Xaar supports team member's 'life changing' charity volunteering in Kenya

Simon Rumbles, a Strategic Buyer at Xaar’s Cambridgeshire office, has achieved the trip of a lifetime, volunteering to help support five local schools in Nakuru, Kenya.

The trip was organised by Midlands-based charity Derby County Community Trust (DCCT) to deliver several projects at the schools which teachers had identified as key to the improvement of the pupils’ welfare and mental health. These included the building of a new toilet block, updating kitchen facilities, roofing renovations and road surface improvements, as well as installing water butts.

As one of 65 volunteers, Simon raised £3,000 from donations and his own contributions to fund the two-week trip. Xaar’s Volunteering Scheme, a part of its Sustainability Roadmap, donated £500 towards Simon’s cause and contributed 2½ additional leave days to help make his trip possible.

“It was very rewarding to be able to help deliver these much-needed improvements to what so many of the local children regard as their ‘safe, happy place’,” said Simon.

“All the children made it clear how happy they were for us to be there, and my abiding memory of the trip is the joy and celebration they showed and how we could help make a difference to their lives.

“I will be forever grateful to the support that everyone at Xaar and elsewhere have given me in making this life-changing trip.”

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