Sarah Brown was the star guest at a special reception at the House of Commons for Schools for Africa on October 8^th. Mrs Brown, who helped launch the project four years ago in Northampton, came to speak at the parliamentary reception attended by 120 children from across the UK today.

Four Northamptonshire Schools attended: Parklands Primary, Stimpson Avenue Primary, Thorplands Primary and St Loys Primary in Towcester. They had a tour of Parliament, followed by speeches from Sarah Brown and also from International Development Minister Shahid Malik MP.

Schools for Africa, which recently achieved charity registration, sends 1,300 boxes of toys, educational materials and clothes to organisations supporting children orphaned by HIV and Aids in Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. It was launched four years ago by Sally Keeble MP, starting with only Northampton Schools. In the three years since then it has grown to include about 60 schools in Birmingham, West Bromwich, Derbyshire, Erewash, Luton, Buckingham, Wellingborough, Towcester and London.

Sarah Brown congratulated the children on taking part in the project, and said that their gifts would make a real difference to the children in Africa. As well as providing practical help, they also demonstrated that children here care.

Sally Keeble said: “Sarah has been a great friend of Schools for Africa, and made the day for the children. She has a great commitment to fighting poverty in Africa, as well as to the welfare of children around the world.”