Northampton warehouse worker set to give aid to families in need in Africa

James Brown, who has worked as a warehouse operative for logistics operator Europa Worldwide Group for more than 11 years has before travelled to the villages of Mwkamba and Tiwi in Mombasa, Kenya with his wife and parents-in-law.

On his last trip, James and his wife Michelle – who live in Grange Park - took clothes and workwear to give to the villagers.

He said: “We are not a charity, this is just something we have been doing for about 15 years after meeting some of the local people that live in a village near the hotel where we stay when we go on holiday in Kenya.

“We take over what we can and pay for the extra airline baggage ourselves. Most of the time its things like T-shirts, shorts, shoes, trainers, football shirts, pens, writing pads, and toothbrushes for men, women, boys and girls.”

"“In the last few years, we have also been able to build a house for a family and buy some goats and chickens for the villagers so that the eggs can be sold and the goats’ milk can be used for various things."

James’ work in Kenya is supported at home by Europa’s company-wide initiative, ‘Suits Away’, in which employees are encouraged to donate their unwanted formal work wear to charities, which provide interview clothes for unemployed people and people on low incomes.

“It is really rewarding to help these lovely people, as they are all so grateful and can't believe that people so far away are thinking of them. Donating clothes may feel like a small thing to us but it means so much to these villagers.”

James and Michelle are planning their next trip to Kenya for January 2018 and so far have collected more than 40 pairs of trainers for the visit.

HR Director at Europa Carl Potter added: “We’re very proud of James – he’s found a cause he truly cares about and believes in and is demonstrating real community spirit, which is something we value highly at Europa.”

Europa Worldwide Group employs 600 people across 11 sites in the UK plus Hong Kong and is represented in 100 countries.