Category: Fundraising successes

Our deepest thanks

Carol Banham has been our Chairman for over 20 years. As she steps down we would like to take this opportunity to extend our deepest thanks for her leadership and dedication to our charity and to the Home itself.

Carol has provided essential stability and focus for the Friends’ work throughout this time having been involved in the evolution of the charity right from its inception. Her belief in education for all, combined with her dedication to caring for others has been a driving force behind her work with the Friends.

Her time with the Friends has covered a very turbulent period for the Home and she has provided invaluable support to fundraisers around the UK as she speaks about the Home. She has visited the Home on several occasions and run many fundraising events herself with the support of her husband Don. This is in addition to running the lucrative Christmas card sale each year which alone has raised thousands of pounds over the years.

Through regular contact with the Home, Carol’s newsletters have given us a very clear picture of what is going on for the children and all those who care for them and raised our awareness of where focus could go for Friends development projects.

Her commitment and tireless dedication over the years has made an immeasurable impact on the lives of the children and carers our charity supports.

Carol, while we will miss your leadership, we look forward to continuing to benefit from your wisdom and support as a trustee, ensuring continuity of support for both us and the Home. We wish you well.

Lands End to John O’Groats in a 91 yr old Ford!

Our two intrepid adventurers, David Graaff and Wayne Cooper, who have already done two very long road trips  raising money for MRCH, set off last week on a new adventure. This time they are going from Lands End to John O’Groats, 2000 miles, in a beautiful 91 year old Ford. On their previous trips they raised several thousands of pounds for the children in Zimbabwe, can they do it again? You can read a bit more and donate here, it’s easy to do.

A note from David:

“We are driving a 1931 Ford Model A Cabriolet. It is an English car, built in Dagenham, but it has spent most of its life in Guernsey. It has been well maintained and partly restored by previous owners, so we have high hopes it will survive the trip.

Introduced to the public in December 1927, the 1928 Model A was an immediate sensation. Some 10 million people viewed the new vehicle in the first week.”

Image uploaded with update
Image uploaded with update

A thank you to our donors

Following our promotion of Amazon Smile – which enables customers to ask Amazon to add a donation as a percentage of their purchase to a charity of their choice – we have had our first confirmation of donations.

Similarly we have just received a cheque from PayPal Giving Fund for other donations.

Every little helps and we are very grateful to all those who donate to the Friends whatever route that takes. Your funds are invaluable to the Home.

Keep safe.

A drop in donations…can you help?

Since the Coronavius pandemic began we have seen donations for the Home drop off significantly as the ability to fundraise etc. has been interrupted.

The Home is now in lockdown but the needs of the children still continue. The latest update from the Home is here.

If you are able, please consider using alternative means of donating to help the Home…

If you shop on-line

We have set up FoMRCH as a charity on Amazon. This means if you purchase anything from Amazon you can choose to do so via their Smile link and nominate FoMRCH as a recipient. We then receive a 0.5% donation from Amazon. This is free to us and free to you – you just shop as normal.

Donate via your mobile phone

We have set up the ability for you to make donations via your mobile phone using Donr.

You can make either one off or monthly payments. Donr take a small portion of the donation. You simply say how much you want to donate to support the Home. For example:

Text RUSIKE 3 to 70085 – this will donate £3 to FoMRCH and will cost you £3 plus the charge of a standard rate message.

Text RUSIKE 10 to 70085 – this will donate £10 to FoMRCH and will cost you £10 plus the charge of a standard rate text.

Thank you so much for your continued support of the Home at this very trying time. Stay safe, stay at home.

Fundraising event – An evening with Henry Olonga in Tonbridge

Henry OlongaCricketer, singer and Christian, Henry Olonga, is speaking at St Stephen’s Church, Waterloo Rd, Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 2SW for a fundraising evening in aid of the Home on 26th April (7:30pm for 8pm).

The proceeds go towards purchasing a generator for the Home.

Tickets are £10, include a light refreshment and are available from

Tickets: Tonbridge Christian Book Centre,9 Quarry Hill Parade, Tonbridge, TN92HR or Tel: 01732 364897 or www.tcbconline.co.uk

Fundraising – David Graaff and Wayne Cooper Mauritania drive

David and Wayne will be driving an elderly Mercedes Benz the 2,700 miles from London through Morocco and the Western Sahara to the Mauritanian border in West Africa.

The plan is to get sponsorship for the journey and to sell the car in the no-man’s land on the Mauritania border. All donations will go direct to FoMRCH, and the value of the vehicle when it sells will be David’s contribution. Wayne will be sharing the driving and navigation (and tent). Thank you and good luck guys.

Fundraising for a new generator for the Home

MRCH supporters Graham and Lynda Jones are raising funds to buy a new generator.  They write:

“The electricity supply in Zimbabwe is erratic and MRCH can sometimes go for days without power.  That creates real problems.  Cooking has to be done on open fires and firewood is getting hard to find.  Projects like tomato-growing need water that has to be pumped.  Meat can’t be frozen so sometimes goes to waste.  Drugs for children with HIV/Aids can’t be kept refrigerated.  When the power is off, computers sit useless.

“When we visited MRCH last year, it was clear that a new generator would make a huge difference.  The home aims to cover fuel and maintenance, so we’re looking to raise £17,000 for the purchase and installation.  If we beat our target, the extra will help towards the running costs.”

Please help and donate online.