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Happy New Year! There’s something so satisfying about a new year isn’t there? Feeling rested after a break over the festive period, fresh, clean planners for the stationery enthusiasts, new goals or resolutions and a renewed determination to make this year better than the last.
Here at KVL, we don’t have any new goals or resolutions - in fact, we’re standing by the same epic mission that we’ve always had: to ensure that all young people in communities impacted by conflict have access to high quality inclusive education. But, we are excited for 2024 and have some very exciting plans in the works to make sure that this is our most impactful year yet.
To kick off the new year our comms team sat down with Andy, KVL’s founder and CEO to chat about 2024 and everything that’s ahead…
What was your favourite thing about the Christmas break?
"It was really chilled out. I loved spending time with family and slowing things down a bit!"
Give us your top highlights from 2023
"Oooh. The library opening in Lebanon is definitely up there! Although we couldn’t get there to see it, the team over there brought such enthusiasm to the project and worked so hard to create something for their community. I loved seeing all the pictures coming through.
Not really a specific highlight but seeing the teams in the countries we work with grow in confidence and share their experiences in our sessions. It is so encouraging and inspiring when they put something into practice, and it has a positive impact on the children. To see the teachers light up when they share is so rewarding.
Lastly, our team in the UK has been incredible this year. It was disappointing when Janet left, she was an incredible team member and added so much to KVL whilst she was with us. Natalie and Julie, our two new Education Development Officers have hit the ground running and we have made amazing progress in so many areas!"
What are you most looking forward to in 2024?
"We have some incredible things planned for this year, lots of new projects and developments in existing projects.
Amazingly we have been given an office space, which is going to really help when it comes to creating and recording new content and materials for our teacher training and school leadership programs.
We have never really needed a physical base before, with staff located in different parts of the UK and other countries it was never been something we have seen as a good use of money. But over the next year we have lots of work to do recording videos/blogs/interviews etc. and so this is an incredible blessing.
I am also trying to ensure that I lead this charity well. So I have taken on a leadership coach which has been great for my own development. As we continue to grow we experience new things and having someone to lean on is invaluable."
How can we support KVL this year?
"We have a good calendar of fundraising events that we would love for people to get involved with or support. In March we will have our online anniversary auction, and in June WalktheWalk’24 will be happening.
Setting up a regular, maybe monthly, financial gift would be incredible, or making a one off donation. Finance for us is huge - a slight increase over the last year has made a big difference in what we have been able to achieve.
If you work for an organisation that is interested in supporting a charity or fundraising then please think of KVL, also if you are part of a church that may want to hear about our work then please connect with us."
Can you give us a sneak peek into what we can expect this year?
"Some of our projects are making amazing progress! We have one project which, without giving too much away, would see us working on a Government project across a whole country!
We are also starting to look at developing our own in-country provision in India and maybe in one other country.
We are keen to start bringing our donors/supporters/project staff and in-country partners closer together. We want everybody to feel part of the KVL family, so we have a couple of special events planned that will hopefully do exactly that and also help us to really celebrate the progress we have made so far."
We’ve been sharing “New year, same epic mission” on our socials recently, can you tell us more about this?
"We believe in what we do and more importantly, how we do it. Education is the one thing that will sustainably change the circumstances and opportunities for many children around the world. It really is that simple for us.
“New year, same epic mission” is about reaffirming the message that education is the key to seeing lives rebuilt and communities restored.
We want people in communities impacted by conflict to feel known, valued and loved. Over the last four years, I have seen firsthand the impact of our work, in countries such as Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Burundi, but we have so much more to do. We can only do this with your continued support."
There are lots of ways to support KVL in 2024. If you’d like to know more about any of the things that Andy mentioned, head over to our website which has more information about KVL’s mission and work.
You can support our New Year, same epic mission fundraiser via Total Giving.
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