Since 2003, the Kilifi Gold Triathlon committee have been delighted to be able to support local charities and community organisations with financial assistance on a range of projects. We do this through a combination of competitor entry fees, local and national corporate sponsorship, and individual donations. Each year our recipient organisation is chosen either by invitation, or following a written application and interviews from our Committee.
For 2024/2025 we aim to plant over 30,000 mangroves as part of the mangrove restoration of Kilifi Creek in partnership with The Leaf Charity. Funds raised will contribute to the most biodiverse mangrove restoration projects in Kenya, planting all seven species found here. Read more about it here www.theleafcharity.com/mangroves. The restored site will provide a wide range of benefits for biodiversity, carbon sequestration and local people. Mangroves help support a large number of aquatic animals and this diversity produces rich fisheries that provide a valuable source of income and protein to our coastal community. Mangroves also help to remove pollutants and heavy metals from the coastal waters, ensuring a supply of clean water.
For 2023/2024, we are raising funds for the SOKO Community Trust (SCT). The donation will pay for a Kilifian-only cohort to attend and graduate from the SCT’s stitching and skills academy. Of last year’s cohort, 100% of graduates found employment having gained a National Industrial Training Authority (NITA) qualification alongside financial literacy, basic computer skills, and sexual and reproductive health training. SCT's own staff enjoy ongoing skills development, free lunches, support for single parents, nursery support for under 4s, medical training, a living wage, a pension, and reproductive health services under the Kujuwa Initiative. KGT's goal of raising KES 1,000,000 means we can put forty Kilifians through this incredible programme and into lifetime employment, securing a better future for them and their families.
For 2022/2023, we donated funds to the Taylor Ashe Antivenom Foundation (TAAF). TAAF’s simple aim is to reduce the number of deaths and maiming from snakebite, and to promote awareness of this extremely common event, dubbed “the forgotten menace”. Many in our community loved and remember the late Royjan Taylor, whose work with Bio-Ken did so much to advance understanding of snakes and snakebites. Royjan’s legacy lives on in TAAF and countless lives and livelihoods have been saved by the team now leading TAAF. Snakebites were recently added to the World Health Organisation’s Neglected Tropical Disease list, the culmination of years of hard work by Royjan, and with the help of so many important people in the snakes and snakebite sector.
2020/21 and 2021/22 we could not hold the KGT or make donations due to COVID-19.
For 2019/20, we donated to Takaungu Afya Bora Community Health Unit, an organisation working in one of the poorest areas of Kilifi County to promote and provide essential health services to the community. Their Siku Elfu Mwenga project – translated from Giriama as “1000 Days” - focused on the important first 1000 days of a child’s life. The funds helped provide growth monitoring, baby vaccinations, nutrition counselling, family planning and education to new mothers and their families, ensuring newborns in Takaungu not only survive but grow into strong, healthy toddlers.
For 2018/19 we donated funds to Friends of Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, a local organisation working to conserve and educate the community about this beautiful stretch of coastal forest, containing hundreds of rare and endangered species of flora and fauna. Funds raised opened up access to the forest for thousands of local people who live nearby but had never set food inside the forest. Entry includes a tour of the newly refurbished education centre and a walk with a trained guide to see the wonders of this hidden gem that is actually bigger than Amboseli!
For 2017/18 we partnered with the key stakeholders around the creek to implement a Creek Safety Initiative. Following a number of tragic accidents in the creek, particularly involving children over the past few months, and a need for water safety awareness particularly for those moving to the coast for the first time (such as new Pwani university students) this was a timely and much-needed initiative. Globally, there are 40 drownings every hour, and it is estimated that drowning kills more children than TB and measles. Africa has the highest drowning estimates in the world, and although accurate data are difficult to come by, those of us who live and work around Kilifi Creek have seen the tragedies for ourselves. Activities under the Creek Safety Initiative will include
- signboards and depth markers marking the unseen but dangerous dropoff points around the creek
- awareness days for key communities around the creek
- the distribution of schools packs with information for teachers and children
- collaboration with existing organisations already working to prevent creek accidents such as the KPA and BMU.
The 2016/17 recipient was Moving The Goalposts Kilifi. MTG is a girls’ rights organisation, using football to empower young women in Kilifi and Kwale counties, helping them fulfil their potential on and off the football field. We raised funds to assist MTG to add a mobile library to their field visits, giving young women access to books and literacy support.
The 2015/16 recipient was Pambazuko Disability Initiative. Working in Takaungu, near Kilifi, Pambazuko offers support and rehabilitation to families with children with disabilities. They do this through the provision of physiotherapy and training by Community Health Workers, and the provision of mobility aids including wheelchairs. Watch this short video to find out more https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcwlGrIEZ3g.
In 2014, the KGT supported Kesho. Kesho is a Kilifi-based NGO that offers a holistic approach to the development of disadvantaged children. Through Kesho, vulnerable children from Kilifi are becoming empowered and educated, realising their dreams and beginning to break the cycle of poverty. Kesho’s support is long-term including, but not limited to, school fee assistance, mentoring, and guardian support. Visit their website www.keshokenya.org for more information.
In 2013, the KGT raised money to support the establishment of Bofa Primary School through Lifting the Barriers (LIBA). LIBA raised 70% of the funds needed for construction of the school, funds to purchase material for 358 school uniforms, and reached an agreement with a disabled women’s group from Mtondia to do the tailoring. Funds raised by the Kilifi Gold Triathlon were used for construction of a perimeter fence to secure the children’s safety on the school grounds, and four sewing machines for tailoring the children’s uniforms.
In 2011 and 2012, the KGT supported the Friends of Kilifi District Hospital Trust in raising money for renovations to the children’s ward and occupational therapy units, and construction of the maternity theatre.
In 2010, the KGT raised Kes 250,000 for Upendo Orphans Support Program.
In early years, the event was small and supporters donated to small projects.
The KGT Committee operates as the Kilifi Gold Triathlon CBO and is registered in Kenya as a Community Based Organisation, registration number ss/kfi/lr/cbo/bah-d/21/2011. Our funding details and accounts are transparent, and available upon request. Reports on the projects we have supported are also available upon request.
