“ Fancy trekking 3217 miles from Togo to Dumfries?” ….. Well, that is exactly what an enthusiastic group of kids and their families are doing to help the fight against hunger in one of the poorest countries in the world! – The trek is the latest in a series of activities and events planned by Kids 4 TOGO which has so far raised in excess of £10,000 in two short months!
Spokesman for the group, Tony Read explains: “ Kids 4 Togo is a fundraising initiative created by children and their families from St George’s Church in Dumfries, who want to help the fight against hunger in Togo, Africa. We aim to raise £11,000 for Compassion UK’s” Planting a way through the Storm Project”, which will provide enough seeds and fertiliser to feed 1016 families in Togo for 7 months. We have already raised over£10,000 towards our total through donations and sponsorship, but are not ready to stop there!”
Alex Clark of Compassion UK commended the St George’s Kids:“The Kids4TOGO fundraising campaign is a wonderful initiative and is so heartening to see. Compassion UK commends the tremendous efforts they are making. We are so grateful for what they have achieved so far – we know this will make an amazing difference to children and their families in Togo.”
To raise funds the Kids 4 TOGO group of 10 children (aged between 1 and 10) and their families, supported by members of St George’s and their friends have been taking on a number of challenges:
- The first was a Virtual Trek across Togo, whereby the children walked, ran and cycled a collective 360 miles in 4 weeks.
- The second was a Taste4Togo challenge requiring them to taste 3 foods whilst blindfolded, donate £3 and nominate 3 friends to complete the challenge.
- The third challenge is the one which involves helping the kids on their ‘Virtual Trek Home’ from Togo. The local community is invited to help by joining the kids walking, running or cycling a collective of 3217 miles back home to Dumfries. Already this is paying off with ‘trekkers’ registering to donate and submitting the distances they are walking to add to the total miles.
By donating £5 as a registration fee to their Just Giving page, you can join the kids on their marathon journey back home to Dumfries. All you need to do is count up your weekly miles every Sunday and submit the total (along with any photos/videos) to [email protected].
Donald Campbell, minister at St George’s: “This is such a ‘good news’ story at this time when we need good news to cheer us all up. Its an amazing project by the kids and we are very proud of what they are achieving. Their efforts will result in tremendous benefits for other children in one of the poorest countries in the world. We want to encourage as many people as possible to join with Kids 4 TOGO and make as big a difference as possible”
Tony Read again: “ The virtual Trek from Togo has really taken off, and the combined total of miles covered is 839 miles, with only 2,378 left to travel – fantastic effort! “
- To find out more about Kids4Togo and to follow their exciting challenges, visit facebook.com/kids4togo.
- Donations can be made at justgiving.com/fundraising/kids4togo or by sending a cheque made out to St. George’s Church, George Street, Dumfries, DG1 1EJ with Togo written on the back.
A fourth fundraising initiative is in planning – a silent auction for artwork donated by a local artist – details of which will be posted via the facebook/website pages
