The Ashton Sixth Form Collge-5k sponsored fun run took place on Saturday morning at Dove Stone Reservoir, Greenfield.

Participants included students, staff and families from Ashton Sixth Form College.

Students from the Active Citizenship/Ugandaid enrichment group have been running a stall in college to advertise the event and had over 30 participants on the day.

There was a target of £1000 on the day from registration fees and sponsorship, all of the funds raised will go to the Ugandaid Charity, so far the group have collected £600 and money is still coming in via the JustGiving site.

The money raised will help to support our college commitment to send 2 young people to the Nile Vocational College for 3 years education in Jinga, Uganda. Four staff members and six students from the college will be visiting Uganda in February 2012 to help on community projects and health outreach work. This is only the beginning of what should be a meaningful and long lasting relationship between two institutions, separated by miles and circumstance but united by a commitment to young people.

Congratulations to 1st placed runner Jack McCabe with a fantastic time of 16mins 30secs, 2nd place was Ben Fox in 17mins 32secs and 3rd place was Jay Claridge in 17mins45secs.

Staff member Eric Allott’s son Victor Allott was the fastest and youngest posting a time of 17mins 50secs at just 8 years of age!

Tesco Greenfield kindly supported the event and Jack McCabe walked away with a £20 Tesco gift card and gold medal for his stellar effort.

If you would like to support our cause, please go to our JustGiving page;

www.justgiving.com/teams/ASFC-ugandaid

or search ASFC-Ugandaid on the JustGiving site.

“The day was thoroughly enjoyed by all involved including our youngest member Thomas Saxon from Greenfield aged 4! Although many of the students were from Tameside they were so impressed with the scenery and beauty of the area that they will be returning with family and friends to experience what Saddleworth has to offer. We are on target to reach our fundraising goal of £1000 to sponsor two orphaned students to attend the Nile Vocational Institute in Uganda, which is fantastic.”  Jennifer Rudd (Ashton Sixth Form College Law Teacher)

More information about the charity

Uganda has a turbulent history of civil war, dictatorship and AIDS, which has left over one million young people orphaned. In a country where poverty is widespread, children often die from diseases such as Malaria. Although primary education is nearly universally accessible, secondary education and college education is regarded as a ‘privilege’ and not a right and lies beyond the means of most families.

Uganda has the youngest age structure in the world. 49% of the population are under 14 years of age. There is little hope for employment for poor and orphaned young people and they desperately need the opportunity to learn skills to provide for themselves and their families as they approach adulthood.

Ugandaid provides sponsorship for vulnerable young people, mainly orphans, to learn desperately needed vocational skills at the Nile Vocational Institute, near Jinja.