Chris graduated with a degree in International Business in 2021. Having launched the charity years prior, he continued the work of the organisation during his studies as well as after graduation.
Many of the projects are education oriented and include providing equipment, teaching, and rebuilding education spaces.
Some of Chris’s previous projects have included cricket coaching in Kenya, where the charity coached more than 50 children over two days, and more recently a delivery of supplies to Ukraine.
Chris’s next mission is to build a science laboratory at Kaimbaga School in Kenya. The project’s aim is to provide students with quality education and valuable resources.
Much of the work of the Village Projects Foundation includes providing sanitation, rebuilding, and giving children in remote communities the opportunity to partake in sports activities organised by the charity.
We asked Chris what drove him to start the not-for-profit organisation. He said:
“I have been pretty fortunate in my life with sport and travelling experiences taking me to different parts of the world. I have often played sport and holidayed in countries that people wouldn’t ordinarily holiday to. In some of these locations, like Nepal, Kenya, Ghana, and even more recently Ukraine, the living standards were shocking and pretty alarming. However, the thing that left the impression on me the most was the lack of access to education among children.
“I always took education for granted in this country and wasn’t the best behaved in school. It took me to travel and see other children without the opportunity I had, for no other reason than they were born into a different country, to realise that I needed to act and do something. From very young I always wanted to do something that I felt was useful to people, and I think I have managed to find that!”.
He also shared with us the focus of the foundation’s outreach goals:
“Education and clean water. We want to focus our efforts on two very particular areas to make sure we can make the maximum benefit.
“Last year’s large project was to build a library and computer lab for a primary school in a remote part of Ghana. The town had many challenges. Most of the town didn’t have electricity, clean water, food, and many other basic essentials. With an infinite budget and infinite resource, we could have taken on any one of these challenges.
“We decided that to build a fully functional library and computer lab for one of the schools was a great use of our resources. It is the only building in the town with air-conditioning and reliable electricity.
“This year, we plan to go back to the same school to provide clean water, and then every year we will revisit to ensure both projects are as successful as possible. It’s a busy year, going straight from Ghana to Kenya for another educational build!”.
You can find out more about Village Projects Foundation online.