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International development charity, Send a Cow, benefitted recently from a generous donation of £10,000 from veterinary group, XLVets, raised at their AGM in June. The 57 independently-owned vet practices came together for an auction of promises, raising £20,000, of which Send a Cow has received half. The other half was donated to veterinary mental health charity, Vetlife.
Send a Cow will use the money in conjunction with XLVets to help farmers in some of the poorest parts of Africa, by upskilling their local support teams on the ground. The local teams are being trained in livestock management through a bespoke programme, delivered by vets from Farm Skills Africa, XLVets’ charitable initiative.
So far in this three-year project, training has included aspects such as practical nutrition, Push-Pull technology (a method of growing crops that repels pests), shed design - including animal health and environment principles, calf management and good stockmanship. Teaching is delivered via interactive workshops and talks on farms about livestock husbandry. In total, two groups of 12 Send a Cow delegates have taken part in the programme, from Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi.
The recent XLVets donation will boost the £20,000 sum already raised for this collaboration with Send a Cow by the group. Becky Moorcroft, Send a Cow Corporate Partnerships Manager, said, “We’re thrilled to be working alongside XLVets. Not only are members offering their veterinary expertise, but they’re raising much needed funds too. It’s a great partnership which is having a real impact on farming families in east Africa.’’
Bryony Kendall, from Farm Skills Africa, who helped develop the programme and deliver the inaugural training sessions in October 2016, said,
“XLVets is committed to supporting the great work of Send a Cow and we’re delighted to have raised such a large sum. It joins the £20,000 already raised by the XLVets team, with support from Boehringer Ingelheim. We feel that the training is the best way to help these farming communities to become self-sufficient and we’re proud to support them in building a sustainable future.”
ENDS
31 August 2017
Suggested photograph caption: “XLVets Member Bryony Kendall presents a cheque to Georgia Smith, Becky Moorcroft and Joanna Brownbill from Send a Cow at the charity’s headquarters in Newton St Loe, Bath’’
(Photo: L-R): Georgia Smith, Bryony Kendall, Becky Moorcroft and Joanna Brownbill
Notes for editors
About Send a Cow:
Send a Cow was set up by a group of British Christian farmers over 25 years ago to help Uganda. In response to their appeal for milk, the UK farmers sent over dairy cows. Since launching in 1988, Send a Cow has helped to raise over 1 million people in Africa out of poverty.
About XLVets
XLVets is a nationwide community of 57 vet practices which are independently-owned, and are committed to providing a high quality of animal care. Through their membership of XLVets, these practices collaborate – sharing knowledge, experience and skills – to provide their clients with ‘Excellence in Practice’. For further information about Farm Skills Africa’s initiatives, see http://www.farmskills.co.uk/farmskills-africa/