Sir Micheal Parkinson CBE
Michael Parkinson visited one the Trust’s partner projects on the East Rand outside Johannesburg, and said "Visiting the nursery school was probably one of the most emotional things I have ever done in my life. I was deeply affected by what I saw there." Parkinson had travelled to South Africa to interview Nelson Mandela as part of Sport Relief, a new fundraising initiative in 2002 from BBC Sport and Comic Relief.
He visited our project because Comic Relief has funded the Trust to support our work with people affected by HIV-AIDS. At the pre–school, Kwaze Kwasa, (meaning ‘the dawn has come’) Parky described what he found.
"There were 50 children, between the ages of two and six, and 30–plus had HIV. Most of them had already lost their parents because of Aids. I got very involved with the project and it made me feel angry. I discovered that they were having to rent the school building and could face losing it. So I decided I would buy the building for them. At least, it gives the project a better chance. There were all these volunteers giving up their time and scrabbling round for a few bob so I thought I could help. Once I had decided I was going to buy the building I called my wife Mary and said, ‘I’ve just bought a school.’
"It was emotional making the films from Africa and I couldn't just walk away at the end of the job without feeling I had done something to help. It's only a little project but hopefully I have been able to make some sort of difference."