Ed Sawyer Fundraiser

January 2009 Update

Dear Ed Sawyer Fundraiser Supporters,

This letter is to thank you for contributing to the success of the Ed Sawyer Fundraiser and to update you on the progress we have made since the Ball in June.  The Ball was an overwhelming success and an appropriate tribute to a truly dear friend.  In total we have managed to raise a whopping £14,400.  The Sawyer family are touched by the generosity of all those who contributed, and would like to extend their sincerest gratitude to you all.

The amount raised exceeded all of our expectations and has prompted us to think carefully about how to allocate the money.  After serious consideration, we have decided to donate £4,500 to the charity, Timap for Justice.  Timap provide legal services to Sierra Leoneans who cannot afford formal legal advice or representation.  One of the main obstacles to Timap’s work is reaching the people who are most in need of their assistance.  More often than not, these people live in remote villages with no access to roads.  Motorbikes are the only way Timap staff can access the villages.  The money we have donated will enable Timap to purchase two motorbikes, and cover fuel and maintenance costs for a year.  Ed spent three months working for Timap, training as a paralegal between January and March 2007.  He was clearly passionate about Timap’s work and, we believe, this is an initiative that he would have genuinely approved of.

It was Ed’s interest in the war that first took him to Sierra Leone.  Although there have been over seven years of peace and two consecutive national elections, Sierra Leone has yet to address many of the root causes of the war.  Youth unemployment remains disproportionately high, while the country’s wealth remains concentrated in the hands of a narrow political and economic elite.  There are signs of progress in Sierra Leone, albeit at a stubbornly slow pace.  Today, Sierra Leone remains bottom of the United Nation’s Human Development Index.

We are conscious not to rush into spending the remaining money raised for the Ed Sawyer Fundraiser.  We are keen to identify a cause that meets Ed’s aspirations for Sierra Leone.  Our intention is to put the money to a cause that is working to address the persistent problem of youth unemployment, with education and training as its focus.  We have been researching this for a number of months and will be in touch again, once we have located an appropriate programme.

Yours sincerely,

The Ed Sawyer Fundraiser Committee