Thousands of Ukrainian schools have been destroyed leaving 1.7 million children learning remotely. However, some 300,000 children have no access to education due to a lack of devices. Each £200 raised will provide a laptop for a child so they can study at home.

Theirworld invites individuals to walk 300,000 steps and challenges organisations to take on a million steps. Academic Summer has set a goal of reaching 2-million steps between us and we hope you will join in the fun and sponsor the team.

Our team, led by Helen Lami hopes to raise a minimum of £2000 for this far-reaching charity. This means Academic Summer will provide at least 10 much-needed laptops for learners who cannot attend school due to the ongoing war.

“Theirworld Charity is a good fit for us as they have a global education mandate,” says Helen. “Academic Summer is participating in Your Walk during June and we’re asking the parents of the children who attend our Summer Camps and all our contacts to support this worthy cause.”
 

Donations can be received in two ways:

1.    Sign up directly with Theirworld to participate in the Your Walk challenge personally; or
2.    Sponsor our team via our Just Giving page.

3.  Add a donation to your invoice.

To participate in Your Walk, all you need to do is use a fitness app on your smart phone to track your steps or a smart watch or pedometer device. And invite family and friends to sponsor you!

This year’s walk is themed, ‘Take steps towards a better future for children’ and is supported by WalkActive an app that offers guided walks to motivate you towards your goal.

“There are so many ways to up your step count from walking the dog to a simple weekend stroll,” the Theirworld Charity website advises. “Take your steps where and when you want, alone or with friends. Join us and raise money so we can continue to work to make sure every child, everywhere, can get the best start in life through education.”

Theirworld Charity and Academic Summer

Academic Summer started supporting Theirworld last year as part of our CSR Programme. However, the relationship goes back several years, when a young girl from Pakistan, Shazia Ramzan, attended one of our camps.

“Theirworld Charity was founded by former UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah Brown,” Helen explains. “Gordon’s office was supporting Shazia to do an International Baccalaureate (IB) and they sent her to Academic Summer beforehand to help improve her English.  

“Shazia was one of three girls who were shot by an extremist in Pakistan who was intent on stopping girls from getting an education. She took a bullet in the shoulder while her friend Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head and had to endure several months of surgeries to survive. Their friend Kainat was also wounded.”

Malala of course went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize for standing up for the education of girls. Now Shazia is following in her friend’s footsteps. See Gordon Brown’s article in The Guardian entitled, ‘The story of Shazia Ramzan, Malala’s schoolfriend, shows why education must be a right for all children.’

“From reading this article I see Shazia is coming to the end of her nursing degree at Edinburgh University and is aiming to start a nurses’ training school in Pakistan,” says Helen. “This exemplifies the amazing work Theirworld Charity does to transform children’s lives.”

Gordon Brown, who is the chairman of the UN’s ‘Education Cannot Wait fund’ comments on the importance of education for all children. “As Shazia’s work of mercy reminds us, it is also a moral obligation that we owe to the next generation. Instead of developing some of the potential of only some children in some parts of the world, we should be developing the potential of every child everywhere.”

About TheirWorld Charity

Theirworld exists to end the global education crisis with a vision to ensure every child has the best start in life, a safe place to learn and skills for the future. It has been running for 22 years and is chaired by Sarah Brown. A key part of the charity is its Global Youth Ambassador programme which gives young people who are passionate about education the skills and knowledge to unlock change both locally and internationally.

Since 2004, Theirworld has awarded small grants worth just under £1m to organisations working to improve the lives of thousands of children.

Our CEO, Helen Lami is set to attend a reception hosted by the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland, in London in June 2024. The event will mark Theirworld’s contribution to global education and honour the work of the charity’s Global Youth Ambassadors around the Commonwealth.

Please support this year’s Your Walk challenge. Each £200 raised will make the world of difference.
 

2024/04/04