Students and staff at Newcastle College are raising funds to provide children in South Africa with school shoes.

A team of ten students and three staff members visited South Africa this summer, where they worked with more than 700 children in two primary schools and an orphanage. The link with South Africa came from Enrichment and Development Manager Brogan O’Connor, who has been working with an organisation called the Bambisanani Partnership for a few years now.

Brogan explained: “The Bambisanani Partnership started when my old school St. Mary’s High School in Leeds linked with Mnyakanya High School, which serves one of KwaZulu-Natal’s most deprived rural communities. A fundamental aim of the partnership has been to create genuine ‘two-way’ learning between both countries, with a key focus on working together and learning together. The Bambisanani story is testimony of the power of sport to change lives.”

While they were there, Brogan and the team learned that more than half of the pupils in the schools walk there barefoot. Now, their goal is to ensure that every child has a pair of shoes to wear and are raising funds in support of South African charitable initiative ‘My Walk’.

‘My Walk’ uses unused hospital kit, such as IV bags, to create school shoes for less than £2 a pair while reducing waste that goes to landfill.

Brogan is hoping to raise the £3,000 needed to provide shoes for every pupil in both schools they worked with, before returning to visit them next summer. She said: “Proper school shoes can make such a difference to a child’s daily life and their potential to make the most of the opportunities that education brings. We saw first-hand how much of an impact having access to school has on the children and their communities, that’s what makes me so passionate about this project.”

Donations can be made to the initiative via the Bambisanani Project here or by sending a direct bank transfer using the details below: 

Name: Bambisanani Partnership
Bank: Lloyds
Sort code: 306522
Account Number: 70114260

You can send a donation of £2 to fund one pair of shoes, or you can choose to donate more. Please include your name and NCL as the reference with any donation to ensure it is allocated to the initiative.