Gift Kazwemu
December 17, 2025
At 30 years old, Gift is one of the older tailoring and design graduates of the Lusaka Youth Resource Training Centre (LYRC).
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service 2015
Empowering young people in Africa through vocational training
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 refurbish donated tools to a high standard and ship them to training centres and self-help organisations.
Merry Christmas! Thank you for all of your ongoing support and for enabling us to continue our life-changing work in Africa.
We wish you a joyful holiday season and happy New Year.
By donating money, you help empower young people in Africa to gain skills through vocational training. It is easy to make a financial donation by paying online or via the post.
Donating your unwanted tools and equipment can change lives as well as having a positive impact on the environment. Every year over 80 tonnes of tools are saved from landfill and refurbished.
We always welcome new volunteers to join our friendly team at our workshop in Chesham. There are lots of opportunities available and full training is provided for all.
Our Impact
In Africa
We believe that young people in Africa are the drivers of development and know the solutions to the challenges they face. We work with like-minded organisations to provide quality vocational training through the provision of tools, equipment and starter kits. These are used for training, which creates employment opportunities for young people, helping them escape poverty and promote sustainability.
Increasingly, we support vocational training organisations in Africa to refurbish tools and equipment such as the Kalwande project in Tanzania. We also fund comprehensive training for trainers in how to teach others to repair and service more complicated items such as sewing and knitting machines.
As an organisation, listening and learning is at the heart of all we do and as such we monitor and evaluate all our work and that of our partners in Africa. This enables us to make informed decisions about where to place our resources in order to achieve the greatest impact.
Where We Work
Stories
Meet Gagah and Victoria
Bariadi Town Women’s Groups
Gagah Masungwa, aged 41, is one of the group’s success stories. She established her own tailoring business three years ago and now takes on two young tailoring trainees each year. Her current trainees are Grace and Rebecca.
Keep reading their story here.
Victoria and her tailoring trainees
Victoria is one of the Kalwande artisans we work with, and at just 26, she has already made a strong impression. Recognising her hard work, the Kalwande team invited her to become a tailoring instructor.
Keep reading Victoria’s Story here.
Recent News
News From Africa
Victoria and her trainees
April 9, 2026
Victoria is one of the Kalwande artisans we work with, and at just 26, she has already made a strong impression.
Bariadi Town Women’s Groups
April 8, 2026
Bariadi Town lies approximately 220 kilometres east of Mwanza. In this area, the Kalwande programme has supported five women’s groups.
Rebecca and Grace
April 8, 2026
Encouraged by their families to learn a skill, both Rebecca and Grace are now training as tailors with Gagah Masungwa.