Shropshire Star

Rotarians celebrate £10,000 milestone in helping entrepreneurs

A Rotary club has reached a landmark milestone in its support for a scheme which gives loans to help create third world entrepreneurs.

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At a recent meeting on Zoom, members of the Rotary club of Shrewsbury were delighted to hear that their support of Lendwithcare has now exceeded £10,000.

Rotarian Peter Waller said: "The beauty of Lendwithcare is that it is possible to make multiple loans from the same pot of cash.

"In the six years that the club has been involved, we have contributed almost £3,000 to the fund but that has generated loans of more than £10,000.”

Education is a route out of poverty.

And Peter has particularly focused on supporting women as he says they are the ones who want their children to go to school and improve their life chances.

A typical recipient is 40-year-old Ireen Mbozwa who is married to a pump operator at a local company in their community in Africa.

The couple have seven children that are enrolled in a good school and they are able to give their family a better life due to the business proceeds from Ireen’s salaula stall.

Ireen will use the loan to start selling plastic shoes at her stall – popular in the area because of their durability.

Well over 300 loans have been made in the years the club has been supporting the scheme.