A very warm welcome to the first blog of 2022 – and let us at Friends of Pakati wish all of you, your families and your friends, a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
I will now add a short video to pass on my own personal welcome to you all to the New Year, before the blog gives an update on several important issues which are going on in the background for us.
The main things to discuss on this blog are:
Who we are – the people behind Friends of Pakati
Stephenson Group
VaTonatsa Foundation
New Year plans
Consortium of Zimbabwe Charities
Financial position
Professionalising
Charity Status
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So, to begin with – Who we are – the people behind Friends of Pakati:
Firstly the Author – me – Chris Walker, former Acting Head & Maths Teacher at Pakati Secondary School between Jan 1989 & Sep 1991, now living & working in Bradford, UK.
Secondly, former student of both Pakati schools and now Teacher if English/IT in an International School in South East Asia, Bothwell Riside.
Thirdly, former student at Pakati Secondary School between 1990 & 1992, Lorraine Mapuranga, who currently lives & works in South Africa.
Fourthly, Stuart Pine, IT Manager at the Stephenson Group in Leeds, key donors of PCs & sponsors of Friends of Pakati.
And Fifthly, another former Maths Teacher at Pakati Secondary School between Sep 1991 & Dec 1993, Debbie Chadbon, who now lives & works in Bristol, UK.
Next, the Stephenson Group – http://Www.stephensonpersonalcare.com – who came on board with a donation of PCs in 2019, thanks largely to Stuart their IT Manager mentioned above.
Following a phone call with Stu very recently, it was confirmed they are planning to donate another 20 PCs at least, and I hope to talk to their Sustainability person soon about issues around getting them transported out to the schools in 2022. We are delighted to have them continue to partner with us to recycle IT they no longer use.
Following on from this is VaTonatsa Foundation, an organisation Friends of Pakati are delighted have partnered with before. Most notably was during 2020 with the Covid-19 pandemic at its height, with schools closed, we collaborated on producing revision booklets for exam students at 5 schools including both at Pakati.
We are now looking to work more closely together in the future, drawing up a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate where our visions overlap – support for students, schools and communities in Ward 14 of Murewa District, where Pakati schools sit. A full blog on this will happen in the near future.
Picture from the meeting at VaTonatsa Foundation where among other things they passed the resolution to sign an MOU with Friends of Pakati.
New Year plans…all will become clear when I release a special blog on 16th January – the 33rd anniversary of when I took my first lesson as a teacher at Pakati Secondary school!
Next up is the Consortium of Zimbabwe Charities, of which Friends of Pakati is an active member. Currently the set up of the two branches – UK and Zimbabwe – is taking place. Roles are being agreed & allicated, with both branches to mirror each other while allowing for legal & practical differences.
Our Financial position as of 31/12/2021 has been affected by the purchase of goods to sell – merchandise – so there is an amount of money that we have, but Friends of Pakati also has assets – that merchandise. Every penny from future sales will go into the funds available.
See more details at https://friendsofpakati.com/income-expnditure-monthly-information/
Friends of Pakati needs to Professionalise. It has been going for 3 years now, and if it is to succeed in growing & expanding, it needs to up its game. A more professional appraoch, particularly in terms of fundraising, events, communications and sponsorship/donors/supporters. More details will be released in the New Year.
Charity status has been delayed somewhat during & because if Covid 19, but I think it is time to get it sorted. I have started to go back over the process, and hope to have the application in early in 2022.
That’s all for now, and so…
