Rafiki Thabo Foundation

We are so pleased to see amazing progress being made on the new girls’ toilet block at Rwesasi School in Uganda!

Having this block will make a huge difference to the girls at the school – greatly increasing their dignity, and encouraging them to attend school regularly, ultimately improving their educational outcomes and future life opportunities. Many girls in rural areas skip school during menstruation due to lack of adequate facilities, impacting their education. With proper toilets, girls are more likely to stay in school and pursue their education.

Read more about our work to improve the learning environment for all the pupils at our partner schools in Kenya, Lesotho and Uganda: https://rafiki-foundation.org.uk/improving-the-learning-environment/

Less than one week to go! The weather forecast is perfect, everything is lined up and we are so excited!!

Come join us for a brilliant day out with the family on Saturday – we have such a lot of fun and excitement for your little ones and for you!

Tickets will be available at the door, but we would love your help to make sure we have enough food, drink and treats for all, by booking your tickets in advance. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/.../family-fun-day-featuring...

Tickets in advance £5 / £15 per family of four
Walk in tickets £7.50 / £20 per family of four

New items keep being added to our silent auction as well, the latest is an absolute hoot 😉 check it out now and have a good browse – the auction closes on Sunday 7th July at 11pm, to allow you time to check out some of the items at the Family Fun Day and speak to our auction team for more information about any of the fabulous prizes up for grabs! https://ww1.emma-live.com/RafikiThaboAuction/home_page

We can’t wait to welcome you to our Family Fun Day featuring Maddie Moate at Cokethorpe School in Witney 2pm this Saturday!

We are so pleased that, according to our impact survey data, over 90% of our scholars and graduates are helping others as a result of being given a helping hand by us.

This support can take many forms, some pay the school fees of others in their extended families/ local communities, others provide school children with books and pens, others help elders with fetching firewood, water etc.

We were particularly encouraged to hear from one of our deaf scholars – Anne* - in this year’s impact survey about how she is helping others: ‘I am deaf, and I belong to a deaf community in my church. We visit and encourage other deaf persons in our society.’

We first supported Anne (when her father lost his job during Covid) to complete her secondary education at a vocational training school for the deaf, and are now supporting her to obtain a qualification in Food and Beverage Production at college. She finishes at the end of this year and hopes to then get a job to support her family.

We can’t wait to see what this bright young woman goes on to do next!

*not her real name

This week is , a week to raise awareness about different learning disabilities, what life is like for those who have one and to also celebrate what people with learning disabilities bring to society.

This year's theme is "Do you see me?" which is all about people with learning disabilities being seen, heard and valued. Here at Rafiki Thabo, we are proud to be partnering with two organisations in Kenya whose aim is to support and elevate people with learning disabilities, and ensure they are seen, heard and valued. Autism Society of Kenya does an incredible job lobbying government to ensure autistic children in Kenya get the rights they are entitled to and the support they need to thrive, in their homes, communities and schools.

Dadashi Special Children Centre provides holistic services to children with cerebral palsy, and other developmental disabilities, and their families. The families that use the services of both these organisations are left in no doubt that their children are valued, and both ensure those children are seen and heard.

We are delighted to have been able to accept some of the children using their services onto our scholarship programme: with an education they will also be empowered to make sure they are seen, heard and valued!

Read more about our work with these partners: https://rafiki-foundation.org.uk/disability-partners/

Do you know (as Maddie would say) a fire engine is actually technically known as a fire appliance? We’re so excited that the wonderful Witney Fire Station Crew will - unless called on an emergency - be with us for our Family Fun Day featuring Maddie Moate. Your children (alright, big kids too!) will love meeting the crew and learning about how firefighters use their equipment and fulfil such a vital role in keeping us safe! Huge thanks to Witney fire station!

Maddie Moate is no stranger to fire engines! Find out how the hose on the fire engine works in this CBeebies video, part of Maddie’s Do You Know series, then visit the fire crew at our Family Fun Day and impress them with what you know and ask them to show you more! That is you, as in the parents, but don’t forget to bring your children along too 😅 https://youtu.be/9rmf2tt3FYw?feature=shared

While the little ones and the bigger kids are enjoying the fire engine, you can explore our many fabulous stalls! Showcasing beautiful jewellery, candles, homeware, pottery, cards, art, fashion, gifts, as well as well-being services and tools for children and adults and more!

Get your tickets now to come along for the FUN!
Cokethorpe School Witney, Saturday 6th July, 2 to 6pm
Tickets £5 / £15 (family)
👉 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/family-fun-day-featuring-maddie-moate-tickets-868693945977?aff=oddtdtcreator&



What’s on Cotswolds Harry John Baker

How does a Fire Engine Hose work? 🚒 Maddie's Do You Know? 👩 👩Join Maddie as she finds out how things work!Maddie finds out how the hose on a fire engine works and how the pump inside the fire engine creates pressure ...

Today is National Thank A Teacher Day here in the UK. This year we celebrate not only our amazing teachers but also the support staff, teaching assistants and everyone who ensures their school is an environment in which their students can thrive!

So, here’s to all our teachers and support staff in the UK as well as the teachers in Kenya, Lesotho and Uganda who make our work possible - Thank You 💚.

