Almost 300 supporters of the charity attended the fundraising dinner at the Thainstone Centre earlier this month, including the charity’s Kenyan representatives, to mark their 10th anniversary.

The event, hosted by GEF co-founder Myles Edwards and former 5000m world record holder and current chair of Parkrun UK, David Moorcroft OBE, was also an opportunity for the charity to reflect on the impact their fundraising has had on Kenyan and north-east Scotland communities and look ahead to the future.

For a decade, GEF has been building homes for some of the most disadvantaged people in Kenya. With the help of over 250 volunteers, the charity has erected more than 50 homes. Almost half of these have been as a result of 6 volunteer trips and have transformed the lives of countless individuals, many of whom lived in squalid conditions.

This was the fourth dinner that the charity has organised, boosting the tally of £141,000 raised at previous events.

Co-founder Gideon Gathimba and the charity’s operations manager in Iten, Kenya, David Sagida, travelled from Kenya to attend the celebration, marking David’s first trip outside his home country.

David said: “I have dreamt of visiting Aberdeen since meeting Myles in 2011. Life is difficult for many families in Kenya, but GEF ensures our beneficiaries receive funding to help with the basic needs at the very least. As two-time Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge always says,‘no human is limited’, if given a chance.”

During their visit to the north-east, they plan to maximise learning opportunities and are scheduled to visit the Bancon Homes development at Kinion Heights. The objective of the site visit is to share construction skills and site management techniques that could be applied to future house-building projects in Kenya.

Bancon Homes contracts manager Darren Cocker hosted the site visit on Friday 24th May. Darren has supported and overseen project management of GEF’s house-building trips since 2015.

Speaking ahead of the visit, Darren said: “I am excited to welcome Gideon and David to our Bancon Homes Kinion Heights Development. This visit will allow them to see, first-hand, the construction of UK homes and understand the operations of our construction industry. Despite the differences in materials and procedures, I am hopeful they will gain new management skills and construction techniques to apply in Kenya and teach others.”

Find out more about the Gathimba Ewards Foundation here.

The Scottish Housing News Charity Spotlight feature highlights the vital work of charities across Scotland each Friday. To include your local charity, whether housing-related or not, send your story and images to us at newsdesk@scottishnews.com.