News Release

21st July 2011

Sunflowers Generate Business Capital

A new business in Africa will be financed thanks to sunflowers grown in Berkshire. Residents of Pegasus Court retirement complex in Tilehurst held a sunflower competition to grow the tallest sunflower and entrants collected sponsorship for every centimetre their sunflower grew. The competition is on target to collect £200 which is just the amount that Feed The Children (UK) needs to award a micro-finance loan to a business in one of the communities they support in Africa.

Although all the sunflowers were grown in the retirement complex, the winner of the competition with the tallest sunflower was 11-year old Thomas from Tilehurst. His sunflower is 175 cm high and his sister Katie (8.5) came second with a sunflower that grew to 147 cm.

Eight residents and the two children entered the competition organised by resident, Brenda Jenkins. Brenda is a member of Soroptimist International, Reading, Wokingham & Bracknell, who are supporting Feed The Children (UK) this year, and when her grandchildren heard that sunflowers were being grown they naturally wanted to join in too.

“The competition was enormous fun,” said Brenda. “Everyone was happy for my grandchildren to take part as well but little did we know that they would win. The competition became a great talking point for us all and really brought people together to talk about the sunflowers and how they were doing. The sunflowers kept having spurts, one minute I thought oh dear I am going to win, then George’s overtook mine, then Thomas’s grew and stopped, then it had another spurt. It was interesting to see that the sunflowers kept growing until they were ready to come into bloom and then they stopped growing.

“We are really pleased that we will raise enough money to finance a micro loan,” continues Brenda. “As part of my involvement with the Soroptimists I recently gave a talk to Winkfield Women’s Institute about Feed The Children’s micro finance loan campaign and I thought then that it would be really lovely if we could raise enough money to help an African business.”

Rather than just giving handouts, Feed The Children believes in supporting people who have the drive to improve their own lives. Micro loans are worth up to £200 each. They allow the establishment and expansion of businesses that provide a sustainable future for the borrower and their families, as well as supporting them through ongoing contact and advice, to make their businesses a success.