The Story So Far

In 2011, Bhubesi Pride Foundation’s founder, Richard Bennett, took a rugby ball – and a camera and camcorder – to Africa. A former teacher and passionate sports fan, Richard spent a year preparing for this reconnaissance mission, where he’d meet children, teachers, head teachers, rugby union representatives and government officials in 10 countries over 7 weeks.

The following year Richard led a small team of volunteers on a 6-month, 30,000km overland expedition from London to Cape Town, coaching 3,687 children in 22 schools, up-skilling 33 local teachers.

Since then, Bhubesi Pride Foundation has continued to coordinate annual expeditions, better and more impactful every year. The organisation – registered as a UK charity in 2013 – is now building on its success and deepening its focus by supporting the development of selected community projects with the help of dedicated volunteers, donors and commercial partners.

We’ve registered an NGO in Malawi, where we are scaling an existing community program which will be improved with the use of our newly built sports & education centre, in Mtema, rural Lilongwe. We are now registering our second African NGO in Tanzania, supporting ongoing programming.

We positively impact the lives of thousands of children and hundreds of adults every year, providing life-changing opportunities for the communities we engage.

We often talk about ‘the journey’. It’s a fitting reference for the multi-faceted coaching expeditions we’ve facilitated over the years and how, by learning from our experiences, we’re prepared for change in an ambitious effort to consistently take our work to the next level.

In the eight African countries in which we work, we aim to:

• Enable a sporting chance for children
• Empower local teachers and sports coaches
• Initiate sustainable legacy projects and community programs
• Professionally develop participating volunteers from Africa and all over the world
• Provide CSR solutions and meaningful opportunities for businesses, sponsors, educational institutions, strategic partners and donors who support BPF’s goals and share our values

** Due to pandemic-related restrictions on international travel, we’ve put a pause on volunteer engagement until further notice. **