Celebrating 25 years of ACT in the Midlands

What a glorious event it was as ACT celebrated the final event to mark its 25^th anniversary in Birmingham, a major city in the UK Midlands on Saturday 25^th November. 

Although the ACT office is based in Croydon, a borough in outer London, ACT has a growing presence in the Midlands and increasingly so across the UK.  

Our Midland team of volunteers worked hard to plan and celebrate the wonderful achievements of African Child Trust (ACT) over the last 25 years with a gala dinner held within the lavish grounds of the Castle Bromwich Hall Hotel in Birmingham. The hotel, a 17th century period country house hotel, was a befitting venue to mark the event.  In addition to marking the achievements of ACT, the aim was to raise funds to support 250 new children in 2024, ten new children for each year that the charity has been in operation. 

The event was graced by the Rt. Hon Andrew Mitchell MP and Minster for Development and Africa at the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) who was in attendance as the keynote speaker and special guest of honour. Also in attendance was Nasir Awan MBE DL, CEO of the conglomerate Awan Group of companies and current president of the Greater Birmingham Chamber of commerce and other distinguished guests.

Councillor Alex Yip, Councillor for Birmingham City Council representing Sutton Coldfield Wylde Green and shadow Cabinet councillor for social Justice, community safety and Equalities gave a warm welcome to the 120 guests in attendance at the dinner. 

Femi Onabolu, ACT Midlands co-ordinator, gave a synopsis of the achievements of the Midland team and its contribution to the growth of the charity in the Midlands. ACT Director and founder, Dr Kunle Onabolu, in his address provided a moving and enthralling glimpse of how the charity was formed, inspired by a vision to help widows in-need in rural African society and their families. He talked about the impact of the charity and its reach to more than sixteen thousand (16,000) children and women across the 8 countries of Africa where ACT is working.

Guests were treated to a delicious 3 course dinner following which the keynote speaker, the Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP, gave an entertaining, thought provoking and insightful speech.  

Auction and Raffle draw 

The highlight of the evening was the auction and raffle draw. Among the items on auction was a signed copy of the guest speaker Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell’s book ‘Beyond the Fringe’. It was entertaining as a bidding war ensued for the book ending with a winning bid of £130. It set the scene for what proved to be an eventful auction culminating in another bidding war for the star prize of a 4-night Hotel stay at the 5* Royal Marmin Bay Boutique & Art Hotel in Elounda, Crete in Greece. 

The raffle draw was no less exciting given that there were 38 prizes to win. Over 300 raffle tickets sold out on the night to an eager audience. A good number of the guests went away winners on the night. The star prize, a 4 day/3 Night Holiday at the 4* Arcotel Hotel, Vienna Austria hotel with flights was the highlight of the draw. 

Appreciation 

A big thanks to our guest of honour Andrew Mitchel, special guests and everyone who gave up their evening to grace the occasion and took part in the celebration. The ACT Midlands team are proud to have raised a staggering sum of £9,777, just short of £10,000, contributing 20 percent of the target of £50,000 needed to support 250 children in 2024. ACT is a very worthy cause and one that is transforming the lives of disadvantaged fatherless children and orphans and helping widows and women-led households in Africa to break out of poverty. 

ACT is for the people otherwise forgotten 

To mark our 25th anniversary, we are aiming to raise £50,000 to provide education and welfare support for 250 new disadvantaged children and orphans across the countries where we work in Africa. We want them to reach their potential in life and give them and their families hope for a better future. We are very close to reaching our target, but we are still short by £4,200, which we need to support 21 new children. You can help us to reach our target and bring joy to 21 children and their families this Christmas. Please consider sponsoring a child or making a donation to our work. Click here to find out how.