Lochmaben Firm Goes the Distance for International Charity
As part of its 2024 Give4Good initiative a team from Lochmaben-based roof tile manufacturer, Russell Roof Tiles traveled to Kenya to support The Footprints Family.
Established in 2008, The Footprints Family provide food, clothing, shelter and healthcare to vulnerable children and young people (aged 1-24) on the south coast of Kenya (East Africa) as well as supporting them with life skills and wellbeing through education and counselling. Across a decade, The Footprints Family has made a difference to over 200 lives.
The visit to Kenya is the first international journey Russell Roof Tiles has made in the name of charity. It provided the team of six with an eye-opening experience that few get the chance to be a part of and has had a profound and long-lasting influence on them.
The team spent a week volunteering with the charity supporting the children that the organisation works to help. The group of six included Debbie Allen, Gillian Moffat and Jacqui Summers from Lochmaben, as well as Sue Gough, Coral Hayward and Dawn McLoughlin from the firm’s Burton on Trent site.
During their week in Kenya, the team spent each day from 7.30am to 9pm with the children taking part in a range of activities including jewellery making, preparing food packages, weaving and games. They were also given the opportunity to experience local village life.
Before their return, the team presented founder “Mama Kerry” with £18,425, which was raised for the charity by the team members and partners of Russell Roof Tiles, smashing their original £5,000 target. The cash was raised through several innovative fundraising events including a comedy night, race nights, raffle, charity Zumba, car boot sale and cookery book.
The donation will be used to purchase a new minibus, which will provide the foundation with essential transportation for collecting the children and bringing them to the school each morning.
Gillian Moffat from the Lochmaben team, and partner of RRT’s Operations Director Bruce Laidlaw, comments: “To be given the opportunity to travel to Kenya for an experience like this and offer support for such an impactful charity was incredible, and I think I speak for the whole team when I say this will hold a big place in all of our hearts for a long time.
“It was very rewarding to witness Kerry and he team’s incredible work first hand. The children, who the charity continues to provide support and education for, were all so happy – singing and dancing and always ready to learn. It was invaluable to be given the chance to get involved with all the daily activities and I was also given the opportunity to use my teaching experience to lead several classes for the children.
“The visit to Kenya has made me look at the world in a new light and there is so much more we can do to continue to support the Footprints Family. I am already working to share further word of the charity’s work with several talks I have lined up, including one at the Women’s Institute, at which I’ll be sharing the Footprints’ story and my own experiences working with them.”
Russell Roof Tiles started supporting the charity five years ago, when members of the team raised £1,600 for the Footprints Family with a walking challenge, collectively taking more than 17 million steps over four months. Last year they also generously donated £4,000 which paid for a new roof for the school.
As part of its Give4Good initiative, the manufacturer’s 150-strong team is this year pledging to raise £50,000 for good causes throughout 2024. Earlier this year, the company announced that 12 organisations, 10 UK-based, and two international will benefit from its fundraising efforts.
Russell Roof Tiles is a leading independent concrete roof tile manufacturer supplying products for the top housebuilders and high-profile social housing and commercial projects, with sites in Burton on Trent and Lochmaben.
