Spring is here and it seems only a few weeks ago we were celebrating Easter. We hope you had a lovely and peaceful time with your family.
The year 2023 has started with a lot of activities for the foundation. We paid a visit to Nigeria between March and April to support and assess some of our projects. The world continues to feel the impact of the Russian – Ukraine war and this in turn has driven the demand for support from the foundation.
We are aware that we cannot solve nor meet all the numerous demands however, we will continue to do our best within reasonable means. We are truly grateful to consistent supporters like you.
Association For Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE-UK) nomination
We are excited to announce that one of our partners in the UK, the AFBE-UK has nominated our foundation a one of the charities to be supported during their annual Gala event which is scheduled for November 2023 in Aberdeen the United Kingdom. The event schedule is detailed below. For more information, please visit (www.afbe.org.uk/events/afbe-gala-and-awards-2023).
AFBE Gala & Awards 2023
Time: 6:00pm – 10:00pm
Widow Empowerment
In partnership with Archibol cake and events based in Nigeria. We are currently running a 4-week widow empowerment course that is training six widows to bake cakes and make sweet treats. The programme started on the 12th of April,2023. At the end of the course, each widow will receive an oven and basic baking kit that will help them to kickstart their own business and provide for their families.
2nd Annual Partnership Football Tournament
In March 2023, the foundation hosted the second annual partnership football tournament in Lagos. Over 65 kids participated in the tournament where we witnessed great football skills! Our partnership with Ambassadors football Nigeria, Westdyke Community Club Aberdeen, UK, and the Five STARS football club of Egbeda Lagos moved to a new height through this football tournament. We desire to provide more continued support to these kids. We also need training certification support for their coaches. Football is a way to get these kids off the streets. The football kits donated by the Westdyke community FC were a blessing to these kids as shown in the images here.
Continued support for Widows, Widowers, Orphans
The foundation continues to support numerous widow(er)s and their children who are struggling through these difficult times. We now have 59 widow(er)s and over 46 children (including orphans) that are direct beneficiaries of our financial support and business empowerment. Where required, we pay school fees and GCSE exam fees for some of these children. Our desire is to reach out to more.
We are glad to share with you that one of the kids that we have been supporting in the last few years, Isaac, has recently gained admission into one of the Nigerian Universities to study Physics education. We are so proud of him. The foundation will continue to support him until he graduates.
Bursary support for tertiary tuition fees
We now support 8 Nigerian university students that we sponsor through tertiary education.
Local UK community support
We continue to donate to the local foodbank of Westhill community church. We know that some
members of our local community are suffering, and we want to help as best as we can.
Summary
Finally, LWF would love to continue to do more in this area if we can grow funds for operation. All we
have achieved and still hope to achieve is only possible with your continued financial support. Your
donations make the following difference:
- £20 pays for 1 child’s school stationary for a term.
- £30 pays for 1 child’s school fees for 1 term
- £60 pays for a child’s uniform over the school year
- £80 pays for a child’s clothing essential for a year
- £150 provides emergency medical bills for pregnant women with no support and relief materials to many.
- £500 pays for our annual undergraduate fees and upkeep
- £1200 can fund the entire annual funding needed for a child on our scholarship programme.
To make donations, please visit https://lydiawilsonfoundation.org/donate/
Alternatively, if you wish to make a One-off payment or to set up a frequent donation please drop us an email at
lydiawilsonfoundation@gmail.com and we will respond with the bank account details.
Please help us share with your friends and families the good work we are doing. This is by far the easiest way
to grow financial support for the foundation.
With gratitude,
Lydia Balogun-Wilson
(President)
Lydia Wilson Foundation (LWF)