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The children of South Africa’s Mpumalanga Region are a truly resiliant and inspiring bunch. Following a trip to the area in November of 2011 I had the privilage of visiting a Pride ‘n Purpose Virgin Unite Project at a village just outside the luxurious surroundings of Richard Branson’s Ulusaba Game Reserve in Sabi Sands to help them paint a creche for the local children.

Pride ‘n Purpose is a non-profit development fund committed to the upliftment of disadvantaged communities living in and adjacent to the Sands. The charity has been set up by members of the Ulusaba family, you can follow their amazing work on facebook.

Dumphries Village is assisted by a variety of projects funded & managed by Pride ‘n Purpose Virgin Unite, these include a fresh water project, a literacy centre & the provision of creche facilites for the local pre-school children.

The purpose of the visit that day was to take donations of toys and clothes to a local school and then get involved with the decoration of a newly constructed creche. Many of the children in the village were orphans, their parents having been victims of HIV/AIDs that is still rife in the rural areas of the country.

The Akani creche had been funded by American actor and celebrity Christian Slater who is a regular visitor to Ulusaba. The shell of the building was complete & upon arrival we were greeted by the children who were to be it’s new attendees. They ranged in age from 6 months to 5 years and as our mini bus drew closer many eagerly ran towards us waving and laughing. Although a wonderful welcome it was heartbreaking to see the condition they were in; clothes torn, dirty and ill-fitting, many with no shoes.

After lots of “Hellos”, hugs & high fives, the children gathered together & sang us a selection of local songs. At the end of this wonderful chorus one amazing little two year old girl came forward, she was the youngest of the singers yet clearly a star in the making as she posed right at the front of the group before stepping further forward and amazing us with a solo version of ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’. Never have I been so touched…

Afterwards we were taken to see the current creche facilties. You will see from the pictures the reason that the new creche was necessary. The doom & gloom of this shell of a building was depressing; no furniture, no decoration, just a mattress on the floor for the babies to sleep on – a truly shocking sight.

In contrast, the new Akani creche would be colourful & safe with toys & games to stimulate and amuse the eager young minds of it’s pupils.

We spent the remainder of our visit busily painting the new creche and digging paths lined with  tyres to mark the boundaries of the play areas.

In all my years of travelling I have never had such a heart-renching yet rewarding experience. I feel truly privileged to have been able to help in my own very small way and would definitely love to go back in the future.

The Akani Creche was officially opened on 12th December 2011 by Richard Branson and Christian Slater.

The work the Pride ‘n Purpose Virgin Unite volunteers do is making a real difference and I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart.

Couples Tower Isle

Couples Tower Isle

After a nine hour, early morning flight, we arrived at Montego Bay airport which has recently been updated making it quicker and much more efficient.

We went straight through immigration and boarded our private bus to the first resort, Couples Tower Isle. Upon arrival we were greeted with a very refreshing cocktail. Our checked baggage was taken to our rooms for us while we made ourselves comfortable. The rooms we stayed in had a very clean and modern feel to them. We had an ocean view suite which was beautiful.

Bayley at Couples Tower Isle

After a quick change we went for a hosted dinner with a band singing popular 80s songs. The food was amazing; a wide and fresh selection made it a very welcoming introduction to Jamaica.

Once dinner had finished we had a quick look around the hotel then retired to bed as we had been up for 24 hours!

In the morning we had a lovely breakfast with another great selection of food. Afterwards we started our site inspection of the host hotel, seeing things that we didn’t have the chance to see the night before. continue reading…

The Glovers’ Family Holiday

Leighton loves a good hat...

We were up early and eager to get to the Airport, I booked my meet-and-greet parking through Holiday Extras which is a great way to park your car at Manchester Airport. You simply drive to the airport terminal meeting point and hand your keys to the fully insured chauffeur who will park your car for you. It was the first time I’d done this and it took all the stress and strain out of the parking process, so you can unload your bags and walk straight into the airport terminal.

We checked in and upgraded to the premium cabin service as there were a few seats left, it was more a treat for my son who has never flown premium before. Then we headed of to the Escape Lounge which I have used before to get away from the hustle and bustle of the airport. What a great way to relax and chill out whilst waiting for boarding. continue reading…

Click here to book Galley Bay from only £1639pp

My room at Galley Bay

We decided to stay over night at a hotel not far from the airport so the Monday would not be too much of a long day. It was a very nice start to the holiday as we didn’t have to rush or be stressed out on the Monday morning and we avoided an early start as we had already checked in online.

I was surprised at how smooth everything went; we took the car to be parked, then got a transfer to the airport where we dropped off our bags. Now we were all ready to explore the duty free shopping within an hour of parking the car. This was great as I love Gatwick, there’s loads of shops to wander around. continue reading…

The Engagement Party

As with most couples our parents weren’t going to let this moment pass without a party and what a day we had. Friends, family, work colleagues (of both of us) were all in attendance for what (possibly inevitably) turned out to be an all day party.

Fortunately the weather held for us (not guaranteed in the UK at the end of August) and we were able to use not only the house but overflowed into the garden until the early hours.

Thankfully neither of us had to work on the Sunday as only a couple of hours sleep doesn’t do anyone any good on a “school night”! continue reading…