Terry Kitson Awards Funds Cape Town Project

An intrepid student at The Sixth Form College, Solihull is preparing to undertake a volunteer project abroad, after being awarded funds from the Terry Kitson Award for Service to the Community.

James Leavy (aged 17, from Hollywood) is heading to Kensington, a suburb near Cape Town in South Africa to work with the under-privileged and a local school. He is heading there for three weeks in August with 10 other young people and four leaders from his church group, which is called AFEX 2010 (short for African Expedition).

They will spend a week working in a local school, where they will be running a football programme for the kids and helping out with maintenance around the buildings of the school. Another week will be spent providing food for the homeless people of the area, as they run a soup kitchen.

"I’m really looking forward to it," commented James. "My church group has already raised a lot of money to fund this trip, so the £500 I have received from the Terry Kitson Award will all go directly to the school to help them purchase sports equipment and school supplies."

£2,000 worth of bursaries are granted to the students via the Terry Kitson Award each year. The fun was established to remember the late Terry Kitson, a governor at the College from October 1992 to September 1999. Students work with the wider community was an issue close to his heart, hence this bursary was set up as a fitting memorial to a friend and colleague and a way of supporting students looking to undertake voluntary projects during Gap years.

James will complete this volunteer project before heading off to university in September. He is currently study an A Level programme in English Language, Geography and Physical Education and is hoping to take up a place at Chester University to study Christian Youth Work. He is hoping this trip will whet his appetite for a longer volunteer project in a Gap year after university.

As well as James, four other students were successful in their application for funds this year. Other past winners of this award have completed volunteer projects in countries like China, India, Brazil and Malawi to name a few destinations.