Zambia, May 2019

On Saturday the 25th May 2019 we travelled to Kasisi situated in the North Western Province of Zambia. We are based in the capital, Lusaka so this was a very long trip, taking us 16 hours to drive there. I shared the driving with Ronald who is employed by CCZ (Council of Churches in Zambia) but he is now an integral part of our team, fully involving himself in the fitting of the lights as well. The distance was 1200km, we arrived at our lodge at 11.30pm very tired!! The next day we drove to Kasisi School and fitted lights into 3 classrooms and a head teachers office. There were 550 pupils at this school, it was in the middle of nowhere and to get there we had to drive through sand roads which was fun - good job we had a 4 wheel drive vehicle!! We also gave out school dresses donated to us by Liz Toomer on behalf of the Sue Ryder Charity. They were given to the poorest children who were wearing little more than rags. Read more...

Posted on: 28 May 2019 | 12:30 pm

Reports On Lights For Learning Projects in Zambia

The Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) managed to send two staff Allan Nyangu and Justina Zulu Mutemwa for a Lights for Learning workshop which took place in April, 9th to 13th April 2018. So I as Justina Zulu Mutemwa participated in the training. Justina's Report Justina's Report ...the objective of the activity was to go and fix solar lights at the three schools which are Kabamba Primary school Teta Primary and Kankumba Primary school in rural areas. Allan's Report Allan's Report ...the team went to Chongwe Eastern part of Zambia for the second project at Kakumba primary school. The description was to install solar in three (3) classroom and one (1) staff rooms... Click on the image to view the report

Posted on: 19 April 2019 | 7:34 am

Thank You Laurie

Laurence Cole After being our guide and mentor from 2002 until the completion of our registration as a charity in 2004, Laurence Cole was our constant source of knowledge as to the legal requirements needed to run the charity. Over the last  fourteen years he has always been our "go to" when we needed advice on any strange 'things' that occurred, and encouraged us to continue with 'the dream'. Unfortunately, like moving to 'another planet' from Wiltshire (that being Lyme Regis), health problems, and now the production of the first two of the next generation of Coles, Laurie has handed in his resignation as Trustee, and we have had to reluctantly accept his decision. Thank you for all that you have done for Lights for Learning, and for always being at the end of the phone to listen and advise (hey, just thought, maybe we could continue with this????} We will be forever grateful for the help and support that you have given us over the years enabling us to 'follow our dream'. Take time out now to spoil Vivien, and more especially those little babies. Thank you, and please keep in touch.

Posted on: 18 November 2018 | 4:46 pm

LFL Meet KK

Lights For Learning's Roger Mugridge and Margaret Cremin meet former Zambian President, Kenneth Kaunda.  Mr Kuanda served as the first President of Zambia from 1964 to 1991.

Posted on: 10 August 2018 | 9:58 am

Return to Zambia

Lights For Learning are going back to Zambia later this month for two and a half weeks when we will be teaching the trainers how to install the lights in 3 schools.  We shall then return to the workshop and teach them how to make portable phone chargers and portable lighting systems - these will then be sold to raise funds to keep the workshop going.

Posted on: 14 July 2018 | 2:00 am

LFL make the cover of CCZ Newsletter

Read what the benefactors of LFL lights are saying about us... "In its quest to supplement Government efforts in the provision of quality education and human dignity among school going children in Zambia, the Council of Churches in Zambia (CCZ) has partnered with a UK based Charity organisation called Lights for Learning (LFL)..." Read the full newsletter article here CCZ Newsletter, First Quarter, 2018

Posted on: 13 July 2018 | 11:17 am

Zambia: Kingsley Mwenda Centre Workshop

The re-wiring and painting is complete and we are now about to collect the kit that was left here after a previous trip. We already have 2 people asking to be trainers and overseers when we are not here. Now that all of this work has been completed we are heading off to the Choma area to inspect 3 or 4 schools that have been put forward to have our lighting systems fitted. We need to check they meet Lights For Learning criteria.

