240 7yr old's raisEing money through sport for Ethiopian schoolchildren (From Swindon Advertiser)

240 7yr old's raisEing money through sport for Ethiopian schoolchildren

12:52pm Thursday 2nd December 2010 in Abbey Meads News

On Tuesday 30th November at 9.30am, 240 7 year old s from a cluster of Swindon Primary Schools will meet together to enjoy a morning of sport & Games @ Next generation gym. Organised by Mark Davis of the Swindon School Sport Partnership, the event also aims to raise money to purchase sports equipment and improve sports facilities in 2 schools in Ethiopia.

Earlier this year Rosie Law , a primary teacher from Swindon visited Addiss Ababa and worked with the children in Global Vision Academy & Meserte Ethiopia Schools. As a sports specialist she was concerned to see very little PE being taught and a lack of Equipment or facilites.

" I remembered our government's promise when we won the Olympic bid, which was to use the power of sport to help transform the lives of children throughout the developing world and I set myself a target of coming back to Swindon and using my connections with the School Sport Partnership to ask schoolchildren in Swindon, who are lucky enough to enjoy schoool sport, to help raise funds for less privileged children."

So far I have had a wonderful support with schools asking for a collection on sports day to a school who held a sporting suoerstar dress down day for which the children each brought in £1 and a school who held a sponsored football kick and managed to raise £150.

We are halfway to my target of £1,500 and with the help of children form S.Marsden Primary, Beechcroft Primary & Colebrook Infant School on Tuesday, we hope to raise another £250. "My aim is to return to Ethiopia in the spring with a bag of resources and to spend a day teaching teachers how to use the equipment and hopefully to put PE on their school curriculum. At the same time I hope to handover a cheque for £1000 to a charity working in another school to allow them to commence building work on a new playing field."

If there is a primary school out there who wants to get involved then please contact Rosie Law at the Swindon School Sport Partnership (01793 729549)- RLAW@STLUKES.SWINDON.SCH.UK Based on information supplied by Swindon School Sport Partnership.