THE Menston based charity The Bambisanani Partnership has been Highly Commended at the annual University of Leeds Sustainability Awards in the Global Impact category for promoting sustainable education and health.

For the past 15 years, the charity has worked in one of South Africa’s most deprived rural areas using sport as a catalyst to promote education, health, global citizenship and leadership. Despite the pandemic, the partnership has worked tirelessly with partners in South Africa to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 through its commitment to using sport and education to improve the lives of people in the UK and South Africa. Developed by St. Mary’s School, Menston and Mnyakanya High School in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, the partnership now includes many more schools and universities in both countries. The partnership was a founding member of the Swiss based charity Sport and Sustainability International. In recent years over 10,000 young people from the UK and South Africa have participated in Bambisanani programmes and projects.

The charity has gained international acclaim for its pioneering work and driven by Andy Lockwood and Suzzi Garnett, the University of Leeds involvement has taken this to new heights. Sport and Physical Activity have contributed to the ‘Cycle to Success’ programme, working with charity partners in South Africa to develop a rural bike hub for its cycling project. This is all done collaboratively with South African colleagues and is an example of true international partnership at work.

David Geldart, Founder of the Bambisanani Partnership, said: “The University of Leeds has played a significant role in developing the partnership over the past seven years with students and members of staff being involved in a range of landmark projects and collaborations that are changing lives in rural South Africa. It is indeed a tremendous honour to receive this prestigious award, based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, from a university which has an outstanding international reputation in this area. We were in the company of some genuinely world class projects that were also nominated in this category so his award is great recognition for all our team members in both countries who work tirelessly to advance the partnership.”

Zoe Gilbank from the University of Leeds said: “It’s been amazing reading through and seeing all the incredible individuals, groups and projects across the University that are working hard to ensure we are creating a sustainable future together.”

The University of Leeds Global Impact Award recognises innovative projects that have a significant global impact in addressing sustainability challenges.