Coast Digital Founder and MD Visits Harambee for Kenya Safe House

For the past few years Coast Digital, a leading UK digital marketing agency and Founder James Frost have been supporting Harambee for Kenya through sponsorship and personal visits. Harambee for Kenya is a small charity which hopes to improve the lives of Kenya's vulnerable street children by offering safety, food, clothing and education. Earlier this month James visited Kenya to lend a helping hand and see how the boys in the Safe House were progressing.

Harambee, which is Swahili for "all pull together" was founded in 1998 and is committed to taking children away from their dangerous existence begging, scavenging and living rough on the streets, providing them with a safe place to grow, learn and become valued members of society. Currently they have a safe house in Kisii which is home to 37, but are currently building another in Meru which will eventually house 50 street children.

James' personal involvement with the charity began 4 years ago and since this time has volunteered at the Safe House on numerous occasions. James finds working with a smaller charity is particularly rewarding, explaining that "it provides the opportunity to make a difference at ground level through sponsoring and volunteering. It also gives the chance to share my expertise in business and marketing, helping the charity generally, but also individuals that are setting up businesses or looking at further education as a means of forging out on their own."

One area in which James is particularly involved in is the development of a Future Fund. This fund will pay for further education, apprenticeships or even provide micro-business loans, enabling any boy in the Safe House to realise their dream. As part of this work, James visited colleges during his latest trip, to discuss courses which may be suitable for the boys in the future.

In fact, the Future Fund is already making a difference to one of the boys who left the house last year. Dennis used an allowance from the fund to set up a small hot snack business and is doing so well that he is now looking to buy new equipment and enhance his operation. With a loan from the fund he has the opportunity to do this. Commenting on Dennis' progress James said "it's wonderful to see such achievements and shows that with the helping hand provided by Harambee, it's possible to make a huge difference to the lives of children that have had the cruellest of starts."

Another initiative discussed during the recent trip was the opening of a drop-in centre within Kisii. It is hoped that this centre will act as a stepping stone from the street to the Safe House and will be focused on giving food, clothing and basic education for 40 children on an ad hoc basis. It will also play an important role guiding children towards services such as health and education. James will be returning to Kenya in April 2013 when both the drop-in centre and new safe house in Meru will both be open.

Harambee for Kenya have many opportunities for those wishing to support their vital work. They welcome fundraising activities such as sponsored events and for those interested, encourage trips to Kenya to lend a hand. You can get in touch and donate at www.harambeeforkenya.org.

James Frost is founder and Managing Director of Coast Digital, a digital marketing agency that is driven by its brand promise of "marketing you can measure." With expertise in digital consultancy, website design, online marketing and social media they have consistently achieved outstanding results for a wide range of B2C and B2B clients. Find out more at www.coastdigital.co.uk.