Supporting young people in Africa to build sustainable livelihoods
We are a charity based in Chesham, Buckinghamshire empowering young people in Africa (and the UK) to help themselves by developing the skills and knowledge needed to find gainful employment or start their own business. We do this by refurbishing donated tools to a high standard and shipping them to training centres and self-help organisations. In 2015 we received the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.
To get involved you can volunteer, donate your tools or give a virtual gift to change a life.
MAKE A DONATION
Make a Donation
Make an online donation, or buy a Virtual Gift. Just £5 per month for a year enables us to send a sewing machine, 2 haberdashery kits and cover the cost of shipping to a vocational training centre in Africa.
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VOLUNTEER YOUR TIME
Volunteer your Time
Join our team of volunteers at The Old Boot Factory in Chesham.
Share your skills and make new friendships. All you need is enthusiasm.
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DONATE YOUR TOOLS
Donate your Tools
Change lives by donating your unwanted tools, equipment and haberdashery items.
Each year 80 tonnes of tools are saved from landfill, refurbished and sent to vocational training projects in East Africa and the UK.
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Meet Gilbert Kawawe
Gilbert Kawawe, used his ‘Power Electrical’ and later ‘Metal fabrication’ qualifications he earned from Lusaka Youth Resource Centre to found G Hand Works.
With continuing success and well-established reputation, he is now a major employer in the local community. He is helping other young people get valuable skills training, qualifications and work experience.
In challenging times, he persevered – in response to local demand and rising costs he used tools donated from Workaid to manufacture his own machine. He is inspiring many others showing that with skills, the right tools and an unwavering work ethic, sustainable change can happen.
Read more about his journey here.
Our Achievements So Far….
Since our foundation in 1986, over 190,000 lives have been changed
Each year on average we send 8 containers to East Africa containing approximately 80 tonnes of tools & equipment,
helping 9000 young people to build a sustainable livelihood.
The tools and equipment we send supports vocational training of young people to acquire valuable skills and become self-sufficient and follow their dreams.
Carpentry Kits
6,318
Mechanic Kits
1,310
Metal Work Kits
1,050
Masonry Kits
1,650
Electrical Kits
703
Plumbing Kits
454
News From Africa
Meet Simon
Meet Simon a recent graduate who is passionate about using his tailoring accreditation to teach other young people just like himself. He has [...]
Rainford builds a fashion empire
Meet Rainford who founded Emmetropia Fashion Centre Ltd. with three fellow tailoring graduates from the Lusaka Youth Resource Centre. Using his flair for [...]
Electrical graduate’s letter of appreciation
Samaritans Care Providers Almost two and half years ago now, The Samaritans Care Providers project in Zambia, received their consignment of Workaid donated [...]