Friends Of Pakati

Today I have been updating two of our key pages, Fundraising and Finances, plus Podcasts and Vlogs

• Finances

We recieved two additional donations related directly to our Community Day event on 14th March at Scunthorpe United FC.

Firstly, an anonymous donor finally agreed to pay £80 for the boxing glove signed by British boxing legend, Frank Bruno.

Secondly, a long-time supporter of Friends of Pakati, David Scott, lived up to his promise to double whatever we raised. In total, we had £346 donated, & he completed the offer by adding another £346, making a grand sum of £692 for our efforts at the Community Day!

Read the updated page here: https://friendsofpakati.com/finances/

We are organising for David to be a guest on our podcasts soon, hopefully in the next few days.

• Podcasts

I also revamped the page providing our podcasts & vlogs so far, putting them in reverse order this time, so the latest is at the top of the list. Just seemed better to me.

Read the updated page here: https://friendsofpakati.com/podcasts-and-vlogs/

There is a lot of work that goes on in the background to produce the content here on the Friends of Pakati website, all done by volunteers, not least of which is Bradley Mell, our podcast host.

To help us continue to support the two Pakati schools in Zimbabwe, please donate to either http://paypal.me/friendsofpakati or http://gofundme.com/Friends-of-pakati

Thank you👍😎

We have been hearing from both Pakati schools recently, keeping up to date with what’s been happening there.

Pakati Secondary school has been having a bit of a clean-up, with a number of students going around the area collecting rubbish ready for disposal.

What you can also see is just how green the area is as the rainy season is still ongoing. I hear reports of varying amounts of rainfall, with some people reporting crop harvests may be lower this year.

The staff at the Secondary school have been seen taking a well-earned break, using some of the Friends of Pakati mugs we sent them not long ago!

Meanwhile at the Primary school, the staff can be seen opening the boxes of donations, then showing them to the young learners before they get the chance to play with them.

Good to see the items Friends of Pakati donated to the staff arrived safely, along with the chair for ECD learners to use.

And finally…two people who cleaned up on Community Day!

We are delighted to post images of the winners of our top two prizes from the raffle at our Community Day stall recently at Scunthorpe United FC – young Miles got the framed shirt signed by the 2025/26 squad, and Daniel got the signed SUFC football – well done to you both & thank you for taking part on the day!

Welcome to the latest podcast from Friends of Pakati, and many thanks as usual to our regular host, Bradley Mell.

We had a new guest, plus someone who will be familiar to regular readers & listeners: Firstly, Alison Redhead, a good friend of myself & a fellow Iron fan, who has become indispensible when we attend events; and secondly, Lorraine Mapuranga, former student at Pakati Secondary school during my time there, and now to become a Trustee when we attain formal charity status.

As you will have heard, we gained some additional items to send to Pakati, thanks to a lady who donated some toys and a keyboard during the Community Day.

To find out more about the actual event please read https://friendsofpakati.com/2026/03/15/iron-fans-prove-their-generosity-again/

To donate towards our funds, please use either http://paypal.me/friendsofpakati or http://gofundme.com/friends-of-pakati

Thank you!

A wonderful day….it was great to see so many visitors & several went away as winners…this was a young man called Miles, who was a mascot at the Scunthorpe United FC v Altrincham FC match, with the winning raffle Prize

Friends of Pakati’s stall at the Scunthorpe United Community Day was, without a doubt, a great success! For that we have several people to thank:

Firstly, the generosity of so many Iron Fans has been proven beyond doubt once more – as on the day we received £161 in cash & £10 via online payments! A massive THANK YOU for each & every penny we were given. £95 was donated in advance, making a total of £266 – though we still await the online auction, which is likely to raise another £80 at least. There are two other donors who are promising to add significantly to this total once we have the full amount in.

Secondly, the generosity of several people who helped us on the stall, giving their time & effort freely in support of Friends of Pakati, not last in running the raffle & tombola – These include the following: Alison & Hannah, Harley, Daniel, Lorraine and Brad Mell. The stall ran from 12.00 noon until 4.30pm. After that then some of us continued with drawing the raffle, contacting the winners of the various prizes, then meeting most of them after the match to hand the prizes over. a massive THANK YOU to those people too. It is also worth mentioning the people who donated gifts for the raffle & tombola as prizes, all of which helped the success of the day for us.

Thirdly, the efforts of a number of people who have supported & promoted our participation, helping us to reach the generous audience which came to our stall – notably Gareth Holden (aka IronArmy) and Andy Barraclough (aka Barra or YorkieIron), both of whom gave us much appreciated advance publicity, and both of whom are members of the team which makes up the Iron Hour Podcast – a massive THANK YOU for the continued support!

