Sarah Holmes is a Junior Copywriter at Havas Lynx, passionate about making complex healthcare information and patient communications accessible. With a background in copywriting for education and advertising, Sarah has been with Lynx for over 12 months and is enjoying making a difference to people’s lives through creative concepts and captivating copy.

Our Christmas campaign for 2015 was a big challenge. In 2014, we’d come together to raise enough money to send 42 children to school for the year, but following our visit to Rwanda in October, we realised we needed to do even more for the wonderful kids who benefit from the charity Born to Thrive’s hard work. The children  at Little Angels School could only complete half of their primary education because the school didn’t have the funds to complete building the extra classrooms needed. We returned home knowing what we needed to do.

We had two weeks to raise £4000 – enough to build one new classroom – to help the children with their education for one more year. The two weeks flew by with tuck trolleys, lunch runs, present wrapping, baking, cooking, sponsored silences, silent auctions, pub quizzes, sponsored running, lotteries, games nights, dress up days, massages, tarot reading, golf, darts, Christmas jumper days, mulled wine and cider trolleys, manicures, cat cafes and Christmas card sales. The collective hard work of each team, and the support and generous donations from families, friends, clients, suppliers and local businesses meant we saw our target and we smashed it; we raised an incredible £13,369.33.

We raised enough to build three new classrooms at Little Angels School, so every child can finish their primary education. On top of that, the money we raised will also send three children to school who wouldn’t have otherwise been able to.

The difference this makes is phenomenal. Of all of the children we spoke to during our visit to Rwanda, the main reason they wanted to study was to better themselves so they could help their families and their communities. With your help, they can achieve this. Some of the people we met had experienced the horrors of the Rwandan genocide first-hand, and every single one had been affected by what followed. The nation has come so far in the last ten years, but the helping hand that Born to Thrive offers, ensures these children get the best chance they can.

To see a run through of the Christmas campaign, watch our video here.

And, if you would like to support the charity, please help share their message on Facebook and on Twitter, or donate by using this link: https://born-to-thrive.org/donate/