Five graduates from De Montfort University (DMU) Leicester are working to raise awareness of local and global issues, with a successful first fundraising event held last week.
Global Hands London (GHL) volunteers organised GHL UNITE with live entertainment, games and networking to help increase awareness and investment in communities and young people.
DMU graduate and London rapper, Elijah Benoit, performed at the event as well as Caleb Femi, and singers Keziah and Rebecca Ayisire.
In between performances there was a raffle and a competition to raise money, which will go on to fund Global Hands projects to support school children and the homeless.
Kehinde Adeeyo, one of the founding members of GHL, a BA Business Management and Enterprise graduate, said: “The event allowed people to network and get to know each other, to raise money for future projects.
“We want to go into UK schools and teach children entrepreneurial skills; we are dedicated to inspiring the next generation of future leaders.”
Kehinde continued: “With my degree at DMU, I did a lot of presenting. We were also encouraged to open up our own businesses and that’s something we want to pass on to other people.”
The evening was opened by DMU academic Momodou Salleh, with a presentation on Global Hands and its work throughout The Gambia and UK.
More than 100 people turned up to the event, and positive feedback from young professionals inspired and encouraged the volunteers for the launch of their projects.
By the end of the event the GHL team had raised £800 to help with their upcoming projects.
Kehinde, along with her fellow GHL team members, Beatrice Koroma, Muna Hussein, Zam Bamweyana and Elizabeth Olaniyi, graduated from DMU in 2014, setting up GHL following their #DMUglobal trip to The Gambia.
#DMUglobal is the university’s ambitious programme providing students with the opportunity for an international experience while they study.
Kehinde added: “We all went to The Gambia with #DMUglobal and that is what inspired us to get involved with setting up GHL.”
The team embarked on the life changing trip in 2014, witnessing first-hand the reality of poverty and deprivation faced by many of the locals.
As well as supporting the general work of Global Hands, the main mission of GHL is to inspire the minds of young people, give them the support they need and to educate them for a brighter future.
Posted on Monday 18 May 2015