And last, but not least, the various staff members of Scunthorpe United who helped organise the event & ensure it was successful, these included James Moody, Glyn Sparks, Devon Riley & Julie Taylor amongst many others – another massive THANK YOU to you too! It was I think the 4th event Friends of Pakati has attended there, 3 Community Days and an Open Day. These have added much needed funds to help us meet our stated aims of providing help to both Pakati Schools in Zimbabwe.

A podcast will be released during the week, discussing all aspects of the Community Day, including what it all means for Friends of Pakati!

If you can, please donate to http://paypal.me/friendsofpakati or http://gofundme.com/friends-of-pakati

THANKS AGAIN!

Here at Friends of Pakati we are gearing up for our stall at the forthcoming Scunthorpe United FC Community Day, on Saturday 14th March at the Attis Arena/Glanford Park.

The event is running before the match between the Iron and Altrincham FC which kicks off at 5.30pm. Officially the stalls should be set up by 1.30pm, in time for a 2pm start, with stalls likely to be down by 5pm or earlier.

Here are 2 earlier posts regarding our involvement on previous events at the club: https://friendsofpakati.com/2026/02/21/community-day-come-visit-our-stall/ and https://friendsofpakati.com/2026/02/27/friends-of-pakati-joins-the-iron-hour-podcast-again/

Already we have a number of things being planned for the day, not least of which is going to be an online auction of the (authenticated) boxing glove signed by Frank Bruno, the former Heavyweight boxing champion, as pictured above, being handed over to me by James Moody, General Manager of Scunthorpe United.

We also have the Scunthorpe United FC shirt, recently signed by the 2025/26 squad, including players newly added to the team. It was donated to us by Iron fan Ryan Middleton, handed over to me in the Iron Bar before the game against Solihull Moors just last Saturday.

We will be having both a raffle with several prizes, and a tombola with many more items to win.

Here are some of the items up for grabs on the 14th March!

Just this week I was informed that a voucher for a hairdressing appointment is also coming our way as a prize!

Also this week, I have had an incredible offer from an Iron fan I know well – he has promised to match whatever we raise on the day, up to a total of £500!!! Amazing generosity, something I am humbled and it is why I am so proud to be associated with the club and its supporters – THANK YOU SO MUCH👏👏👏

I am sure there will be several more items to follow before the event starts, so bring yourselves, your family, your friends, and your money to our stall, to buy raffle tickets, have a go at the tombola, donate funds or buy some merchandise from us on the day!

Welcome back to Friends of Pakati!

• For the second time, we were hosted by Scunthorpe United FC supporters group the Iron Hour Podcast.

• The interview was with Barra – Andy Barraclough – as previously. Once again it concides with our planned attendance at the forthcoming Community Day.

• Please do share this widely & encourage your friends & family, and those connected with the Iron in any way, to visit our stall on the day.

• If you can’t make it but want to support our efforts (as an Iron fan did to the tune of £25 last week👏) please do so via http://www.gofundma.com/friends-of-pakati or http://www.paypal.me/friendsofpakati

• Any donations for either sale/raffle/auction or for school/IT/sports equipment please contact me at the Attis Arena/Glanford Park this Saturday at the Iron Bar before 2.30pm, or 14th March before & during the Community Day event.

• Any queries please email me friendsofpakati@gmail.com & leave contact details

There will be a more detailed list of things available to buy/win/do at our stall in the coming days as we get more idea of what we will have on the day!

In the meantime, allow us to encourage you to attend, visit the various stalls on offer & help make it another great Community Day event!

At Friends of Pakati we are preparing for the forthcoming Community Day at Scunthorpe United FC on Saturday 14th March!

Here is a reminder of what happened at two previous events… https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/03/24/22nd-march-community-day/ 

and https://friendsofpakati.com/2024/07/29/report-on-iron-aid-open-day/

 

Already we have one of the prizes either for raffle or sale to the highest bidder….

…and have already received promises for other things, such as a collector’s football shirt or shirts – see here for some of the previous donated items

As usual we will have merchandise to sell (see pics below), and they will all be at reduced prices (or as prizes)as we are looking to acquire new items for sale in the near future.

 

Here are the things we are looking for:

1. Any IT equipmemt for the Pakati schools
2. Any school books or reading books for ages up to late teens
3. Any toys no longer needed
4. Any cash or gofundme/paypal gifts
5. Any Iron or football related gifts I can use for sale/raffle/tombola/auction

I am going to be at Scunthorpe United FC for the home game on Saturday 28th February as SUFC are at home to Solihull Moors FC, & can accept any donations. I will be in or around the Iron Bar until around 2.30pm.

