BROADWAY PLAZA GYM WORKER VOLUNTEERS IN SOUTH AFRICA

A worker from a Birmingham gym helped build a nursery school for children living in a disadvantaged community in South Africa after winning the chance to work on one of Sir Richard Branson’s charity projects.

Daniel Barnfield, who works at Virgin Active at the city centre’s Broadway Plaza leisure complex, was one of ten Virgin workers from around the world chosen to go on the Staff Wake Up trip to help people living in a village near to Ulusaba, Sir Richard’s game reserve in the rural Mpumalanga province.

The new nursery, which has been built from eco-friendly resources including sandbags and corregated iron, will boost the youngsters’ safety as well as their development. Previously the youngsters had to travel across an operating train track to get to nursery in the next village which resulted in a number of accidents.

Daniel, aged 21, said today that the week-long trip was one of the best experiences he’d ever had.

“Building the nursery was really hard work but it was so satisfying to help people there. Their poor living conditions have certainly put my own gripes into perspective.  

“During our trip we also went to see workers in a factory who got paid next to nothing, and when we played football with the locals they didn’t have any shoes to wear and there was glass on the pitch.

“The trip has left such an impression on us that we have now started fundraising for the village. We hope to return their soon.”

Daniel and the rest of the volunteering group were chosen from 12000 Virgin workers to go on the Staff Wake Up Trip after answering a competition explaining what he would get out of the experience.

The competition is held every year and is organised by Virgin Unite, the not-for-profit entrepreneurial foundation of the Virgin Group

For more information on Broadway Plaza please visit www.broadway-plaza.co.uk

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27/05/2009