01/07/13….Charity in spadefuls from Thame pub
A deputy pub manager from Thame has landed herself the first seat on a plane to Kenya next year to take part in the life-changing experience of planting a forest in a week, on a new conservancy project on the northern boundary of the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem.
Serena Toh, who works at The Thatch in Thame, lined up against a group of other hopefuls to compete for one of just 11 places on a volunteer trip to the region next year. The challenge came from the company behind The Thatch, North Aston based Peach Pubs, who have set up a new charity initiative The Peach Foundation to raise money for two causes close to Peach?s heart, the communities its pubs are based in and the future sustainability of the planet.
Peach has always supported local and sustainable projects through The Thatch, for example by fundraising for Barley Hill Primary School to buy a greenhouse for the children to grow fresh fruit and vegetables; the pub donates 25p from every Caesar salad it sells to support healthy schools campaigns in the area.
This year it has created a foundation to help small organisations further from home in their bid to leave the world better than they found it, a cause Peach also champions. The first stage is to give financial and practical support to the Enonkishu Conservancy in Masai Mara, Kenya, to create a sustainable mix of tourism, forestry and Masai traditional farming to help preserve one of Africa?s increasingly fragile ecosystems.
Manpower ? or in this case spade-power – is a key part of this; Serena will be helping to plant 10,000 trees in the space of a week when she goes to Kenya in January, as she explains.
?I was put forward by my boss, Frazer Sutherland, to take part in this challenge. To earn it, I took part in a mastermind-style competition where I and my team mates answered quick-fire questions on our menu and our regulars ? what their names are, what they do, what they like to eat and drink, that sort of thing. We had to show we were heroes of hospitality.
?I was very surprised to win ? though I think my five years at the pub helped ? and I?m really excited to be visiting a part of the world I?ve never been to before,? she says. ?Finding out about the conservancy has really opened my eyes to what?s going on there, and how important it is to do what we can to help. This might be a small step from a small group of us, but I?ll be able to tell people in the pub about it and hopefully open their eyes too.
?It?ll be a great experience to be part of, and I can?t wait to swap my day job of working in a pub to helping people on the other side of the world. Though I?ll have to get practising with the digging to get a bit fitter ? Frazer?s promised me a pink spade!? she adds.
The company will be nominating 10 other ?Peach Heroes? from its pubs over the coming months, who have done something exceptional in their work or gone the extra mile in some way, to join Serena when she flies to Kenya in January. As well as planting the forest, the team of volunteers will take part in activities that promote sustainable farming, forestry and tourism in this part of Africa.
SOURCE: Contributed
