Newham-born broadcaster, June Sarpong, who was appointed an MBE for her services to broadcasting and charity has pledged her support to lift more in Ghana out of poverty after a recent trip with charity, AfriKids.
Sarpong will now become an ambassador for the award-winning organisation which protects children’s rights across northern Ghana, her country of heritage. Her visit to Ghana with AfriKids focussed on understanding the current educational environment for children and how the locally-led charity are working to ensure more children can complete a quality basic education. Up to 65% of children in Ghana continue to be forced to drop out of primary education by the pressures of poverty.
June also met with the Ghana High Commissioner, Iain Walker, to highlight how AfriKids is working with the UK government to give more children an education that will help them break the cycle of poverty, for good.
June comes on board at a crucial time for AfriKids, during a major appeal backed by the UK government through its UK Aid Match scheme. From 3 December 2018 to 3 March 2019, all public donations to AfriKids’ Time to Shine appeal will be doubled by the UK government, meaning they can reach even more children with support from the UK public.
Public donations will support AfriKids’ work keeping children healthy, safe and in school. Match funds provided by the UK government will specifically support their Opening Doors to Schools programme, ensuring more children in northern Ghana complete a quality basic education and get their time to shine.
Sarpong, who is a passionate advocate for human rights causes said:
My education is the foundation my whole life was built on and when I think about the potential that is wasted because children are missing out on school, it’s a no brainer to me that we need to fix that.
The Time to Shine appeal is about us telling thousands of out of school children that we believe in them and are going help them get an education to build a better life for themselves.