Here at SPI Piling Ltd, we have an outstanding employee, Kennedy Chirwa, who is commendable in his dedication to support and be a part of a nonprofitable charity, that works on behalf of the children and adults in South Africa. This is truly inspiring and makes a significant impact on the lives of many.

His selfless commitment to charity work in South Africa is deeply appreciated, Kennedy fly’s out every year with the kind donations he and other volunteers collect throughout the year, to donate and make these peoples lives better, the donations so far have been remarkable, from football boots that no longer fit their children but have enough life in them to be past on, and also the clothes that don’t fit, to underwear and toiletries, all these items are greatly appreciated, and your noble efforts in aiding South African communities reflects your generous spirit.

Here are some of the Children saying Thanks to their Coach, our very own Design Engineer Kennedy Chirwa.

Here is a little bit of what Development Through Motion does.

Development Through Motion is a South African registered non-profit organisation.

They use sports and activities for child and community development in some of South Africa’s most deprived societies. At the moment, they are focused on Soweto. The volunteers are working with schools because what they found was that when offered their services as extra curriculum, some of the children who greatly benefit actually weren’t availing themselves, be it unavailability of transport or in most cases a lack of confidence.

Development Through Motion, Volunteers use sports and activities for community development and offer Saturday school to enhance the educational experience of children struggling in formal education. Which means they need funding to buy more sporting equipment, IT equipment, and some basic necessities for the children they work with. 

Sports and activities offer an environment that allows all volunteers to teach the children and equip them with invaluable life skills, such as teamwork, communication skills, mental resilience, and problem-solving. For many of the children they work with, this is an environment whereby they can just be children and play.

The world is also changing and there is a dire need for children to be digitally literate. IT equipment will allow them to introduce the children to the digital world. At the moment, Development Through Motion offer Robotics, but our limited equipment is limiting their reach and ability to offer more to more children.

This is where we come in, any donations are greatly appreciated and here at SPI Piling Ltd part of AEYates Group, donated 6 laptops last year and we are hoping to help again this year, Kennedy fly’s out in October and we are going to try and get as many donations flown to South Africa with him. (Donations welcome @ SPI Piling office)

You can also donate through their CROWDFUNDING page, organised by Kennedy. Click Here

A Few words from Kennedy Chirwa

It all started when I started coaching kids’ football in Salford. My son, then 8, had been rejected from a community football team; it was a concept that bothered me because I, as a parent, had no intention of my son becoming a professional footballer but just a platform to be a child amongst other children. That inspired me to form a team then and implement my very ideas and philosophy. Over the now 9-year journey, I noticed that football and results were the least important things the children gained. I quickly noticed that sports replicated life; you fall, aren’t always the best, will lose during the season, can’t win a team sport on your own, and need your teammates. I say that to say that the more significant benefits were mental resilience, communication skills, learning to win gracefully but also to lose with grace, learning from losses, sacrificing for the team, working with different personalities within the team to achieve team goals, etc. Another thing I hadn’t factored in when the journey started was that not only was I trying to teach the children, but they were also teaching me so much about myself, adjusting my communication styles with children’s different personalities.

During school terms, parks in the UK are abuzz with football, starting from around 8:30am to about midday, with different abilities, genders, parents and families in attendance, creating a child/parent bonding opportunity. Yes, the support isn’t always positive, but the opportunity is there. I then related this to what I know of the environment of my upbringing. I realised that this sort of set-up could greatly benefit people in that environment because, through experience, I had seen what it had done for the children I work with and their families.

In 2021 I then asked the club I was coaching at for guidance on setting up similar structures in South Africa, and they were very helpful and forthcoming. They happily donated old kits and engaged the Manchester FA and local leagues on my behalf. I also independently bought some balls, bibs, football posts etc. My employer donated unwanted IT equipment which is still being cherished to the day in helping children become IT literate.

The ideas and implementation have evolved since the seeds were planted, I was able to engage Nyameka Nondabula, who is a primary school teacher in Soweto with over 22 years experience in education. Focusing on football meant that girls were not involved to a large extent. If they were, it was due to a lack of options, but also because the voluntary involvement model alienates many of the children who need it and have the family support to do it. Yet the children in need maybe lacked the self-confidence to engage and/or didn’t have the family/financial support to come to wherever we would be working out of school hours. So, we had to work with the children during school hours, this model also allowed children and teachers alike to ‘rest’ for a purely academic day, but mainly it meant all the children were involved. Very quickly, a significant number of children improved as they discovered abilities and interests they never appreciated they had, and bonds were formed and strengthened through activities. Problem-solving skills, mental resilience and agility, physical fitness, balance, agility and control and discipline were developed and enhanced within the space. Teachers reported that the PE sessions became something the children looked for and aided learning too. What we always understood that between the 2 of us the reach would be limited. In addition to the other challenges, there is a significant unemployment challenge, some of the unemployed people from the community could be engaged to be the champions of developing their communities, in turn, that would allow us to reach more children but presenting the dual benefit of also giving the ‘volunteers’ a platform to develop skills. Through working with us, they could develop skills that would allow them to develop into ‘Children’s Entertainmentprenuers’. So instead of looking to become employed, they can become employers too.

I have spent most of my annual leave for the last three years going to South Africa. Every year has seen an evolution, to the point that now we have a formerly registered non-profit organisation named Development Through Motion; in 2023, we held a child-only tournament, child-only in the sense that children managed the teams and coordinated and managed the tournament. We also have a Saturday school. To date, it has primarily been funded through my limited personal funds, but that won’t be sufficient to grow effectively. As schools have found out about the work we are doing, they too continue to ask for us to be involved with them. Our appeal is for anything, used children’s clothes, unwanted IT equipment, unwanted sports equipment, funding as our ‘volunteers’ are effectively unemployed people and always helpful to provide a stipend for food, transport etc.

If you would like to donate either through the crowdfund page or by donating a pair of trainers that no longer fit, or a by buying an extra toothbrush or even that t-shirt that’s been at the back of your wardrobe, it will be greatly appreciated and will be going to a great cause.

Please see the link below or if you would like to send a donations in to our office at Bolton please, contact us at info@spi.co.uk

Website – Development Through Motion

Crowdfunder – Child and Community Development in South Africa

Our Website – SPI Piling Ltd