Posted on: 15 January 2018 | 5:32 am

Lights For Learning Land in Lusaka To Set Up A Workshop

The Outside of the Training Centre Representatives of Lights For Learning landed in Lusaka, Zambia on Thursday 4th January to be met by three members of CCZ (Council of Churches in Zambia). They were taken to The Kingsley Mwenda Centre on the outskirts of the city where the accommodation and the building that is to become our training centre is located. The building itself exceeded our expectations although inside it is still full as it is being used as a storage area. Inside it is still full as it is being used as a storage area

Posted on: 7 January 2018 | 12:09 pm

Return to Zambia

Lights For Learning are returning to Zambia for most of January 2018 to work towards opening another workshop.  Reports and pictures to follow.

Posted on: 23 December 2017 | 2:53 pm

Pizz School, Monze

A team from Lights For Learning travelled over very difficult roads to Pizz School in Monze, four hours North of Lusaka.  568 children, all orphans or protected children who have been removed from their families, will benefit from the lights. The daily market nearby has an 80% illiteracy rate, unable to even sign their names.  A week after the lights had been fitted 100 people had signed up for lessons.

Posted on: 28 September 2017 | 2:47 pm

Crowdys Hill School's Lights For Learning Workshop

On the 15th April all Year 9 pupils took part in a workshop with Lights for Learning.  Lights for learning is a charity based in Cricklade that builds solar lighting to support those in the disadvantaged parts of the world. The aim of the day was to raise awareness and compare life in Zambia to their own.   In addition to this they could produce something to help the children in Zambia.  The pupils made solar light units from scratch.  These lights are to go out to Kamwi Primary School to enable learning to take place when light reduces. The task was met with positivity and enthusiasm by all and despite the fiddly, physical challenges for some, everyone made at least 2 light units, some made 7.  The students were supported by school staff, the team from Lights for Learning and representatives of the Cirencester Rotary Club who very kindly donated £1000 to fund the project. The lights will be fitted in the school by the local Zambian team who have been trained by Lights for Learning.  Doug Staff from Crowdys Hill School will be escorting the lights to Zambia and will work with the team to install them.  Each light will be accompanied by a postcard from the year 9 pupils and a booklet about themselves.  We are hopeful that the pupils of Kamwi Primary School will write back to us with information about their life.

Posted on: 22 April 2015 | 5:00 pm

Aerial Footage of a School Fitted in 2014

One of the schools we fitted lights in to in 2014Posted by Roger Mugridge on Friday, 17 April 2015

Posted on: 21 April 2015 | 4:45 pm

Crowdys Hill School pupils help light the way for children in Zambia

PUPILS from Crowdys Hill School were a shining example when they made lights to help children in Zambia. The Year 9 students at the school, in Jefferies Avenue, took part in the projection in partnership with Lights for Learning. The charity, based in Cricklade, builds solar-powered lighting to support those in disadvantaged parts of the world. And at the event on Wednesday, the youngsters made 94 lights which will now be donated to the Kamwi School, in Zambia. Read more...

Posted on: 19 April 2015 | 5:10 pm

Another Installation With Swindon Town Football Club

SWINDON Town Football in the Community Trust have just returned from their fifth successful visit to Livingstone in Zambia... ...Through the charity ‘Lights for Learning’, the group from Swindon fitted a local school with a lighting system which will enable them to offer additional teaching lessons to the pupils and their parents. Read more on this article from the Swindon Advertiser

Posted on: 18 November 2014 | 1:33 pm

Zimbabwe Work Continues

Nhamo Sithole A team of three, Roger & Jean and Margaret Cremin, are over in Zimbabwe installing lights in selected schools.  The charity will also be looking at government funded workshops to ready them for manufacture of LFL lighting solutions as well as meeting with government officials to further develop the already fantastic relationship between Zimbabwe and LFL. Schools have been selected by our in-country ambassador, Nhamo Sithole, who has visited several schools to ensure they are in a reasonably fit state to have lights fitted. Once installations are complete, which will take two weeks, the team shall come home. The team are being assisted by locals who have been trained to install the lighting system. There are further plans to return to Zimbabwe in the not too distant future.

