A note from our Founder, Peter Hier

|image3|During my many visits to Kenya to work with young athletes I was struck by several things: the abject poverty that many of today's champions were born into; the generosity of these successful athletes towards their extended families; their great humility in the face of unbelievable adversity; and last, but certainly not least, the undeniable second-class citizenship of females in rural areas.

From an early age, young women are expected to bear children as well as work in the fields. For girls with little or no education, there is no way out - especially as secondary education and healthcare has to be paid for. Although HIV is no longer headline news it is extremely prevalent in Kenya and lack of education is not helping.

Projects

Our first project is in Kenya - where our expertise and contacts are. We will purchase a parcel of land in Iten or Eldoret, North of Nairobi (along the Rift Valley) on which to build a training and support centre.

The photograph shows one of our Trustees, Paul Bitok surveying a potential 5 acre plot.

The building will house 12 girls plus staff and visiting teachers / donors.

We also intend to purchase a suitable vehicle to transport residents and visitors to training and races.

To fund this project, we need to initially raise about £106,000 (£31,000 for the land plus £75,00 to cover the cost of building and equipping the centre). Thereafter, our yearly running costs should be around £15,000, much of our equipment and staffing needs being met through sponsorship in the UK.  We are also investigating the possibility of bringing foreign teachers to the camp on a volunteer basis. For example, some foreign sportswomen may wish to train in Kenya, and we could offer them accommodation in exchange for some teaching duties.

If you would like to help us raise funds by getting sponsorship to for running in a race, then please contact us at: admin@running4womenfoundation.org

Or simply go to our website: www.running4womenfoundation.org to find out more!