The container has arrived…

Unloading at Blantyre:

Unloading at Lilongwe:

Click here to see some of the generous donations

May 2019

Collecting the 18 tonne vehicle

Our grateful thanks to Lenham Storage particularly Chris Burt, Wesley Arthur, Graham Sellick & Charlie Fulcher. Lenham Storage kindly donated, insured and fuelled the 18 tonne lorry that enabled us to transport all the donations to Birmingham at no extra cost.

A big thank you to our driver, Nicholas Devine, a parishioner from Corpus Christi, for donating his time & skills

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On Friday 17th May, over 40 volunteers helped safely pack and load the lorry at our warehouse in less the 45 minutes.

457 cartons/items weighing 5762 kg  (just over 5 3/4 tons) packed during the previous 8 weeks

Fr Behruz kindly blessed our consignment for safe onward travel to Birmingham & the final destination: Malawi.

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Transfer to the shared container in Birmingham

• Depart Tonbridge at 5 am Saturday Morning 18th May 2019
• Breakfast stop at Warwick Services to prepare our team for the day ahead.

• Arrived at Birmingham at 8-55 am & the work begins.

• Lunch, then we continue to load Birmingham’s items for Blantyre, we finally finished the loading at 4.15 pm.

Approximately 26 tonnes on a 40 foot High Cube container 2,700 cubic feet on a 40 foot High Cube container 2,700 cubic feet

The container this year was completely full, there were just two stacks of chairs that we couldn’t squeeze on.

A huge thank you to all those who have given so much of their time and effort to make this another successful project. Particular thanks goes to Brian for his tireless work, coordinating, sorting the logistics and finding new sponsors.

April 2019

This year computers were once again the top of everyone’s “wish list”, our people in Malawi are desperate for education, they see this as their only way out of poverty. Our Fantastic IT man, Kevin, has not let us down, he has produced 27 desktop computers and 11 laptops for this year’s container.

Our total giving of computers to date is a staggering 251 Desktop Computers and 119 laptops.

We help four large secondary schools and some smaller secondary schools and many primary schools.  Between them they have well over 12,000 students & children and that figure rises every year, the state only provide the teachers salary’s. 

Schools and buildings along with tables and chairs have to be provided by the villages and there is a great lack of funds, they struggle to just feed themselves. Our project has provide the cost of installing electricity in many schools, this enables then to use and teach computer lessons.

February 2019

Our previous ten containers have been a major success.  Back in 2009 when we sent our first shared container, it was just a dream that we should send so many.  Container Ten was a bit of a milestone and it is by everyone’s effort we have achieved so much.  Here’s a breakdown of our achievements so far.  We have sent 2,663 cartons/items, 4,707 cubic feet and 33,255 kgs which equals 33 1/4 tons.  This has only been made possible by the enormous amount of help and support received from you our parishioners, along with many companies both near and far.   Many parishioners help sort and pack the cartons (click here)on seven or eight Saturday afternoons, in a very cold unheated warehouse. Without our dedicated band of helpers and donors our container project could never have progressed to this stage.   I would be delighted if you would like to come and join us to help sort and pack.  They are fun afternoons and we even find time for tea, coffee and cake.

You may remember that this time last year I was desperately seeking a new company to transport our items to Birmingham, to load our items onto our shared container.                          

Thank you to all our very generous donors

2019 donations

I am pleased to welcome Lenham Storage Ltd who came to our assistance.  I am so grateful to Chris Burt for arranging the transport with his company, they even fuel the vehicle.     Our parishioners along with many individuals, companies and schools, have given an enormous amount of aid to many thousands of men, women and children.   Each year I receive further requests from parishes and schools in Malawi for our help and this year is no different. This year we will support an additional secondary school and a parish that also has schools needing our help.   We now have over eleven thousand children who will benefit and this number continues to grow each year. Students and younger children are experiencing an improved standard of education and living standards because of our support.

We have secured 600 cubic feet of space in the 2019 container.  Should there be any space left available, we have the opportunity to take some additional space if finances permit.

I continue to receive many e-mails and photos from our friends in Malawi, thanking us for our help.    Take a look at some of these which are posted on our website at www.malawi-twin.org

Our May Container is well under way.    We have already secured ….

Ø   Space in the Container which leaves Birmingham in May. (600 cubic feet)

Ø  Tyler Holdings Ltd. who continue to provide us with warehouse accommodation.

Ø  Lenham Storage Ltd. who have offered to continue support with transportation.

Ø  Identified companies who will supply us with the cartons we need to stow the goods and all the tapes and wrappings to secure them.     KFC supply most of our cartons.

Ø  Kevin Wilkins our IT and computer engineer, is already underway preparing desktop and laptop computers, for shipment in our May container.

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Ø  Denzil from Pureprint Ltd (Uckfield) Denzil again this year will provide white paper cut into A4 size and boxed, ready for us to wrap and send. (Denzil supplied well over 325,000 sheets for the last container).

We need your help again this year.  We continue to receive large amounts of clothing, so please this year again only donate as good as new adult clothing. But Children’s clothing is always so desperately required; we received a tremendous amount last year.

• Many children still run around in bare feet and wear very old and torn clothing.
• Adults need shoes, bedding, household tools, reading glasses and sewing machines.
• The men need the tools to help them farm their garden plots and carry out repairs to their homes.           *Shoes need to be flat – no stilettos please*

Below we show a list of the types of items we hope to send:  

Education (for 11,000 children)

Pens – Pencils – Crayons –Chalk- Colouring Pens – Felt tip pens – Small blackboards – Rulers – Calculators – Staplers & Staples – Scissors – Sellotape –  Drawing Pins – Paper clips – Erasers – Art Paints & Brushes – Glue/Paste – School Bags – Sports Equipment.

Clothing

Flat Shoes – Trainers – Flip Flops – Men’s & Children’s clothing (Good as New please) – Cotton Cloth –

Bra’s and Knickers

Tools

Household, Gardening and Woodworking Tools – Hand Drills & Bits – Spanners – Wrenches – Pliers – Cutters – Grips – Nuts – Bolts – Washers – Screws – Screwdrivers – Hammers – Allen Keys etc

Musical Instruments.                                                             

Health

Reading Glasses – First Aid Kits – Bandages & Plasters – Soap – Shampoo – Tooth Paste/Brushes –

Mosquito Nets – Nappies ect

Household Items

Manual/Electric Sewing Machines – Cottons – Scissors – Needles – Tape Measures – Sheets – Blankets – Pillow Cases – Curtains – Towels & Flannels – Soap – Kitchen Tools – Plastic Bowls/Jugs/Cups – Cutlery

Computing

Computers (under 5 years) – Blank CDs/DVDs – Floppy Disks – Memory Sticks – Digital Cameras.

Toys

Soft Toys – Skipping  Ropes – Balls  – Picture Books – Board Game

If you can help, please leave your donations in the Narthex at Corpus Christi, from Now until Early-April.   Alternatively, you can contact Brian Wilkins on Tonbridge 366846/ brianrobertwilkins@yahoo.co.uk, to arrange a collection.

If you would consider helping with our shipping and transport costs, a donation would be gratefully received. Cheques please as these could be Gift Aided. Should we receive enough donations we may be able to secure extra space.

Our friends in Malawi look forward very much to our next consignment, which is expected to arrive in late July / early August.

Many thanks for your continued support for this very worthy project.

Brian Wilkins.  

Malawi Container Project Co-ordinator.

The workers!!