Solihull Rotarians are appealing for the public to help raise £30,000 for a new pick-up truck at a Ugandan medical and crisis centre for children.
The new appeal has been launched as part of ongoing support following a visit to Potters Village, in Kisoro in 2023, by the Rotary’s president Phil Godfrey and paediatric nurse educator, Vicci Hornsby.
Phil said: “The current truck was second hand, and is now in urgent need of replacement, it is used daily to support the work of the charity. When the Trustees visited in January, they saw the need for a new vehicle. The rural roads are very difficult to navigate and are tough on any vehicle, especially after any rain (often torrential!) Potters Village needs a dependable and sturdy pick-up truck to cope with these conditions.”
The vehicle is needed for: travelling into communities to visit and assess babies’ homes; resettling babies back with their families; transporting babies to and from other hospitals; taking babies to court at the time of acquiring care orders; transporting social workers to communities and, at times, collecting babies from far communities; transporting the psychiatric nurse and social worker for home visits to treat mothers with mental health problems and shopping for baby products and food.
With the support of St Helen’s Church in Solihull, Phil’s club has already donated vital equipment to Potters Village including 18 cots, intravenous pumps and a CPAP breathing machine, worth more than £7,500 plus £3,500.
Most children end up at Potter’s Village because their mothers died in childbirth or were unable to care for them due to psychiatric illness. Some children have simply been abandoned.
Friends of Potter’s Village provide financial support for these children, and this continues once they are settled back into the community, usually with their family.
Solihull Rotary Club has pledged to continue its support for the project alongside a charity established in its name in 2007. Friends of Potter’s Village is a UK-based charity supporting the work of Potter’s Village Ministries, raising funds and awareness of the work being carried out among children and their families in Kisoro, Southern Uganda.
Phil joins Vicci in giving regular talks about Potter’s Village to help continue to raise as much awareness as possible.
To support the appeal visit: https://www.justgiving.com/page/philip-godfrey-appeal3
Find out more about Friends of Potter’s Village at: https://www.pottersvillage.org.uk/