Donate African made balls to children in Africa

The start of 2011 has seen business continue as usual at Alive & Kicking. Thousands more balls have been hand-stitched in our centres in Lusaka and Nairobi, by adults who are paid a fair wage. The majority of these balls are donated to disadvantaged schools and sports projects in sub-Saharan African countries, whilst others are sold in local supermarkets to support our sustainable employment objective. As always, Alive & Kicking remains a not-for-profit organization.

The biggest news so far this year has been the decision for Alive & Kicking to attempt to open a new stitching in Ghana. This decision was made after a long analysis of the charity's current centres had been completed, to ensure that the organisation is in a healthy financial shape from which to expand, and to guide what form expansion should take. After the successful completion of a feasibility study in Ghana, everyone in the organisation is excited for things to get moving there - once we have raised enough funds.

Other news of note includes the launch of Alive & Kicking's Rugby Initaitve to promote the donation of our rugby balls to underdeveloped regions in Kenya (you may remember from our last news letter that we are now producing the first rugby balls to be bade in Africa). You can visit the dedicated rugby page non our website if you are interested in getting involved.

Further, Alive & Kicking has been featured in the Chinese Business Times (pdf link) as an example of a sustainable social enterprise. We have also added a new stitcher profile to our website, which features Angelica Nthenya who works in our Kenyan centre.

Thank you all for your wonderful support of the organisation, and we look forward to sending you another exciting update in 3 months time.

Links:

• Rugby Initiative page
• Chinese Business Times coverage (pdf link)
• Stitcher story: Angelica Nthenya (Nairobi)