Lockdown books raise funds for Ugandan Hospital
How do you fundraise when a pandemic stops all face–to face events? During lockdown, Ballyholme parishioner, Andrew Gowdy, decided to try his hand at writing some children’s books and has so far raised over £5000 for Kiwoko Hospital, Luwero.
Andrew, who works in finance, has never written or illustrated for children before but he was spurred on by a commitment to the hospital after visiting with a team from Ballyholme in January 2019.
“We witnessed first–hand the hardship that the doctors, nurses and volunteers face on a daily basis,” says Andrew. “In Northern Ireland we take running water and access to basic medicines for granted, however in Kiwoko it is a very different story.
“To put the hospital in context, it has a catchment area of almost 1 million people and delivers 3,000 new–born babies each year alongside 5,000 operations. It has an operating budget of £1.5million for the year, which is the equivalent of less than one day’s running costs of The Belfast Trust.
“Our remit in 2019 was to better understand the challenges the hospital faced and once home, raise awareness and funding through our various networks. We have raised over £20K so far which has enabled the hospital to install a new bank of solar panels. This means they now have a sustainable power back–up which is key to maintaining surgery and other treatments.”
Inspiration
As COVID–19 spread across the globe and lockdowns became the norm, Andrew had the idea of writing children’s story books to raise funds remotely.
“I had always fancied a go at writing children’s stories and regularly complained to my wife Sharon about the quality of some of the books we had bought for Robyn and Benjamin. This was my opportunity to have a go at writing and illustrating. I have no training in illustration, but I like a good doodle and I do the drawings on an iPad.
“I have written 3 books so far on the theme of ‘The Adventures of Benjy & Willis’, which are largely true stories based on our family trips across Northern Ireland. Willis is Benjy’s toy monkey who is forever getting lost on our trips with big sister Robyn having to find and rescue him.”
All of the profits from the book sales go to the Hospital’s Children’s Ward and Andrew is asking for a minimum donation of £15 for a pack of 3 books. After printing and postage costs:
- 1 book pack pays for the safe delivery of a new–born baby
- 5 book packs pay for the hospital care of a child with life threatening meningitis
- 10 book packs pay for the salary of a children’s nurse for 1 month
Andrew says: “The books are dedicated to all the doctors, nurses and volunteers at Kiwoko Hospital. The hard work and dedication undertaken by the staff when caring for their patients and community is truly remarkable.”
For more information and how to make a donation and order your book pack please visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/benjyandwillis
All of the fundraising is done through the local Northern Ireland registered charity “Friends of Kiwoko Hospital” www.fokh.org.uk