Our News
SNAP ( but definitely not CRACKLE and POP in this Festive season)
Several weeks ago I was lucky enough to represent ATE at a charity function at the Castle School in Newbury. It was a Curry and Quiz evening with the curry being cooked by the students. This is a school that caters for students of 16 years + with special needs. ATE...
Data Gathering at Gombele Junior High School
I’m sitting across a table from Jennifer, a diminutive and solemn 14 year old student at Gombele Junior High School. The table has been placed under a tree a little distance from the school buildings to ensure our conversation is private. Jennifer is amongst a small...
Raise extra funds for new standing orders
It's that festive time of year and as part of the Christmas cheer we want to celebrate this fantastic opportunity for ATE supporters to maximise their gifts to the charity! The Joffe Charitable Trust, incredibly generously, will provide one-off grants to ATE for every...
Castle School Newbury hosts a Curry and Quiz night in support of SNAP
It was a drizzly and murky night when Astrid and I made our first visit to the Castle School Newbury last night.The weather did not deter some 45 parents, staff and children from turning up to their school for a fundraiser, specially for ATE. The Castle School is a...
The Global Language
Most of the initiatives that ATE put into practice come through the obvious route from idea to activation via Sarah and her team, trustees and volunteers, but just occasionally ideas pop out of the woodwork when you least expect them. It demonstrates how the good...
My trip to Ghana – Sarah Livesey
On my first day in the ATE Ramsbury office, Sarah and Leela asked if I would like to visit Lawra in May of next year. Without hesitating I said yes. I love travelling and this will be my first trip to West Africa. Reading about all of Action Through Enterprise’s...
Jonathan Hall in Lawra
In June of this year I wandered into the ATE office in Ramsbury and casually asked Sarah Gardner about volunteering opportunities for someone like me, an artist in his fifties, in the world of the international development. Before I had left the office half an hour...
An introduction to ATE’s new Office Manager
I am excited about joining the team at ATE Ghana and look forward to getting stuck in to the challenges ahead as well as getting to know all the volunteers and team members. Not only are their aims worthwhile but their actions are successful and what has been achieved...
SCATE Launch Night
‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.’ Margaret Mead Last Wednesday saw the launch of the Shaw Community link with ATE. Before Sarah Gardner, Founder and Chief...
ATE Apple Juice!
We are excited to be working with My Apple Juice (http://www.myapplejuice.co.uk/) to be producing Action Through Enterprise apple juice. We have an exciting plan to make the most of our supporters windfall or surplus apples, turning them into pure, delicious...
“My journey was not easy, but ATE held my hand. Today i wear the green uniform of nursing training college with pride. Thank you for making my dreams reality”
Through her teens, Agnes was student in term time and a kayeye street girl in the holidays. She travelled south and worked from 4am everyday selling meat pies on the side of the road, to return to Biro every September with a pair of sandals and a dream of something better for her future.
When Byron Wigglesworth interviewed her in 2021, he asked her what she wanted to become, ‘I will be a nurse’ she beamed, looking down at her sandals. Her quiet confidence shone through. From a community where almost nobody before her had made it to tertiary education, she knew exactly what she wanted for herself - against all odds.
Agnes has been determined to succeed, and she’s done it. Today her dream has come true. She’s training to be a nurse.
We are hugely inspired by her, this incredibly young woman who is forging her own path. We're proud to be part of her journey.
Her story from 2021 is moving and beautifully written by Byron, read it here here: ateghana.org/a-day-in-the-life-of-agnes-a-kayeye-street-girl/
We can’t think of a better way to spent a Friday morning than taking a moment to celebrate Agnes 💚
Such an inspiring journey! 💚 Agnes is just one of many girls with incredible potential, but whose circumstances and lack of support can limit their opportunities. Stories like hers remind us why creating opportunities matters Action Through Enterprise - ATE.🎉
ATE is an excellent organization that has done extremely exceptional in the Lawra municipality and beyond. I can say this because I had been fortunate to work with this organization on a part time base and trust me Action Through Enterprise is a blessing. As we pray for its continuous growth and success, I stand on my authority to plead with everyone putting efforts to make this work, to continue and be assured that you are making a difference. I have worked with Sarah Annable-Gardner from the beginning and I can confidently say you are making a great impact in society. To the founders of ATE, donors, trustees consultants and everyone involved, I say good work done. To the beneficiary from the various models , please I advise you to make this effort by ATE count just like Agnes and even better. Opportunity they say come but once.
So happy for Ages that she has achieved her dream, she gives me hope ❤
Wonderful! Go Agnes!
We are fully horrified by this statistic. 53,414 teenage girls pregnant in Ghana in the first half of this year, and even worse - 1501 of them were between 10 and 14 years old.
It makes us feel sick. And it drives us to do more for young women.
Making sure girls can stay in education, that they have the basic tools they need to learn, changes everything. It empowers them, provides structure and purpose, educates them on their rights and enables hope for the future. Ultimately it protects them.
This September, we’re supporting 40 girls to go on to senior high school. 40 amazing young women who otherwise wouldn’t be able to go, who tell us they would have been had to travel south to earn money, or get married. 40 lives changed forever.
It is the single most powerful thing we do.
And the very best bit, is that we’re beginning to see long term results. Girls we supported back in the early 2020’s have now graduated. They have jobs, are training to be nurses, or at university. And they’re volunteering for us when they can, supporting the next generation. They are strong and capable, they have bright futures ahead.
These horrible statistics, and the anger we have about every single girl who this has happened to - they remind us why we do this work.
Thank you to everyone who helps make it possible 💚
Thank you Pilates with Carrie for putting on a Cake & Coffee Morning to support our disabled children in Ghana 💚
Carrie's amazing Mum, Dee Anderson, has been volunteering for us for over a decade, travelling to rural Ghana twice a year to train our inclusion team in using play in learning. She is a hero, and we're so grateful to have Carries supporting us too.
£70 raised already! Every penny makes a difference and is appreciated so much.
Registered Charity: 1149988