Manager Lisa takes to the skies in fundraising challenge for Kenyan school

Lisa Humphries, group director of student services and pastoral support at the Chichester College Group, raised more than £2,500 for the Walk Centre in Nakuru by taking part in a charity skydive earlier this month.

Lisa said: “It was insane, terrifying and amazing - I hadn’t really considered the enormity of it until we were 15,000 feet in the air and getting ready to jump!

“It’s something I’ve thought about doing, and we needed to raise some more money towards building a kitchen at the Walk Centre, so it was an obvious decision for me.

“I was surprised to raise so much, but I guess a lot of people wanted to pay money to throw me out of a plane!”

The Walk Centre opened a new school last year, which gives children from the Hilton slum area the opportunity to receive an education, thanks to the fundraising efforts of staff and students at Chichester College.

They raised more than £80,000 over two years as part of the college’s Big Build project with African Adventures Foundation – but it doesn’t stop there.

A kitchen is still needed, and that has been the focus for this year’s fundraising efforts.

A team of 30 volunteers from the college travelled to Kenya this weekend, departing on Saturday, July 21, where they are helping to build the new kitchen, create a library, renovate more classrooms – as well as spend time teaching and working with pupils at the school.

The group are the latest volunteers to travel to Kenya – since 2011 more than 400 students and members of staff have made the same journey.

The trip is entirely self-funded by the volunteers and they will be travelling with cases filled with donations for the centre, including clothes, toys and stationery.

Lisa, who is making her eighth visit to The Walk Centre, said: “Everyone across the college has raised a fantastic amount of money over the years which has gone towards building the school, which opened last year, and to helping with the upkeep as well as developing the facilities. The Walk Centre aims to provide a quality education to thousands of children in Nakuru who are living extreme poverty. Seeing the work we do with African Adventures and being a part of that will be life-changing for the volunteers. It’s an emotional experience. It is hard work but it is extremely worthwhile.”

To find out more about The Walk Centre, visit www.african-adventures.co.uk/project-partnership/walk-centre.