Love Sierra Leone is a UK registered charity #1157847.
The Trustees of LSL have individually supported children in Sierra Leone since the end of the civil war in 2002. We were very influenced by Pastor Yatta’s story of supporting 16 orphans in a 2 bedroom house. A situation alien to our lives in the UK. We have all visited Sierra Leone to see at first hand the good work being undertaken there.
We primarily work with the Christian Community Church Mission in Sierra Leone to provide support for education, health, and general well-being to children and adults in Sierra Leone.
Christian Community Church Mission
C3MSL is a non profit, non Government, Christian organisation which works with people of all faiths. We are a united body of churches, ministries and minister with common values, goals and aspirations. We have six churches in Sierra Leone – one in Freetown and five in Kono.
C3MSL was officially inaugurated on 6 September 1998, a result of the vision of Rev. Yatta Samura. After becoming a Christian from a Muslim background in 1977, and receiving ministry training, he pastored the Christian in Action Central Church for 12 years. He then felt a strong call to launch a church mission ministry with its emphasis on church planting, and leadership and community development. The Ministry now has four churches, about 15 trained leaders and two community development projects in embryonic stage. The Mission is registered with the government and is awaiting membership of the Evangelical Fellowship of Sierra Leone.
C3 MSL is governed by a constitution, according to which the Senior Council is the executive body which manages the Mission on behalf of the membership. The National Secretariat headed by the National Council Director (NCD) conducts the day-to-day business of the Mission.
RightToRead
In 2015 we started RightToRead, a project that uses technology and multi-sensory learning techniques to improve English skills for school children. RightToRead runs in parallel to our work with C3MSL.
AHKOM
In 2020 we merged Ahkom charity (a charity supporting Ahkom School & Technical / Vocational Center) into LSL. The two charities were already operating very closely so it made sense to join into a single entity.
Trustees
Richard Bayfield: (Chair) I trained as a Civil Engineer and have spent almost 40 years working on some major UK projects including the Thames Barrier and the M25. I now act as a Construction Consultant. For some time I have been challenged by the apparently widening differentials between rich and poor across the globe. I see education as key to personal and national improvement.
Ian Gill (Secretary): I have spent over 30 years teaching in UK, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. Having started as a primary teacher, I now teach chemistry to 16-19 year olds, and love it. I have spent several weeks teaching in Sierra Leone, with classes of up to 90, no electricity, water or books – quite a contrast to Oxford. There are some incredible young brains out there, and they need our support.
David Bendor-Samuel: I am an Anglican minister and have worked for many years in third sector organisational leadership. I spent much of my childhood in West Africa and have always had a deep love and respect for African people. My relationship with Sierra Leone started 15 years ago and I helped set up Love Sierra Leone to enable partnership with the local Church in changing the lives of many who are among the world’s poorest people.
Norm Robins (Treasurer): When I retired from the software industry I got involved in supporting schools and churches in Sierra Leone through our church. I am particularly interested in the use of technology to advance children’s education in areas where facilities, infrastructure and cost are significant barriers.
Finance
We typically run at around £20-30K per year. We have some great supporters (thank you!) and the trustees themselves are significant donors.
All our Annual Reports and Accounts are on the Charity Commission website.
Love Sierra Leone 