Town's support for African school

ESTATE agent Simon Marden is making a second visit to the Kabubbu Jungle in Uganda to view the progress of a school being built by the Hailsham-based Quicken Trust.

With his business partner Roland Dunn, Simon will leave next week for the Kabubbu community. The school is for 400 orphans living in that area.

Director of Quicken Trust Geoff Booker said that Simon visited Kabubbu in February this year and the work going on there made a big impact on him.

'He was the driving force behind the "Cycling to Uganda" event that took place in Hailsham town centre over a 72-hour non-stop period during August this year, said Geoff. 'The event raised more than 19,000, completing the 40,000 target needed to get this project underway and brought forward the possibility of the school s construction by many months.

The land for the school site was purchased on the second day of the cycling marathon, and building work started at the end of October. The first four of eight classrooms are planned to be open for February 2002 in time for the start of the Ugandan school year. They will take in around 200 orphaned children.

'This is a worthwhile, locally pioneered project that Hailsham can get behind, said Simon. 'The cycling marathon was superbly supported and I want to thank everyone who took part. Those who cycled, those who sponsored them, those who so generously put money into the collecting boxes and the local media and businesses that made it such a special event.

Every penny raised by the Quicken Trust goes to the project, with no deductions for administration costs. Now the charity is encouraging people to sponsor orphans to help provide their healthcare, education, accommodation and other basic requirements.

'We have 400 orphans to raise support for, said Simon. 'It costs just 17 a month that s the equivalent of six pints of beer, three bottles of wine or five packets of cigarettes month to give an orphaned child hope for their future. That s not a lot!

For more information about sponsoring an orphan, contact The Quicken Trust on 01323 832361 or by mail at PO Box 113, Hailsham, BN27 4US.