Action for the Wild sent £25,000 to UmPhafa in September to further the conservation aim of the reserve.
Our main priorities for the reserve include protecting the land and its indigenous wildlife, rehabilitating the land and restoring it to its natural condition, releasing wildlife species onto the reserve which have been wiped out and also to work and collaborate with the local communities.
In March 2009, Colchester Zoo initiated a new scheme involving a voluntary £1 donation on entrance transactions, to be donated to UmPhafa. This donation of £25,000 is the first donation of these funds and will go a long way towards conserving South African wildlife species.
Bull’s-eye, Guildford High!
Fundraising for the Ethuleni Combined School kitchen and support for UmPhafa Private Nature Reserve carries on apace at Guildford High Junior School, Surrey. The breathtaking total of funds raised so far by Guildford High to help rebuild the crumbling kitchen at Ethuleni School has nearly reached the £10,000 target!
A recent week of sponsorship and fundraising events saw £1,436 added to the total. Guildford High pupils and staff continue to devise many ingenious fundraising schemes; the Swim Squad swam the distance in air-miles from Guildford to Ethuleni, with each young swimmer covering a huge distance; House Captains held an Inter-House skipping game; pupils came to school dressed in their house colours of red, blue, yellow or green; many fascinating items were created and sold including puzzle pages and gingerbread ‘pupils’ dressed in icing school uniform - there was even a sponsored horse ride! Additionally, the 'Songs For Ethuleni' CD, featuring African songs recorded by the girls, continues to sell well.
All this is excellent news since the Ethuleni kitchen development is now at an exciting stage – plans have been agreed and construction work should start soon. Conservation features strongly at Guildford High. Lively presentations given by Zoologist and Action For The Wild trustee, Roz Hughes-King, help bring UmPhafa Reserve alive to the school. Additionally, Roz gives zoological talks featuring UmPhafa’s species and habitats to enhance topics within the Science curriculum – these also help the classes to decide which UmPhafa species to adopt!
Colchester Zoo’s Action For The Wild is delighted to see the ongoing link between Guildford High, Ethuleni and UmPhafa flourish so strongly, bringing benefits all round. Heartfelt thanks to all Guildford High School staff, pupils and families from Action For The Wild – your commitment to Ethuleni School and UmPhafa Reserve is superb!
Tormead School Junior Department
Thank you goes to Tormead School Junior Department for holding the ‘Faraday Charity Day’ which raised £385 to rebuild the kitchen at Ethuleni Combined School.
Tormead school was full of marvellous African animals as the girls enjoyed the chance to dress up for the day and, by paying a £1 for the privilege, this activity ensured the day’s fundraising got off to an excellent start. The cake sale also proved a popular destination at break time for girls and staff alike.
A big thank you to the TOADs!
Colchester Zoo’s Action for the Wild would like to say a big thank you to the TOADs (Tormead Offroad Adventure Dads) who have raised nearly £10,000 to help rebuild the school kitchen at Ethuleni Combined School in South Africa.
The TOADs are made up of twelve members, the majority of whom are fathers of pupils from year 4 of Tormead School in Surrey. Between the 6th and 9th of May, they took part in a coast to coast adventure mountain bike ride, in order to raise funds for the school kitchen. In total, they covered 140 miles from Whitehaven to Newcastle over three days. To date, we have received over £8,500 in sponsorship from them. In addition, combined with the gift aid donations, this brings their total to £10,000 – way over their initial target of £3,000!
The Ethuleni Combined School in Colenso borders Action for the Wild’s UmPhafa Private Nature Reserve. One hundred and forty students attend this school, ranging from 5 to 14 years of age. These students are taught in three classrooms, which were in a bad state of repair. Thanks to efforts by the Department of Education and Action for the Wild, these classrooms have been redeveloped and now provide a much nicer environment in which the children can learn. Now that the classrooms have been redeveloped, Action for the Wild is going to concentrate its efforts on improving the school’s kitchen. We will redevelop the whole structure of the building and look to bring in running water, to save the children from carrying the water from a pump. We will also look to improve the cooking facilities.
This fundraising from the TOADs will help us enormously to rebuild this kitchen. Initially Action for the Wild pledged £10,000 to rebuild the kitchen. However, with additional funding received from Tormead School and Guildford High School, we have now exceeded our target. These additional funds will enable us to develop the kitchen facilities further and to keep funding aside for annual maintenance costs of the building. The kitchen will definitely be the envy of other local schools!
£25,000 sent over to UmPhafa
Bull’s-eye, Guildford High!
Tormead School Junior Department .JPG)
A big thank you to the TOADs!