Thank you, thank you - and Happy Christmas

As Christmas is almost upon us, the season of giving and receiving gifts, it is a good time to share a final update about 'The Big Give Christmas Challenge' campaign which ran for a week earlier this month. Although it proved to be a very intense week of publicity, updates, emails and an excess of social media (now we know what social media marketeers do!), it did result in a final total of over £40,000; this greatly exceeded our original target of £30,000.... Fantastic....

The grand total includes the doubling of all donations during that week and also any Gift Aid that was applied. So, firstly, we want to say a HUGE ‘THANK YOU SO MUCH’ to all of you who donated to ServeDirect during the week. The kindness and generosity of so many, contributed to a hugely successful campaign. Keeping an eye on the fundraising started off a little stressful at the beginning (edit - VERY stressful!), wondering if and when the donations would start to come in - but soon became very exciting as the campaign gathered momentum. Donations came in from all over the world, including the US, New Zealand, Canada and China. They also continued to come in right up to the last minute at noon on December 6th! There may also be some interesting spin off benefits, as our campaign gained the attention of a few trusts which may open some interesting doors...

All money raised goes towards completing the new Arts & Science block at WTA, building the two new dormitories and towards expanding the work of the two Connect Education Centres in Literacy and English/Maths teaching. Building work has already started in earnest and we will be posting pictures and videos in the New Year.

This comes not only with thanks from ServeDirect, but also gratitude and appreciation from Charles and his entire team - click here to see Charles's thank you video. As ever, our colleagues and partners in Uganda are greatly encouraged by such incredible support from friends and contacts often so far away, some of whom may only have visited Uganda for a week or two, many years ago, yet still feel connected to those that they met at WTA during their visit. 

ServeDirect could not continue without the support, encouragement and practical help of so many. So thank you once again for playing a part in this. We wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful, hopeful new year in 2023.