at anyone time and how fast you walk – it’s completely up to you how you accumulate your 100 miles.
If you would like to take part and raise some sponsorship for your efforts, please register your interest by emailing Barbara Pounder (who is organising the event) at: bmpounder@yahoo.co.uk.
Our friends in South Africa are also rising to the challenge, so between us all we should be able to have some great exercise, and hopefully some good weather as we 'March through March'. For further information please contact Barbara.
Alternatively, if you are not able to do the walk you can sponsor members of Bambisanani team who will be Marching through March by making a donation on the link below.
Mnyakanya High School do it again!
Mnyakanya High School in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, has recently learned that it has obtained a remarkable 90% pass rate in the annual Matriculation (Matric) Examinations, despite many challenges that were faced by the school in the last year.
Mnyakanya High School in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal, has recently learned that it has obtained a remarkable 90% pass rate in the annual Matriculation (Matric) Examinations, despite many challenges that were faced by the school in the last year.
Students celebrate their results
This result equals the school's record breaking 90% pass rate of 2023. In 2022 the pass rate was a commendable 86% and in 2021 it was 72%. It is not so many years ago that the pass rate was half that of the amazing results of this year and last so there is little wonder that this remote rural school is gaining the attention of the nation.
In 2023, Mnyakanya had 112 students who sat the national Matric exams. This was a huge number for the school with limited classrooms, teachers and resources. Learners had to be taught in overcrowded classrooms with teachers providing additional lessons in the evenings and weekends.
Star pupil Busisiwe Bhengu
The 2023 results surprised many people when 58 learners obtained a Bachelors Pass, which is the entry requirement to go to university, 31 learners obtained a Diploma Pass which is the entry requirement for Technical Colleges and 12 learners obtained the Higher Certificates which can provide access to Technical Colleges.
Busisiwe Bhengu who achieved the highest scores with no less than 6 Distinctions In her subjects, broke into tears of joy when she received the news of her achievements. Her grandmother, Mashezi Bhengu who takes care of her family by selling snacks at school said:
"I am so grateful that Busisiwe has broken the record by achieving such high results. I am so proud to know that she is the first student to obtain 6 distinctions in her subjects throughout the history of Mnyakanya High school."
Busisiwe's father, Mafuna Bhengu, passed the words of gratitude to the school principal and said:
"I'm so excited about the work done by the teachers for my daughter. I don’t have anything in my hands, but I wish I can do something for the school to show my appreciation. I am speechless, not knowing what to do because of excitement.
I wish to say a massive thanks to you Mr Principal and your staff, God bless you."
Mnyakanya High School results continue to attract students from different parts of the province and from other provinces. The school enrolment of 2024 has risen up to 950 students compared to 859 of 2023. There are many students who applied and could not be taken because the school is running short of enough space and furniture.
The Mnyakanya community is working hand in hand with the school to provide accommodation closer to the school for those students who wish to move to the area to attend the school. Again, teachers of the school are proving additional classes to cope with the massive increased demand.
Mr SV Ngubane, Principal of Mnyakanya congratulates students on their outstanding results
Mnyakanya School together with St. Mary’s School, Menston (UK) are the founding schools of the Bambisanani Partnership and have worked closely together for the benefit of students in both schools for the past 17 years. Mnyakanyal is now a very popular school not only for its outstanding examination results but for its sports activities, cultural activities and international links and educational opportunities through the Bambisanani Partnership. The addition of Computer Literacy as a subject in the school curriculum by the Bambisanani Partnership and Rotary International has been a major factor in increased academic achievement at the school.
The Chairperson of the school governing body, Mr Sguda Bhengu said:
"I am feeling very proud to be the Chairperson the school that is doing so well with its results. In all cases or events when I’m expected to introduce myself, I do not forget to p roudly mention that I am the Chairperson of Mnyakanya school governing body. This make my status to be respected even greater in the community, just because of the good work done at Mnyakanya”.
The delighted Principal of Mnyakanya, Mr SV Ngubane said, “2023 was the toughest year with many challenges. The Matric results could not be predicted at all because of these challenges. Teachers were extremely overloaded with work because the school was understaffed. The results that we obtained are from hard work and dedication of teachers and learners who sacrificed their time of seeing their families during holidays and during the week-ends. I cannot explain the joy that I have in my heart about what we achieved."
