Charitable Mum of the Year 2009, Sheryl Greentree

Sheryl Greentree, 42, from Stoke, has been named Tesco magazine's 'Charitable Mum of the Year 2009'

During a chance conversation six years ago, Sheryl heard about the plight of a village in The Gambia. This mum of two responded by asking how she could help save the lives of families in dire need.

So Sheryl went to Africa and used her own money to buy a drilling machine to create boreholes to supply essential water to villages. In 2005 she set up the charity Water for Africa which has provided lifesaving facilities to over 80 communities, improving over 325,000 lives.

Since it was established, Sheryl Greentree's charity, Water for Africa has raised thousands of pounds for those in need.

Team work

The charity has recruited and trained a team of 20 local specialists, which is managed from the UK, that understands the protocol in Africa as well as the challenges local communities face – such as having access to water and medical supplies. The teams forge relationships with villagers to give ongoing long-term support.

Water for Africa has just finished building a new antenatal clinic in Tallinding Kunjang in The Gambia. The clinic is the only one of its kind in the area, and it serves a population of 10,000 with the aim of providing new mums with all-important postnatal care.

Saving lives

'As a mum it was heartbreaking meeting children whose mothers had died during childbirth from problems, such as anaemia, that could easily have been prevented,' says Sheryl. 'Seeing the struggle women in these villages were going through, losing so many children in stillbirth, I couldn't ignore it. We wanted to set up the antenatal clinic as you can't put a price on giving people a sense of community as well as the infrastructure they need to help themselves.

'My kids, Jemima and Henry, have also been over to Africa and seen the disparity between their lives and the lives of the children there. We work as a team. And through the charity they've learnt that you don't need material things in life to be happy.'

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Sheryl Greentree – Tesco magazine's Charitable Mum of the Year 2009

Sheryl Greentree – Tesco magazine's Charitable Mum of the Year 2009

You can't put a price on giving people a sense of community as well as the infrastructure they need to help themselves

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