The Rotary Club of Woodstock’s annual Blenheim10K run raises £3000 for The Gambia

On Sunday October 25th, 457 runners took part in the annual Blenheim 10K Run, organised by the Rotary Club of Woodstock in the grounds of Blenheim Palace, by kind permission of the His Grace the Duke of Marlborough. The route took the runners through the beautiful grounds of Blenheim Palace on a fine but somewhat blustery autumnal day. The results of the Blenheim10K can be viewed at www.rotaryblenheim10.drzaza.com

The money raised by the Rotary Club through this event will go to support our SOS Children’s Village, Basse in The Gambia.  Over 100 young children have found a family for life at SOS children’s Village Basse in eastern Gambia. Since its opening in 2007, these children have been able to play, go to school, and have a mum. There is room at the Children’s Village for a total of 120 children, in 12 family homes, and more children are coming to live with us all the time. Alongside the family homes are the Village Director’s house, a multi-purpose hut (lovely and cool as it can get very hot in Basse!), an office, a small sick bay, and a playground.

The SOS Schools are open to all local children – scholarships are awarded to the poorest children.  The younger children are taught educational games and how to play together, along with basic maths and reading. There are four classrooms at the SOS Nursery School, alongside a kitchen and a much-loved playground. The older children study the Gambian curriculum. The Primary School has six classrooms, a computer room, a kitchen and a library. Among the subjects at the Primary School are jolly phonics, maths and French. The latter is deemed important as Gambia is surrounded by Senegal and much of West Africa is French-speaking.

We work with the community to ensure that the schools benefit the widest range of people in the long-term and that the children learn valuable life skills. We are very grateful to the Rotary Club of Woodstock for their support and we would also like to thank all the runners who have helped to raise money for SOS Children by taking part.