Students doing extra study after school
David Geldart from the Bambisanani Partnership added, “I am almost lost for words at the remarkable continued progress at Mnyakanya School. The teachers and students deserve the utmost praise and congratulations for their outstanding work. Many students routinely walk two hours to and from school each day because they want an education. Relatively few resources and class sizes of 60 plus are the norm. There is a shortage of teachers at the school and those that are there go the extra mile continually for their students by working additional hours before school, after school, weekends and holidays! The young people and their educators are an inspiration and students and teachers from other parts of the world have much to learn from their commitment, determination and resilience. This success is achieved against all the odds and is thoroughly deserved. The Bambisanani Partnership is honoured to be working with such a school and to have made a small contribution to its success that we can all learn from.”
Published: 07/02/2024
Bambisanani Partnership Review 2023
The amazing Bambisanani team has worked tirelessly, frequently in the most challenging of circumstances, to ensure that this has been our most successful year to date in terms of development, programmes, participation and impact:
By any standards this has been the most remarkable year for the Bambisanani Partnership.
The amazing Bambisanani team have worked tirelessly, frequently in the most challenging of circumstances, to ensure that this has been our most successful year to date in terms of development, programmes, participation and impact:
This year saw 4,007 young people from both countries involved in Bambisanani activities. This is the highest level of annual participation since the partnership began.
41 young people from four institutions in the UK (St. Mary’s School, University of Leeds, Leeds Trinity University and Newcastle College) together with 11 members of staff volunteered in South Africa for a period of more than 3 months in total. This involved 33 different schools of which 17 were new to the programme.
In response to the Global Sport for All Summit and Pope Francis’ call for sport to be more inclusive and accessible, Bambisanani schools in the UK and South Africa became the first schools in the world to sign a global declaration committing to this aim. In doing so they joined some of the world’s leading sporting organisations such as the International Olympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee and the Special Olympics Committee in making this pledge.
In collaboration with Mnyakanya School and Rotary Clubs in South Africa and the UK, Computer Applications Technology (CAT) provision at Mnyakanya School has been dramatically improved with the school achieving specialised CAT status via assessment by the KZN Department of Education.
Mnyakanya School achieved its best ever examination results and recorded a significant increase in student enrolment, citing the Bambisanani Partnership as an important factor in that success with particular reference to the ICT Suite and Water Installation Project provided by the charity.
The Cycling to Success initiative continues to expand and in July a significant partnership agreement was signed with KZN Cycling that will see us jointly train more than 5,000 young people a year, from some of South Africa’s most rural, remote and deprived areas how to ride and maintain bikes. 2,356 children have already participated in the programme.
The Bambisanani International Athletics Challenge expanded to include 15 schools from South Africa and the UK involving 335 students. Since this programme began 852 primary school children from both countries have participated in the initiative.
18 Bambisanani Annual Awards presented at three South African schools and St. Mary’s, Menston recognising and rewarding achievement of students.
In partnership with the Jordan Sinnott Foundation, annual awards have been presented in South Africa encouraging sport and sports leadership in young people. Football shirts from the Sinnott 25 campaign were distributed to children at Mnyakanya High School and Vumanhlamvu Primary School.
Two students from Mnyakanya School have been awarded Bambisanani Partnership bursaries as a contribution towards their university fees. Both students are studying to become teachers at the University of South Africa. One student qualified this year.
The partnership was honoured to be invited by the South African High Commissioner to participate in the South Africa National Day Celebrations at the South High Commission.
Several national and international articles have been published highlighting the impact of the charity.
Charity Founder and CEO, David Geldart gave a speech at the International Olympic Academy in Ancient Olympia and also contributed to an international Global School Alliance webinar.
The Bambisanani Partnership was named as Physical Education Sport charity of the Year.
Since the Bambisanani Partnership began, a total of 16,703 young people have been involved in its various projects and programmes. Significantly, this now includes students from primary schools, secondary schools, colleges and universities. Over the past three years the number of educational establishments involved in our work has increased from 17 to 38.
Massive thanks to the Bambisanani team for the outstanding achievements in 2023. The impact on young people involved in our programmes has been quite remarkable not least in developing their world view and concept of humanity. The international recognition of our work and invitations to share ‘our story’ and experiences continue to both surprise and inspire us. Special thanks must go our wonderful sponsors and supporters – without their help none of the above would happen. We have taken a short breath to reflect on 2023 but our focus has already switched to 2024 and even more ambitious plans for the future - changing lives for the better through the power of education and sport. – working together and learning together.
Bambisanani Partnership Highlights from 2023
Please also see:
Bambisanani in Numbers page on our website