Looking Back on 23 Years with EdUKaid by Sarah and Tim Varney

Looking back, some milestones may seem small at the time, yet they can have a profound impact on our own lives, on those around us, and on many others.

Sarah’s brother Tim Dench, the founder of the charity, had the opportunity to travel to Mikindani in Tanzania at the end of his A levels, with the charity Trade Aid.  Whilst there he saw that many children were not attending school. Upon his return to the UK, he gathered our family and asked if we could help in some way. Here the seed of EdUKaid was sown. As a family we set up EdUKaid, a fundraising committee and a Trustee board.

We have had so much help from Colleagues, friends and family, without their assistance we wouldn’t be where we are today. What started out as a small charity has grown and grown….and so has our team of volunteers, supporters and staff.

In 2011 we had the privilege of taking our children to Mikindani to see firsthand the work we were doing.  That trip was one of our best family holidays, the memories of which will stay with us for a long time. In 2022, Sarah had the opportunity of going back to Mikindani for the first time in ten years. Wow, what an amazing trip; to see how the charity had changed and evolved made me so proud to be a part of it. In 2012 we helped 3,218 children but by the end of this year we will have helped over 50,000 children!  Not only have we achieved this, but we have directly affected 15 schools with fitting out and where needed building a pre-primary school classroom and directly delivering a pre-primary education by employing teachers and teaching assistants. We have set up training for teachers. We have assisted girls to manage their periods with dignity through WASHROOM projects and the making of their own sanitary pads. dignity Children with disabilities children have been able to stay in education.