Earlier this year, we partnered with the award-winning Durham-based education charity Mobile Education Partnerships (MEP), in order to help them raise funds to provide high-quality training and support to schoolteachers in Myanmar.
The charity has been working closely with teachers in displaced communities along the Thai-Myanmar border for the past 20 years, educating them on effective teaching methods and providing them with access to educational resources.
We have carried out a number of fundraising initiatives to assist the charity in raising vital funds to support teachers and children living within the displaced communities on the Thai-Myanmar border.
Climbing the UK’s highest peak
In August, our Managing Director Jonny Catto, HR Manager Hannah Catto, and their young son Henry climbed Britain’s highest peak (1.344m) to raise funds for the charity. At just six years old, Henry Catto became the youngest supporter of MEP. The family were able to raise an incredible £1,724, which was more than two-thirds of their initial target.
On completing the challenge, Jonny Catto said, “For Henry, who is currently at school, seeing what the children in these refugee communities in Myanmar go through makes him understand how lucky he is and is why he feels strongly about supporting and raising money for this charity.”
Taking on the Great North Run
Six members of the iPac team participated in the annual Great North Run in September to encourage donations to the cause. Jean-Louise Gravier, David Kerr, Shaun Pearson, Andrea Common, Richard Hardy, and Jonny Catto took on the 13.1-mile course and were able to raise an outstanding £3,451, exceeding iPac’s original target once again.
Every donation counts
Millions of people have been displaced or persecuted as a result of years of conflict in Myanmar, forcing them to live in refugee camps across the Thai/Myanmar border. Donations contribute towards MEP’s mission to provide vital teacher training programmes to support the children living in these increasingly unstable and difficult situations.
MEP is a small Durham-based charity and all money raised goes directly towards funding specific training programmes, meaning every donation has a real impact on the teachers and children in these communities.
We will continue to support the work of MEP however we can, and plan on organising more initiatives to help the charity during this time of crisis.
You can learn more about the invaluable work of MEP and donate to the cause here.