We are incredibly excited to officially launch a new partnership project with Rotary International, the Bideford Bridge Rotary Club, and the Rotary Club of Gulu City to create lasting change for the communities we support in Uganda.

Thanks to Rotary funding, we are now beginning a new two-year microfinance project designed to help people build sustainable livelihoods and reduce cycles of poverty.

The project officially began on 1st May, with funding now received and implementation underway.

This initiative will provide small loans to support income-generating activities such as farming, market trading, tailoring, and crafts. Alongside access to microcredit, beneficiaries will also receive structured financial literacy and business skills training to help them establish and grow sustainable businesses with confidence.

Importantly, the need for this project came directly from the community themselves. During regular evaluation work linked to our education programmes, families spoke about the challenges they faced in creating stable livelihoods and the barriers preventing them from accessing opportunities. We recognised a growing need to support families beyond education alone, creating pathways for parents and guardians to become more financially independent and reduce long-term reliance on charitable support.

We also wanted to create opportunities for our students after graduation, as well as for the Bonga girls who complete vocational and skills training programmes. Many young people leave training with valuable skills, but without access to finance they are unable to put those skills into practice or start small businesses of their own. A major challenge many people face is exclusion from traditional forms of credit. Because of vulnerable backgrounds, lack of collateral, or unstable incomes, many individuals are unable to access loans through conventional systems and can become trapped in cycles of poverty or reliant on high-risk informal lending.

This project takes a different approach.

Rather than focusing on profit, the model is designed around empowerment and long-term sustainability. Interest rates are kept low, beneficiaries receive significant training and mentoring to develop strong business plans, and community support networks are built to provide ongoing encouragement and guidance. By integrating microfinance with entrepreneurship and financial literacy training, we hope to give participants the tools they need not only to start businesses, but to sustain and grow them successfully.

The project will also actively tackle gender inequality. Women are often disproportionately excluded from traditional lending systems and are more likely to rely on insecure informal borrowing arrangements. To help address this imbalance, 70% of the project’s beneficiaries will be women.

Over the next two years, the project is expected to directly support 200 people through microfinance loans. However, the wider impact will extend far beyond this number — supporting families, creating employment opportunities, and strengthening local communities as businesses grow and livelihoods improve.

We are hugely grateful to Rotary for partnering with us to create real, lasting impact, and we are excited to see the difference this project will make in the months and years ahead.

On Sunday, I took on the biggest challenge of my life, and fulfilled a lifelong dream of running the London Marathon.

I’ve spent months training for this moment, fitting in countless lunchtime runs from the office. I feel incredibly lucky to work somewhere that supports me in doing this, allowing me to fit training around everything else life throws at me.

Nothing could have prepared me for what London was like on the day. The sheer volume of people was overwhelming in the best possible way. Thousands of runners from all over the world, each taking on their own personal challenge for causes close to their hearts. It’s a pretty special thing to be part of.

The first half of the race went exactly how I’d hoped. I settled into a fairly comfortable pace and really enjoyed it and particularly loved running over Tower Bridge, which was a definite highlight. The atmosphere there was completely unrivalled and was just how I imagined.

One of the most emotional parts of the day was seeing my two children at miles 15 and 18, cheering me on. Knowing they were there, watching, and seeing me take on something so big meant everything. Hearing them talk since about wanting to run and take on their own challenges has made the whole experience feel even more worthwhile. That, more than anything, will stay with me.

After that, things got tough. Running through Canary Wharf was particularly difficult. I hit the wall pretty hard. The heat started to feel overwhelming, the crowds became harder to navigate, and I lost my pace. Every step took more effort than the last, and I really had to dig deep to keep going.

The support from the crowd carried me through those moments. Complete strangers shouting my name, offering encouragement, lifting me when I needed it most. It genuinely brought me to tears at times but also gave me the push I needed to keep moving forward.

The final stretch was a real test. With around two miles to go, it became a mental battle more than anything else. I kept telling myself I was nearly there, just one foot in front of the other. By the time I reached the Mall, everything felt like a blur. I’d dug so deep that I almost didn’t even realise I’d crossed the finish line.

And then it hit me. I burst into tears and sobbed to the volunteer who handed me my medal. I was completely overwhelmed, exhausted, and proud all at once.

In my role at Edukid, I spend a lot of time supporting our incredible network of remote volunteers who organise fundraising events across the UK (and even globally) to support education programmes in Uganda, Cambodia and Peru. Taking on the marathon myself felt like a small way of standing alongside them and doing my part too.

I’m so proud to have been able to raise an incredible amount money for Edukid while also achieving something that’s meant so much to me personally. I am so grateful for all the incredible support I received from family and friends.

I knew this would be hard, but I didn’t anticipate just how much it would challenge me, both physically and mentally. Immediately afterwards, I said I would never do anything like it again… but I’ve already caught myself back in the office hinting that maybe, just maybe, I’d do another one someday.