SUPPORTING LOCAL CHARITIES IN SOUTH AFRICA
The lads are working hard to raise money and collect unused sports equipment to donate to charities who work with disadvantaged children, enabling them to participate in and benefit from sport.
GROOTBOS FOUNDATION
The Grootbos Foundation is a non-profit organisation, established in 2003 with the VISION of conserving the Cape Floral Kingdom and uplifting the communities therein
It is our MISSION to conserve the unique Cape Floral Kingdom, the region we call home; and to develop sustainable livelihoods through ecotourism, enterprise development, sports development and education.
We create sustainable project models which are replicable and scalable in order to assist the communities that surround us, and those in other regions. Many of our projects generate their own income and/or are partially self-sustaining, of which we are very proud!
SPORT4KIDS
We provide sports kit and equipment to children who need it. We do this by raising funds and buying kit, or by collecting second-hand kit, and distributing it to schools, clubs and individuals who need it the most and who will use it properly.
The idea is for you to enjoy making a difference and changing lives. Welcome to our world. The key is that this is a sustainable, community-based programme – together with the recipient School Staff and Community members we facilitate the kit provision, youth coaching and coach training in a manner in which the project is ongoing and of benefit to the recipient school as well as the school’s community.
FUNDRAISING ACTIVITY
The boys are determined to raise funds and collect unwanted sports kit to donate to our charity partners. Take a look at what they have been up to.
WILF AT THE START OF HADRIANS WALL COAST-TO-COAST WALK.
Wilf completed the first leg of his South Africa Trip charity fundraising challenge to complete the Hadrians Wall coast-to-coast walk. 14.1 miles on the pretty flat ground from Bowness on Solway to Carlisle. Wilf delighted with shoreline bird spotting. No ancient walls in evidence, in fact nothing obviously Roman - just a party of walkers from Seattle and a couple of ladies from California who had taken to shielding themselves from the sun with umbrellas! It was sufficiently hot for the tarmac to start melting. The process of putting of one foot in front of the other - for six miles more than he has ever walked before - proved a healthy challenge for Wilf. Only 70 miles to go and it gets more lumpy bumpy from hereon in.
WILF'S WALK - DAY 2 AND 3
Day Two of Wilf's coast-to-coast trek, a 14.5 mile saunter eastward from Carlisle, along the picturesque and aptly named River Eden. His schoolmate Tom T in support - a tireless provider of good humour and general gibberish. Towards the close of the day - as we neared our campsite, in Banks, we came accross the first stumps of above ground Roman walling. Such evidence, a mars bar and promise of a pub supper put a spring in the step. The last mile was completed at a canter.
Day Three and poor Tom awoke to find his left leg in poor shape. Having packed up the tent he and Nichola headed off to see the sites whilst Wilf set out on day three's walk - without the banter and with just his father for company. Half of the day's 14.5 miles had been completed before the meet up at lunchtime - for some a healthy combination of sausage rolls and a fistfull of foot-long (jelly) snakes. Soon after lunch the landscape changed from kindly rolling meadows to proper inclines of a gradient sufficient to warrant the forming of steps. By now we were invariably accompanied on our left by the wall - usually at a height of about ten foot. The milecastles, turrets and forts at Birdoswald and Great Chesters proved welcome places at which to catch one's breath - Wilf was getting redder and redder in the cheeks. He walked the final up-down-up-down-up-down push to the appropriately named Steel Rig with a steely look of determination on his face. Job done - he's officially half way to Newcastle and the east coast.