Girls, parents and staff from the Holcombe community dressed in bold and bright colours to reflect their support for the Malawian charity and came together to enjoy drinks and dinner followed by a talk by Open Arms representative, Jasmine Leitao. Holcombe girls then took over with a superb programme of musical entertainment and an auction to round off the evening with a host of prizes, all very generously donated by parents.

In July 2019, a group of 22 girls and three members of staff from Holcombe House will be visiting Malawi to see firsthand the excellent work the charity does to help extremely poor families who cannot afford to care for their children. Before the Fundraiser, the girls travelling to Malawi had the chance to talk to Jasmine Leitao, who was the Administrator in the Open Arms office in Blantyre for eight years and now works for the charity’s UK office. The Holcombe girls will be undertaking volunteering work when they visit the charity which will include teaching English, organising creative, arts and sports activities as well as helping to improve the physical environment of the foster schools run by the charity.

Holcombe Housemistress, Mrs Barbara Brader said,

“Thank you so much to everyone who supported Holcombe’s Charity Fundraiser which was a huge success! It was simply wonderful to see the Holcombe community come together to support Open Arms Malawi and to see everyone having such a great time in the process! Thanks to everyone’s generosity, we have raised £5000 for the charity, which will make a massive difference to the lives of many vulnerable children in Malawi and Jasmine Leitao from Open Arms has asked me to pass on her personal thanks to everyone who contributed. The girls really enjoyed the opportunity to meet Jasmine to find out more about the charity’s work and what they might expect to experience during their visit and the whole group are now even more excited about the trip to Malawi in July!”

Open Arms Malawi provides essential care for country’s orphaned and abandoned children in Infant Homes and Nursery Schools, giving them the chance to achieve their potential within the love and security of a home. It also runs an outreach programme to support vulnerable children within their home communities.

See more photos from the Holcombe Charity Fundraiser album.