At Communicate-ed we are passionate about seeing people developed to their true potential. That passion drives our own training portfolio, but also extends beyond to many, many other situations and nations.
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One of our core aims is to raise funds for charity projects which support educational and developmental opportunities, particularly for those caught in poverty in the UK and overseas. A proportion of any profit made from courses is donated, and money has also been raised through the sale of our resources (see ‘Resources’). We are happy to report that, to date, we have been able to donate over £865,000.
Since we were established in 2002, this money has been able to support a large number of different charities. Most of Communicate-ed’s charitable giving is through our charitable trust: ‘Links International: Communicate Trust’.
We have recently been able to support a sustainable feeding programme in the area around Kande in Malawi. This initiative targets under 5s, providing the with a bowl of maize porridge each day. The sustainable difference here is that the maize used is grown in gardens allocated to each child, and the funding to which we have contributed has enabled the scheme to be set up so income is also being made, to provide seed for the next growing season.
Zeb Montgomery battled leukaemia for 18 months and finally died in November 2015. He was 14. Zeb loved football and before he died he asked that as many footballs as possible be distributed to kids in the developing world in his name.
Caroline Read writes: During our charity work in Africa we often see groups of children and teenagers playing football with a 'ball' made up of rags they have tied together. For most of them to own a football would be an impossible dream. In April and June 2016 we visited Malawi and Zambia and took footballs to personally distribute to kids in the communities where we work. The Zeb Foundation started us off with 40 and we were able to take more thanks to people donating through Communicate-ed's online Resources Shop.
Links International works with strategic partners in developing countries – both churches and local NGOs – to inspire, empower, train and resource people and their communities to break free from poverty and disease. They do this by training in community healthcare (CHC), micro-enterprise development (MED), education and leadership development. They also support partners as they set up income-generating projects and strategic alliances. Co-founder of Communicate-ed and senior course tutor Caroline Read has personally visited several of the projects supported in Africa and Asia. She monitors how the money has been spent and also often participates in development training.
Caroline helping to train a local committee of volunteers running a Links microenterprise development scheme in central Malawi. Since November this group have distributed 24 small loans to some of the poorest in the community. Repayments are coming in regularly, with at least 90% up to date with their repayment schedule. Lives are being transformed as new income can be used to pay for school equipment for children, purchase more/better food and so on.