Today is the Day of the African Child (DAC) and this year’s theme is ‘: ‘Education for all children in Africa: the time is now.’ There are an estimated 98 million children out of school in sub Saharan Africa – children whose futures are being limited and who will remain trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty.

Here at Rafiki Thabo, we believe every child has the right to an education and are doing all we can to ensure that happens – whether that is through providing scholarships to vulnerable children, providing school meals which are proven to prevent drop-out, improving school infrastructure so that children have adequate and safe spaces to learn and sleep, or removing the barriers to education faced by children with disabilities.

We always wish we could do more, but we are proud of the impact we are having on many hundreds of young lives through enabling them to access, and stay in, education.

Read more about our impact: https://rafiki-foundation.org.uk/about/our-impact/

We are excited to be taking part in the One Planet Living Festival One Planet Abingdon this Saturday in Abingdon. As well as having a stall at the event, selling goods from our Acacia UK shops and sharing information about our work and forthcoming events, our Director Janet Hayes will be giving a talk about the impacts of climate change on our programmes and the positive impact that shopping in charity shops makes to our planet.

We are starting to fully understand the devastating impacts of the recent floods in Kenya on the communities we support – especially in Nairobi and Thika. Heartbreakingly, the home of the mother and child featured in this video was washed away in the floods: they initially took refuge in their local church and are now staying with friends until such time that they can rebuild their home. We have therefore decided to donate anything we raise on Saturday to an emergency fund which has been set up by our partner organisation Dadashi Special Children Centre to replace school books and uniform for the scholars who joined our scholarship programme through Dadashi.

If you are in reach of Abingdon, please come along and say hi on Saturday! Further details here: If you are in reach of Abingdon, please come along and say hi on Saturday! Further details by visiting One Planet Abingdon's FB profile.

Mama Brooks A testimonial video from the mother of a young boy who received therapy from our disability partner, Dadashi Special Children Centre in Kenya. Rafiki Thabo a...

Our 2024 impact survey results are now available! This is our scholars’ and graduates’ opportunity to tell us more about their household and employment status, what they are now doing and how they are helping others in their community.

The statistics speak for themselves: almost half of our scholars or graduates have lost one or both parents; three quarters are from households where the highest level of education achieved was secondary; and almost three quarters are from households where no one else has a job.

63% of our graduates are now in secure, paid employment and among this year’s respondents are four teachers, an IT technician, a contract manager, a civil engineering technician, a school bursar, programme coordinators and a receptionist.

78% of respondents are giving back to others in their community as a result of being supported by Rafiki Thabo Foundation, e.g. by paying school fees for others in their community; giving school items (pens etc) to children who are struggling; guiding, tutoring, helping and counselling those still in education; and helping street children.

We also ask our scholars and graduates to tell us about the difference our support has made to their lives and were particularly touched by this quote from a young lad in Kenya who has just started his secondary education, with our support:

‘It has greatly helped me join the school of my dream and inspired me to work hard to achieve my educational goal of becoming an ophthalmologist to treat my ailing mum's eye.’

We celebrate this child’s aspiration and will stand by him throughout his education for as long as he needs our support, to help him reach this incredible goal.

Read our impact report here:https://rafiki-foundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2024-online-impact-survey-report-sv.pdf

Just over 3 months to go and our Snowdon team is growing, breaking in those mountain boots, and getting rather excited!! Snowdon for Sunrise here we come!

We would love for you to join us for our adventure 🤩 If you are on the fence and need a nudge (not literally!!) do get in touch, we’re happy to have a chat about it all and reassure you that this really is one for all abilities, levels of fitness and for families. Pop us a message or get in touch with Janne by e-mail [email protected]

Come along, experience something new, challenge your senses (and body clock 🌚🌙😅) and help us raise funds to make sure more disadvantaged children will be able to go to secondary school and transform their futures!

Sign up now for £20 and pledge to raise a minimum sponsorship of £250 – this will cover the costs of your participation and pay for half a year at secondary school for one of the children we support!

Interested? Here’s all you need to know 👉 https://rafiki-foundation.org.uk/snowdon-for-sunrise/

Thank you so much to photographer Joshua Paul Gardner for allowing us to use his stunning, atmospheric video for our post! A Snowdon sunrise had been on his list of things to capture for several years, and as you can see in his video – Joshua did just that in 2020! https://youtu.be/bAmLHLH4cFs?feature=shared

Our turn on the 22nd September! Bring on the magic of Snowdon Summit at Sunrise!

Snowdon - Wales A Snowdon sunrise has been on my list of things to capture for several years. Snowdon, Yr Wyddfa in Welsh, is the highest mountain in Wales and is well worth...

A HUGE thank you indeed to all our volunteers - helping us to help our supported scholars 💚

This week is Volunteers’ Week, a week in which the UK celebrates volunteers and says thank you to them for the incredible contribution that they make. We have calculated that our incredible army of volunteers across our 4 shops save us more than £215,000 per year - money that can instead be donated to our partner charity Rafiki Thabo Foundation to change lives in Kenya, Lesotho and Uganda through education. So we would like to take this opportunity to say a huge THANK YOU to all those who volunteer in our shops.

Retail Association