Ashtons Legal supports project in Madagascar

Posted 15/09/2013

Responding to a call from Andrew Denny, President of the Bury St Edmunds Chamber of Commerce, Ashtons Legal made a donation to a project which saw Suffolk school pupils travel to Madagascar.The group of students from King Edward VI School in Bury St Edmunds spent a month working on a project in Madagascar this summer, in conjunction with World Challenge Madagascar.Whilst there, they worked in a primary school in Ambohimahamasina, a remote village in the central hills. The school serves several surrounding villages, with some children walking up to 14km to get to school each day. The school’s seven classrooms are used by 500 students.The group of young people repainted three classrooms, painted the exterior of the building, replaced a dirt floor with concrete, built a new brick toilet block and provided writing materials for the students and teachers. They also helped to build a wooden balcony and stairs so that the children could reach two first floor classrooms. Although these additional classrooms had been built using funds raised by local parents, they had run out of money before the work could be finished, which had left the classrooms inaccessible.The students raised funds to cover their own travel and living expenses, so that the sponsorship received from local companies could be used on the project itself. They were accompanied on their trip by an Ashtons Legal mascot, which can be seen pictured below.