Well I have to say that I was a bit unsure of what might happen with Friends of Pakati this year. However, in spite of that, it is turning into a fascinating year with a lot of promise.
I was concerned we might struggle to fundraise, get visitors & views on this website, not do as well as previously. There have been periods where things have not gone so well, and I talked about it here on the blog more than once.
The thing is, when you get involved with something like this, you really dont want to give up too easily. Thanks to the support of so many, both from the Pakati community & diaspora and from people here in the UK, I began looking ahead in late 2021. I started to plan & come up with ideas to raise funds for, and awareness about Friends of Pakati.
So, let me summarise what has gone on so far, and what is (hopefully) to come this year.
January to March
During this first 3 months of 2022, these are the key things which have happened:
- Fundraising event 1 – GET TIED UP FOR PAKATI has been gradually growing, and will take place on 23rd April
- Publicity for the event has also been growing, with newspaper articles & radio interviews. More to come in the lead up tp the game.
- Both football clubs – Scunthorpe United & Bradford City – and their fans are increasingly involved
- Fundraising event 2 – An Evening With…Iron Bru Podcast (plus special guests) – room booked and guests being arranged
- Publicity to go ahead once GET TIED UP is over
- A sponsor has agreed to help pay towards the event
- Friends of Pakati is joining forces with VaTonatsa Foundatiom to help us help each other where our interests overlap
- We have also joined the Consortium of Zimbabwe Charities, to strengthen the position of so many organisations who work for Zimbabwean communities
- Friends of Pakati is looking for help & support to develop its activities, and have applied to Huddersfield University for ideas to market ourselves & improve our online presence
- They have put us forward as an organisation who could benefit from the efforts of some if their Business & Marketing students at Masters level
April to September
Following on from our first Podcast – https://friendsofpakati.com/2022/03/27/our-very-first-podcast-blog-part-1/ – we have a number of others planned. In no particular order:
- Stuart Pine, IT Manager at the Stephenson Group, our key donors on computers
- Bothwell Riside, former Pakati student, now teacher at an International School in Asia
- Lorraine Mapuranga, former student at Pakati, frequent contributor to Friends of Pakati living in South Africa
- Roj Rahman, Scunthorpe Businessman & donor/supporter of Friends of Pakati
- More from the Author about how he came to be at Pakati, and his experiences at the school
The two fundraising events discussed earlier will, we hope, raise enough funds at least to transport the IT equipment promised to be donated by the Stephenson Group – I estimate the cost at around £2500-£3000.
If we are successful. Then we will get the goods shipped out to Harare in late August, so that they will be there shortly before I arrive myself in mid-late September to hand the goods over to both Pakati schools.
I intend to visit other local schools in the area to see if we can help them too in some way. I also hope to meet up with local dignatories & organisations, similar to what happened in 2019
All of this will be detailed here on the blog, and with luck & plenty of hard work, we can meet more of the aims of our Vision.