Brilliant Book Benefits United Through Sport

Thanks to a genius spark of imagination and a very different slant on travel writing, Emily Monk, a Ghana volunteer, has raised nearly £3000 for United Through Sport. Her book ‘Don’t Tell Mum: Hair-raising Messages Home from Gap-year Travellers’ has been selling like hotcakes, and she has generously donated a large sum to the charity to support community development overseas.

The brilliant book reads as a series of real-life emails written by gap-year travelers, updating their friends and family on their exotic adventures. Where once the news of a fresh tattoo, the purchase of a gold Mercedes or a village chief’s proposal of marriage would have had to wait until a traveller’s return, those left at home are now able to follow every trial and tribulation of their loved one’s attempt to ‘find-themselves’. Together with Simon Hoggart, Emily has collected together the funniest, most surreal, most alarming gap-year e-mails into a treasure-trove of correspondence. Accompanied by their wicked commentary, Don’t Tell Mum invites us to live the gap-year experience without even having to leave the country.

Football Team Fully Equipped

A local township football team on the famous South African Garden Route was this month fully equipped with crucial kit thanks to a £500 grant from United Through Sport.

The team is a vital social lifeline for a group of poverty-affected children between the ages of 8 and 13. With the help of the charity, a 14-strong squad has now been provided with numbered jerseys, shorts, socks and 10 training balls to sharpen their skills.

The donation was made with the assistance of Ashley Wentworth and Stormsriver Adventures, and the equipment was handed over with a fantastic reception from around 70 local supporters.