A GRIMSBY businessman has made it his mission to make a difference to deprived children in the most remote areas of Africa, and already has £6,000 towards a £10,000 goal for a health centre.
Barrie Saxby, 66, opened a charity shop in the shopping centre in Garibaldi Street, Grimsby, in May, as reported, to raise money for The Young Shall Grow International organisation.
He said: "We are raising money to build a new health centre.
"The structure is now built but we need windows, doors and all the internal fixings.
"The government there has promised to provide all the medical equipment.
"The people have nothing. It's more than 20 miles to the nearest hospital over very rough terrain.
"It can be an hour's walk to a main road and if they can find transport, it's another 30 minutes to the hospital.
"It is worlds apart from the UK."
Barrie became involved with the charity seven years ago after he retired.
"After a fortnight I was bored and I needed something to do," he explained.
"I went out to Ghana with an American charity as a one-off visit. After that, I decided I wanted to help and went a second time.
"I now spend nine months of the year fundraising and three months abroad helping.
"The charity shop is very popular.
"Everyone is looking for bargains and we have everything and anything.
"Due to our popularity, we are quickly running out of items to sell, so we are in real need of donations."
If you can help, drop off donations to the shop. Visit www.tysgi.org to find out more about the charity.
