Temwa’s association with Commercial Vehicle Solutions (CVS) all started with a fateful meeting at a service station 3 years ago! Martin Collins, the Managing Director of CVS, met Joanna Hook’s (Temwa UK Manager & Founder) father at a service station to give him some football strips that a friend of his had donated to be sent out to Malawi. They got chatting and Joanna’s father mentioned that Temwa was looking into ways to ship a large amount of items to the communities there. Martin then ventured that his company had a spare 7 ½ tonne truck they could fill for that very purpose, and the rest, as they say, is history. Martin donated the truck, paid all the shipping costs and flew out meet the truck when it arrived in Malawi.

Starting from this first generous act, CVS became Temwa’s primary corporate sponsor. In 2006 they pulled out the stops again, raising donations among a group of their own partnership organisations to buy a 4x4 vehicle in South Africa, which Martin again personally drove up to Malawi. Also in September 2006, CVS organised their first corporate black tie ball to raise money for Temwa. The ball was a huge success and raised a huge amount for Temwa’s ongoing projects in Malawi. The money raised was used for a large amount of projects including the building of the Usisya Community Library and funding of the librarians salary for a year; the running of horticultural training courses; peer HIV/AIDS education training for young people; the purchase of a Temwa motorbike; and the upgrading of the Temwa office’s solar power system.

After another few year of constant support, CVS organised their second and third charity balls for Temwa in September 2007 & 2008, which were also a huge success. So far the money raised has helped fund the building of a primary school block and the purchase of another Temwa motorbike. The rest of the money is still being allocated to its respective projects.Temwa would like to take this chance to send a heartfelt thanks to CVS for their ongoing support, without which we wouldn’t be where we are today. We look forward to many more happy years of fruitful partnership.

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