11-year-old Hitchin Boy Supports Local Charity’s Government-backed National Appeal

Kai Marash, an 11-year-old boy from Hitchin has raised over £500 in aid of Hemel-Hempstead based Hope for Children, which will now be matched by the UK Government.

Using their new ‘fundraiser’ tool, Kai’s father, Lash, set up a Facebook fundraiser on behalf of his son ahead of his 12-hour gaming charity live stream on Saturday 23^rd December.

Kai’s fundraising will go towards the charity’s Head Held High appeal, which is raising funds to improve access to a quality education for vulnerable children in Africa. Every pound personally donated by the public before 23 December 2017 will be matched by the UK Government with UK aid.

Kai originally set a fundraising target of £150, which Lash promised to match. But when Facebook announced that on Giving Tuesday they were matching donations up to £10,000 per charity, Kai’s fundraising quickly surpassed his target and now stands at £480, with a further £150 being donated by his father.

Kai’s charitable good deeds have already been acknowledged by his teachers at school, and on Tuesday 19^th December, he will be coming to the Hope for Children HQ to receive a special certificate of thanks from the charity.

Lash Marash, father of Kai: “Kai had the idea of doing a charity gaming event. We were searching the charities listed on Facebook’s Fundraiser feature & we found Hope for Children. We wanted to support a charity that would give a chance for less fortunate children to help themselves. We saw that Help for Children were based locally & after watching the inspiring videos on YouTube decided to raise both funds & awareness for this amazing cause.”

Murielle Maupoint, CEO, Hope for Children: “All our hearts were touched when we heard about Kai and his desire to support our Head Held High appeal at this festive, giving time of year. When the Government match funding is taken into account it will mean this amazing boy will have raised over £1,000 to help children the same age as him in some of the poorest parts of the world access an education.”

The Head Held High Appeal will raise funds to transform the lives of at least 1,500 children living in poverty in Ghana & East Africa by ensuring they have access to a quality education. Without an education, children as young as 6 years are often forced to work in fields, pick scraps or are exposed to the daily dangers of wandering the streets or slums they live in.

The extra income from UK aid match funding will help Hope for Children provide a range of activities in northern Ghana including providing school books and uniforms, running teacher training programmes to improve the quality of education available, and community workshops that teach girls about their right to education.

As a result of these simple solutions, thousands of disadvantaged children will have the opportunity to break free from poverty and live their life with their head held high. Funds raised by the Appeal will also be used to support the charity’s education projects in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

To support Hope for Children’s Head Held High Appeal and double the impact of your donation, donate online at https://www.hope-for-children.org/head-held-high-appeal

Or send cheques made payable to Hope for Children to Hope for Children, 6 Progression Centre, Mark Road, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP2 7DW.

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