On the day of the event I will also be around from around 1pm until maybe 4.30pm (kick off is at 5.30pm)

As in 2025, we will draw the raffle and announce any winners in the Iron Bar after the game & publish on our social media if anything is not claimed on the day.

Above – in the Iron Bar after the previous Community Day in 2025

So, please come along & support Friends of Pakati, by bringing yourself, family & friends to our stall where you will get a very warm welcome, and you may well walk away with some very special prizes, merchandise, and also the satisfaction of contribution to this very worthy cause! 

This week has seen Pakati Primary school get together with other nearby schools for a joint event. They had an induction for the new prefects at the various schools for this academic year of 2026.

Below are the Heads of the schools who arranged the event, from left to right Mr Matonsi of St. Paul’s Musami, Mrs Kadzimu of Gezi, Mr Mahachi of Pakati, Mr Madzikwa of Chemhondoro and Mrs Danger of Mhembere

From Mr Mahachi: “Mr Chakanyuka and Mrs Sada are our teachers responsible for the prefects, and you will see them in the pictures below with the prefects from Pakati school

We chose our prefects at the end of the school year so that we give parents ample time to buy the prefects uniform. We chose 16 boys and 16 girls from those who would be in grade 3 up to 7 of the next year.

At the beginning of the year we induct them, sometimes at the school or at cluster level. However this year we took the zonal level. Cluster level involves Secondary schools as well, but zones are Primary schools only

We arranged this year that we induct them at the Shvanhowe Resort, which was officially opened on the 31st of January, which was offering a promotion for these services.

The Resort is close to Chemhondoro Primary school, so it was chosen as the venue by the various Heads of the schools. As it was new, they were offering a good price of $4.50 per attendee.

It was not all formal, as Primary students need to let off steam from time to time…

There is also power in numbers, with 372 prefects attending, instead of each school having to arrange an inductionon its own.”

Many thanks to Mr Mahachi for providing the images & information about the event👏

With many more stories from both Pakati schools to come showing how life goes on there, particularly for the students who benefit immensely from YOUR generosity!

•  To continue to support this amazing cause, please contact us about donations or offers of help via email friendsofpakati@gmail.com

•  To donate funds, please use http://gofundme.com/Friende-of-pakati  and/or http://paypal.me/friendsofpakati

Do you rember this post from just a few weeks ago? https://friendsofpakati.com/2026/01/27/it-takes-a-team/

Well, I am delighted to say that the goods have arrived in Harare, and have cleared through customs!

Next stop is delivery to our good friend Vari Mayez, from our partner organisation VaTonatsa Foundation

Once she has them we will update you all, and advise on delivery to the schools after the arrangements have been made. Not surprisingly, we will provide photos where possible, especially when the staff & children get to use the donations at Pakati Primary!

To help us continue our quest to support both Pakati schools, please donate either goods (IT equipment, sports kit, books, toys, clothes, etc.) by contacting us by email to friendsofpakati@gmail.com or by donating funds to either http://paypal.me/friendsofpakati or http://gofundme.com/Friends-of-pakati

Thank you!

I was delighted to get a message from my good friend Mr Mugove Chifaka just recently. It was great to hear how he is getting on these days.

Judging be the picture above, he seems to be doing very well at Macheke High School where he is now a Acting Head. He moved there from Pakati Secondary school in 2024 initially as substantive Deputy Head, then got his promotion in 2025.

According to Mr Chifaka, at Macheke High, an urban school, there are around 1200 students and 75 teachers, including 16 student teachers from Mutare teachers’ college – a real contrast to Pakati (around 330 students & 12 staff) in a rural setting

For those who are unaware, Mr Chifaka was the Acting Head of Pakati Secondary when I first revisited the school back in 2018 – see more about him here https://friendsofpakati.com/2019/02/01/staff-profile-9-meet-the-head-part-1/ and https://friendsofpakati.com/staff-profile-meet-the-head-part-2-two-heads-are-better-than-one/

Mr Chifaka was instrumemtal in getting Friends of Pakati off the ground back in 2019 – see here https://friendsofpakati.com/my-project-for-2019

So I hope that peopke will continue to support Friends of Pakati in honour of Mr Chifaka’s contribution. Please donate either goods (IT equipment, sports kit, books, toys, clothes, etc.) by contacting us by email to friendsofpakati@gmail.com or by donating funds to either http://paypal.me/friendsofpakati or http://gofundme.com/Friends-of-pakati

We have a lot of things in the pipeline to tell you about, so please keep on following, reading, and sharing our posts – Many thanks!