Posted on: 18 September 2014 | 1:40 pm

Latest Newsletter - July 2014

Download PDF From Jean Mugridge of Lights For Learning: Sincere apologies for the delay in keeping in touch with all of you great people who continue relentlessly to support our work, we cannot express how appreciative we are for your help. We have been working continually to try to progress the work of the charity and it seems that now we are starting to make a headway to the goal that we wanted to achieve, though obviously, we still have a long way to go. We were unable to go abroad in 2012 due to health issues and family commitments, however in January Roger and I went to Zimbabwe and we spent an extremely productive three weeks with meetings with the Government as well as fitting lights into 2 schools and persuing the possibility of enabling computers to become workable in the educational establishments. We also travelled to twenty six schools and two hospitals to take measurements and assess the viability of fitting lights at a later date. It was an extremely informative trip and we were excited by the information that we were able to gleen during the it. Designing and preparation were carried out throughout the rest of 2013 regarding the computer issues etc. We were also working on items needed to set up our first workshop in Zambia! We eventually returned to Zimbabwe in March 2014, being a team of four. Though, for the first time ever, we had an issue with getting the kit out of the airport, (change of Government and error on paperwork being the problem!) we were able to meet with several Government officials and because of the success of our previous trips our work has now been adopted by the Government who have insisted that they will now be responsible for our accommodation when we are visiting etc. They were also extremely upset that Zambia had given us a workshop and within a couple of days we were given a building to be used as a workshop in Harare once the necessary work has been carried out on it. This is such an exciting phase for the Charity. Once we had got the equipment out of the airport we were able to fit lights into two schools and a hospital, so all in all the trip was not wasted. We are so excited about the workshops. Our goal was to establish the production of the system in country and to train individuals to be able to go out and fit the lights themselves. We are working toward giving opportunity to those who have been unable to find employment for whatever reason, enabling them to become independent and empowering them to make something of their lives. By achieving this we will be helping the students in rural areas where electricity is something that they will probably never have, giving them the opportunity to achieve higher results in their examinations - which has already been proven in the schools where the lights have been fitted. This is also giving the adults in these areas the opportunity to receive health education, living skills etc. in the evenings after their day’s work. Wherever possible we will also endeavour to fit lights into clinics in rural areas to assist the medical staff to fulfil their work. Let’s hope that all of these dreams come true – we are well on the way to achieving this, but without your help we would not be able to do anything! Once again, many thanks to you all, we will endeavour to keep you up to date more often, and I apologise for my tardiness! Best wishes Jean Mugridge, Lights For Learning

Posted on: 21 July 2014 | 5:02 am

Zambia Anglicans light up rural primary school

Here's an article by Bellah Zulu, for the Anglican Communion News Service after the Lights For Learning trip to Zambia this year. The Anglican Church in Zambia has brought hope to a rural primary school after it linked the school up with an international charity to install solar powered lighting systems in its classrooms... To help overcome the lighting challenges in most of rural Zambia, Lights for Learning have developed a solution to the “lack of lighting after dark, so that life can carry on undisturbed.” Read more

Posted on: 28 May 2014 | 5:43 pm

Zambian Youth Trained by Lights For Learning

Fr Chikoya, who is Anglican Church's priest-in-charge, speaks during the graduation of 10 youths trained in assembling and installing solar-powered lights. The youth were trained by Lights for Learning, a UK-based organisation, that is assembling and installing solar lights in rural schools and clinics worldwide. Read more >

Posted on: 7 April 2014 | 12:06 pm

One Year On: Exam Results from Zimbabwe Welcomed

Lights For Learning has received the Before & After exam results from those schools in which lights were installed in 2011.  We'll post the full report up here shortly but already we can see that one school, Matikwa, has more than doubled their pass rates in just one year after the charity's lights were installed.

