After visiting the housing settlements of Pumwani, in Nairobi, Kenya, 20 year old drama student Siobhan Maycraft and her friend Becky Stone, put themselves forward for the prestigious Battlefront project ‚Ä’ a Channel 4 initiative in which young people campaign on issues they care about. Siobhan was one of only a handful of young people from across the UK chosen to put her vision into action.

Siobhan and Becky’s campaign, Make a BIG Change — with your small change, focuses on helping other young people to understand how precious their ‘loose change’ can be and how far it could go. “Just 15 pence a day is enough to send a child to school in a developing country and transform their entire life,” Siobhan says. “After our second visit to Kenya, we became particularly involved in the child sponsorship programme. It gives children the chance to go to school. We were touched by the incredible impact it is having upon young people’s lives and so we were inspired to help in any way possible. Now we’re working to increase the number of children benefiting from the programme.”

Siobhan and Becky have recently been in talks with Adrian Lovett, the Head of campaigns at Save the Children, in the first step towards building a working relationship with the charity. “Access to education means empowerment for these children,” Siobhan told us. “With empowerment comes hope of a brighter future — a future directed by them. Small changes to our everyday life can result in big changes in the lives of others!”

Start saving your pennies for a good cause
and contact Siobhan or Becky at
www​.battlefront​.co​.uk/​c​a​m​p​a​i​g​n​/​m​a​k​e​-​a​-​b​i​g​-​c​h​a​n​g​e​-​w​i​t​h​-​y​o​u​r​-​s​m​a​l​l​-​c​h​a​nge
and: www​.bebo​.com/​S​i​o​b​h​a​n​M​519

Siobhan [front] and Becky in Kenya
Photo: © Siobhan Maycroft