Hello and welcome to LearnAsOne

Steve Heyes, founder of LearnAsOne

My name is Steve Heyes and I am the founder of LearnAsOne, a charity which funds school in Africa.

How did LearnAsOne begin?

I’ve always been interested in Africa. I think it stems from watching Lenny Henry on Comic Relief when I was a kid.

In 2004 I was lucky enough to land a job with a charity called Ethiopiaid, and I got to visit Africa for the first time. I experienced a lot of things on the trip, but the one thing that really struck me was the value of an education. Simple things like, if you can’t read, you can’t take your HIV medicine. And how much harder if is for an uneducated person to get a job.

I made a mental note that one day I’d set up a project to fund education projects in Africa. I spoke to a few people about the idea, and then a few more, and one question kept on cropping up. When I give to charity, and especially to Africa, “where exactly does my money go?” I founded LearnAsOne to answer this question.

Showing you the money in action | Stories from the schools

How does this work in practice? Our promise to you is that we will share stories and photos from every community we work with so you can always see your money in action.

Saviour, one of the pupils at Simakakata

Typically we follow the lives of one or two people in a community – for example a teacher and a pupil – so you get to see the difference your support is making. You can also ask them questions about life in the community.

The first community we are working with is Simakakata in southern Zambia. You can follow the stories of George, the Headmaster, and Saviour, a pupil who walks 14km every day to attend the school.

We share regular updates direct from the school and try to visit the communities once a year with a self-funded volunteer team to provide additional stories.

The community contribution

The Simakakata community building their school

When we first arrived at Simakakata the community proudly showed us the 60,000 bricks they had made by hand. That’s enough for three classrooms.

They were happy to donate their labour to build their school too, but they couldn’t afford the raw materials such as cement, roofing sheets and windows. The raw materials for a classroom or a teachers’ house cost £6,500.

Their contribution is incredible. They just need a little support so they can build their own school. If you want to learn more about the community contribution click here.

How you can help

The raw materials for the schools can only be bought because of the support of people like you.

Mark and Dan busking to raise money

The students from Bucks Students’ Union have washed cars, sold lollies, cycled to Paris, hosted cake sales and much more to raise money. Mark, Dan and Lucy have busked to raise money. Shaun has organised a party and done a sky dive to raise money. 22 people walked 28km to raise money. The list goes on.

You can help by joining our community of fundraisers and helping to raise more money so that the communities in Zambia can continue to build their own schools.

You can raise money however you like, but I’d like to share one simple way with you – the 40 minute fundraise.

What is the 40 minute fundraise?

A lesson in Zambia lasts for 40 minutes. Will you give up 40 minutes of your time to raise money for the schools?

You can sing, dance, run, bake cakes, do a sponsored silence, run a quiz, host a BBQ, organise a sponsored swim, the possibilities are endless.

It’s a simple way to do something you enjoy and raise some money for a school in Africa. Learn how to get involved >

If you’d prefer to make a donation or volunteer your time you can contribute in those way too.

Keep in touch | Subscribe to the e-newsletter

The simplest way to hear stories from the schools and learn about ways you can fundraise and volunteer is to sign up for our e-newsletter.

To sign up just enter your details below.

You can also join our fan page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

What next?

Here are a few quick links to help you find your way around the website.

• Learn about Simakakata, the community we are currently fundraising for.
• Find out more about the 40 minute fundraise.
• See what happens to your money when you donate or fundraise.
• Sign up for the e-newsletter.
• Make a donation.
• If you have any questions please send me (Steve) an email.

I hope you enjoy LearnAsOne.