Published: 4 April 2006
Sue Kennedy's fundraising for new equipment
Sporty children in Africa are to take delivery of hundreds of pounds worth of badminton equipment, bought with money raised in Lincolnshire.
A group of adults with learning difficulties raised almost £600 for underprivileged young people in Gambia. Care home residents from Sampson House in Lincoln are sending £571 worth of much-needed badminton equipment following a successful fete, held at the weekend.
The home's residential care manager Sue Kennedy will hand-deliver the products to a school in Youna, on the country's west coast. Mrs Kennedy (41) said: "I'm very excited about it but I'm quite nervous too because I've done nothing like this before. I'm really proud of the people at Sampson House as they raised £471 at a fete we had at the weekend and they raised an extra £100 in donations so we have been able to buy lots of nets and posts to take with us. I will be spending two weeks out there in Youna at the school giving out badminton equipment and helping out with the projects there."
Mrs Kennedy will be accompanied on the trip by Priory LSST's badminton coach Tim Mawer. He set up the charity Gambia Badminton in 2004 and since then has raised £15,000 to build a sports hall at Youna. "The hall is virtually finished and we just need to sort out the internal paintwork and the lighting now," he said. "Sue and I will be taking some very heavy-duty badminton equipment that will hopefully last a lifetime."
Priory LSST pupil Leo Medley visited Gambia to give badminton coaching with the children last year. "They were really good at badminton," he said. "They had obviously worked hard and some of them were better than me."
Gambia, a former British colony, gained its independence in 1965. The country has no mineral wealth and around 75 per cent of the population rely on agriculture, with many of them living in poverty. The country is heavily reliant on foreign aid.
Article originally published in the Lincolnshire Echo.