Posted on: 9 September 2013 | 3:30 am

Taiwan & Swindon Link Up to Help Four Countries in Africa

Dr Shen with Jeremy Holt of Clark Holt Solictors,the Mayor of Swindon cllr Nick Martin, Roger Mugridge, Justin Tomlinson MP Thanks to an offer from the government of Taiwan to North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson, with assistance from Swindon based charity Lights for Learning and Swindon Link magazine, hundreds of young people and teachers in several African countries will have light to return home after school. The ambassador of Taiwan Dr Lynshen Shen visited Swindon on 29 July to present 200 hand held solar powered lighting units carrying the flags of Taiwan and the United Kingdom and the words ‘Love from Taiwan’ to Lights for Learning. Justin had attended the embassy Christmas party in December and met parliamentarians from Taiwan who discussed community work in Africa and showed off the hand held solar powered lights. He said: “They asked me if I knew of any charities that might assist in giving them away and I immediately mentioned Lights for Learning; the Taiwanese said they would be interested in supporting them. Dr Shen said "Taiwan is one of the world's largest manufacturers of LED lights and we have distributed some three hundred thousand of these portable solar lighting units in several African countries.This is a small contribution but we hope this could be the start of something bigger." Lights for Learning founder Roger Mugridge said the handheld units would be a tremendous benefit to children and teachers. “Our volunteers fit solar powered lights to schools without electricity across Africa and teach local people how to do the job themselves. It means children can study after the sun has gone down. “But where there is no electricity there are no street lights, so going to the toilet block, or walking several miles along rough tracks or roads to get home is dangerous. Children often hurt themselves falling into pot holes and run the risk of being attacked by wild animals. The handheld lights could be life savers.” lights for learning Roger added that he had tested a prototype with children on a three week trip to Zimbabwe in May. “They also found it really useful for studying after dark; three or four would cluster around a table to work together. The unit has an impressive battery life; it worked for several hours a night for eight days before recharging.” Roger has plans to send the lights to schools in Gambia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and to Bukina Faso through another charity working in the country. The original article can be found at swindonlink.com here

Posted on: 30 July 2013 | 3:48 am

Swindon Town FC In The Community - Zambia Preview: Lights for Learning

With the Swindon Town Football in the Community Trust trip to Zambia just around the corner, over the coming weeks they'll be previewing an insight into what the trip entails, whilst giving everyone involved with their Community Trust the chance to see what life is like in Zambia. Four of the team travelling to Zambia spent a day with Lights For Learning who trained the Community Trust staff to install the solar panel lighting. The Charity has also generously donated the solar panel and lighting so that the Community Trust can enable a village school in Zambia to have lighting for the first time. This is an exciting addition to the trip to Zambia and the lighting will make a huge difference to the children's education within this school. Jon Holloway – STFITC Community Trust Development Manager said, “We would like to sincerely thank Lights For Learning for their continued support of our Zambia project and once again this is a prime example of how partnership working can make such a difference to more peoples lives. Read more...

Posted on: 17 May 2013 | 11:18 am

COMMUNITY CORNER: Trust prepare for Zambia trip

The countdown has begun to Swindon Town Football in the Community Trust’s fourth visit to Zambia. This year’s trip to Livingstone will take place in May and has had a fantastic boost with news that the Trust have been successful in securing funding from npower and the Football League Trust to develop and further enhance the existing partnership. With the generous support of Cricklade-based charity Lights for Learning, the newly-trained staff will install solar panel lighting to a village school in the Zambian bush, enabling them to have village lighting for the first time. This addition to the trip will mean that the school will be able to stay open during the hours of darkness helping the children to get an education. Original article

Posted on: 16 March 2013 | 1:30 am

Zambian High Commissioner is guest of honour

SWINDON Town Football in the Community Trust hosted the Zambian High Commissioner at the Robins’ clash with Yeovil last weekend as part of the ongoing relationship between the club and the African country. STFC FiTC, local special needs school Crowdys Hill, Swindon residents born and raised in Zambia and the Lights For Learning charity are all working together to strengthen ties with the African state, which is amongst the poorest in the world. ...read full article.

Posted on: 24 November 2012 | 12:00 am

Charity runners hit Cricklade streets to raise cash

The full article can be read here One of the organisers, Phillipa Knight, said: “It brings the whole community together. We have 40 local marshalls and without them we couldn’t run this race. The support of the local people who have come to take part and to watch is fantastic. “We have lots of people from Cricklade taking part. The purpose of the event is to raise money for local charities, specifically the leisure centre, which has been a charity for the past five years. We also support local charities Jenner Hall and Lights for Learning. This year we are also supporting Heart UK.”

Posted on: 22 November 2012 | 9:44 am