Safi Coffee was founded at Tranby and now it's 6th year. We are part of a collective of schools who are working together to import Ugandan coffee to sell across the UK, raising funds to change lives. Safi Coffee raises vital funds to educate children in Uganda and change their lives completely. It costs just £180 to fund a child to attend school for a full year. This includes accommodation, food, uniform and healthcare.
The Safi Coffee activity is a popular feature of our busy extra-curricular programme of clubs and societies. Twenty-six pupils from the Senior School meet regularly to discuss fundraising tactics and organise events. Last week we welcomed our partner schools, Felsted School in Essex, Newstead Wood School in Kent and Silcoates School in Wakefield for a two day event where pupils across all schools shared best practice and heard from Safi Directors Dave Johnson, Jo Pinkney and Carrie Mertens who discussed the finance, marketing and future goals of the project. We also welcomed Tranby alumni Toby, Micah, Andrew and George who talked to the team about their experiences in Uganda on the 2017 trip and why they have continued to support Safi beyond school.
Pupils from Felsted and Newstead Wood School enjoyed a tour of Lincoln and York, the factory where Safi is roasted and also heard from Richard Milner who gave a presentaion about the history of coffee and shared data on coffee usage within the UK followed by a teambuilding dodgeball game held at Tranby.
One of the highlights was a virtual meeting with our friends in Uganda. We connected on Teams where we spoke with Honest Wilkins who oversees the schools we support in Uganda along with some students from Great Lakes High School.
Honest said ''It was a very exciting moment for us to be part of the Safi Schools Partnership meeting. We will form a Safi Coffee club at GLHS with the main objective of encouraging students to participate in local activities of farming coffee and dealing in coffee business. Together with the Safi Coffee partnership, we would like to support vocational skills training to our pupils and students in the TEACH UGANDA schools. We greatly appreciate the Safi Coffee sponsorships and we pray for more. The role Safi has played in the lives of our children is immense so far! We are so happy that after long schools closure due to covid 19, our schools are finally open and teaching and learning is going well.''
Director of Safi Coffee, Carrie Mertens said ''I am so proud of all our pupils who are involved with the Safi Coffee project. To see pupils from each school engage with Safi Coffee is hugely exciting. They are learning new business skills and experiences which will allow them to present Safi confidently to the community in order to increase sales which will provide even more children in Uganda with the education and opportunities they deserve. For pupils to talk directly with Honest in Uganda makes them understand more what life is like in Uganda and the impact Safi has on their commuinity.''
Find out more about Safi Coffee here.