A PRIMARY school teacher from Holybourne has raised more than £25,000 for African Promise, a charity which supports primary schools in a remote area of rural Kenya.

Andrews’ Endowed School teacher Suzanne Payne has been a prominent fundraiser for the charity since 2014 through her initiative Baskets4Bread. This has seen family, friends and the wider East Hampshire community generously make donations in exchange for handmade crafts that Suzanne sources from local artisans in Kenya.

These donations have helped to provide a daily lunch for 250 children at Kiteghe Primary School in the Kasigau community of south-east Kenya for the last three years, as well as provide an extra teacher, textbooks and clean drinking water. They also funded much-needed repairs and refurbishments to school buildings.

Suzanne has recently received a new delivery of woven baskets and fabric animals from Kenya and she is now aiming to raise £8,000 toward the charity’s drought appeal, which it has launched because the price of food has risen by 25 per cent in three months due to a year-long dry spell.

Suzanne said: “African Promise is a small charity which means that almost every penny raised goes directly to benefiting the children that need help. I was delighted to be made an ambassador for the charity last year and this has given me the opportunity to tell people about the fantastic and necessary work they do.

“I want to thank everyone whose support is making such a difference to the lives of these children.”

However, as Suzanne explained, the increase in food prices makes the need for this support even more crucial.

“For many of these children the lunch provided by African Promise is their only guaranteed meal of the day during this drought. Incredibly, just £1.50 is enough to provide a daily lunch to one child for a whole month.”

To donate, visit africanpromise.org.uk.