It was a pleasure to meet Chris Connors of Coco’s last week. Chris runs three successful Hair Salons in the County – including in Southwater and Billingshurst. However the focus of the meeting was his remarkable charity, The Coco’s Foundation. What it delivers is truly inspiring.
It started with Chris, after visiting himself, organising for Coco’s Hair Dressing Training Academy apprentices, who volunteered, to go out to Africa to carry out practical projects around the three basic needs of food, water and shelter. The foundation’s projects have included building a reservoir, a village hall/church, chicken farms in Tanzania, houses, an orphanage and a trauma centre in Ubombo.
The charity has conducted projects in South and East Africa, in Zanzibar and is hoping to commence work in Mozambique. The scale of difficulties they are addressing and their roots are profound. One of the regions in which they work has no fewer than 9,000 orphans – this being an area in which the impact of AIDS was at its worse. Many of the orphans live in “child-headed” families – grouping together for protection but lacking many of the core skills their parents would have taught them. Many orphans themselves inherited the HIV virus. Aside from building housing and community facilities the Foundation’s skills for life project runs a workshop to support orphans dealing with the emotional issues arising from their bereavement and life as an orphan.
The Foundation has positively impacted so many young people in the region. It has also provided an extraordinary, life-building and affirming experience for many young people locally. Volunteers raise their own funds to help support the projects and come from a wide variety of sources –way beyond CoCo’s apprenticeships to include many going out for a few weeks whilst on a “gap year” before starting work or University. Their testimony about how it has changed their attitudes to the start in life they have been given is powerfully honest and direct.
The whole charity has been got up and running locally, with Chris’ business absorbing much of the administrative cost. It has a lot to be proud of, further information can be found at www.cocosfoundation.co.uk
Photo caption: Meeting Chris Connors at CoCo's in Southwater to discuss his CoCo's foundation and it's amazing work in Africa.