Free Your Mind – Lucy Gardener

Hello and welcome to this week's edition of Free Your Mind. Let's talk about Lady Kendall Jagger, LKJ known in the industry. A special shout out to womensradiostation.com, um, which supports mental health. I have a beautiful guest that's joining us today, um, on the radio, and I'm sure all the listeners can understand the importance of charity, what charity means. But when you have charity, um, and we all choose our specific ones, but my guest Lucy Gardner herself has started and founded the Charity Service for Raisin, which is a charity for special needs children in Kenya, where her mission is to open as many schools as possible, giving children with disabilities an education that they so rightly deserve. So Lucy is also, um, the founder and CEO of her own magazine called Tidy Times, and we'll be covering different aspects of Lucy's life, where she came from, education herself, and her lovely little boy Daniel, who I've had the pleasure of— and also as ambassador for this charity, I do reach out to every listener that even if it's a pound, you make a difference. What we spend a pound on, is it a cheeseburger in McDonald's, a quick coffee, whatever it is, it's a pound. That pound, if we all gave a pound, makes a difference, whether it's buying pencils, whatever. So I do ask for people to think, you know, we can do this. And Lucy's going to explain to us how we get the donations, how we can find it. Where the charities' donation pages and what you can do. Can you take part in any activities? Or perhaps have an afternoon tea at home and just ask some people to put in, because there are many charities out there. But a child's education is so important. A child's voice is so important. They're our future. We need to invest in our future. But when a child is disabled and has special needs, that gives an extra element of support that's required. In Kenya, there is no schools for disabled children with special needs. So these children are left at home. So how do they know how to communicate, whether it's sign language, if they're suffering with Down syndrome? There's many, many disabilities. Disabilities that affect these children. How would you think if that was you? If you was that child at home thinking, what is life? What is the world? What does it mean that it's hot today, it's raining today? When they hear the children laughing and skipping, counting 1 to 10, these are issues that these children may not have. So on that point, I'm going to bring Lucy in. Hello, Lucy, how are you? Hey, okay, Jay, thanks for having me on. It's a pleasure, you know, and thank you, um, by coming on the show and the donation of £150 that you've given to mental health, which everybody needs that, and these donations that you give, which shows even, um, though you have your own charity, you are a humanitarian. First and foremost. So I'm going to break it down into sections here. So we need to know who Lucy is. Let's find out who Lucy Gardner is. Lucy, where were you born? Was you born in England or Kenya? I was born in Kenya and had my schooling there and left to come pursue higher education in England, uh, some— oh, 27 years ago. So that's a long time. Uh, yeah, so I, I just thought I wanted to be, um, out in a, in a different country pursuing, um, higher education, and England appealed to me. So, um, yeah, out I came. And what age was you when you came? Oh, now that'll be telling my age now, won't it? That was, yeah, I think I just finished 18. I was, yeah, 18. So I've lived in England longer than I have in Kenya, even though I still call Kenya home, because I guess being, you know, born and brought up there for the first 18 years of my life, I still consider that as home. So yeah, so I've got two problems, isn't it? It's the roots, it's the foundation. Where you've grown and taken that. But the world and having education, you saw something else outside of Kenya. There's a whole world to explore. And as you said, coming to England and seeing that and obviously keeping the roots in, you know, and from your forefathers, et cetera. For us, I'm Welsh, so for myself, Wales, I always regard as home. People that live in England that are Scottish or Irish, that are living there, we always, you know, are patriotic to our homes. Now, Lucy, coming to England and your education, how was your education for you in Kenya? Um, well, bringing that Kenya's— well, it was a British colony. Um, we still had, uh, some elements of, you know, like the British stuff that was left, you know, like English. We've got two national languages. Um, we've got the Swahili, which unites, you know, the different tribes we've got there. But English is the language spoken in school, the official language, really. So yeah, so, you know, we, we, we, we speak English right from here, um, and in offices and, you know, everything, um, uh, out and about. So So it's interesting how we've got so many languages, but also, uh, you know, I think 46, 47 different tribes in Kenya. Um, but of course English, um, you know, unites us all, as well as Swahili. So we tend to speak at least 3 languages because you've got your mother tongue, uh, depending on the tribe you're from, and then you've got Swahili to be able to communicate with all the other people from different tribes. And then you've got English, yeah, for the official language. And can you tell me, so that the listeners can get— what was day-to-day life growing up? So for you going to school, because we're going to be touching on the disabled part of it, you know, in the next section of that, but I just want to know for yourself going to school school and growing up, you know, obviously the different tribes, 47 as you said, you know, which is around. But day to day going up, you know, is it like England? You would go up at 8 o'clock, get ready, go to school, go to school for, you know, half 8 till about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Monday to Friday. Did you have that whole time management, as I would say, of yourselves? And then was it very strict, or did you— because the weather is very hot, isn't it? Yeah, um, oh, funny you should say that. We work so hard in schools because we start as early as 7. And yes, even the young kids, um, nowadays. I mean, I went to boarding school, um, from, you know, primary school, um, all the way to high school. So in, in primary school, um, we, we used to have like morning preps. So we would have a probably 6 o'clock start, 6 till 7, have our morning reading sessions, and then have break— breakfast, um, probably 7 till 8. Then in, you know, and then we do our chores. Um, for those who are in boarding schools, do your chores until I think 8:45, 8:30 assembly, 8:45 we're starting, and we go right through to about 4 o'clock, really. Um, break, um, and then come back. You know, for those in boarding schools now, I'm talking about maybe 6 o'clock you go back after your, your dinner, tea time. Go back to evening classes, perhaps do your homework until 9 o'clock. So long days we have in, you know, long, long days. And because education, we believe, is the key, so that is drummed into us, you know, got to do better, you got to do better, you got to do better. And In fact, the children who are underprivileged tend to do a lot better than, say, city kids, because that's the only way out of, say, poverty and all that, having a good education. So, which then brings me up to the subject we're on today, affording education and gifting education to all, including the special needs children, because Everybody has potential and given the chance, um, can amount to something with some sort of education. And was that 5 days a week? Did you, or did you still go? Did you have the week off? Yeah, I mean weekends, again, a typical, um, primary school— no, Saturdays as well. We got tuition, so they tend to do tuition back in, back in school. So even the day scholars, for example, they would still go in Saturdays. So yeah, a studious nation, I would say. We're all into our books. It's read, read, study, study, study. And so we can see a very strong ethos here that is taken, you know, in your culture That education is the key to empower one's mind and to be the best version of yourself and to be able to go on. Because I know there's quite a lot of— because you have to be a doctor, solicitor, isn't it? There's some— is it 5 key roles, you know, the high end, isn't this the they push your family to strive for the education to go on. That's right. Yeah, and I know it's very strong because it's for the parents to be proud, you know, because as we've gone over the centuries and we've seen the change, you know, and, you know, the political sides that are in there, you know, and everyone has different views of different tribes and going back in history to come forward, that now we have progressed with equality and diversity and inclusion, which is so important. But during that time, Lucy, what I'm trying to get across to the listeners is who was Lucy, you know, when you were doing this schooling, very, very hard working, but in your village, or did you live in the city or the village? I know you were boarding, but you were Was your family from a village or did they live in the city? Oh no, I was born and brought up in the city, Nairobi. So, but I went to school outside, you know, like primary school I was in Nairobi, but in high school I went out to a different county, which kind of, you know, opened my eyes, as it were, to see how other people live. Because when you're obviously with your own, uh, city and, you know, in the capital city, you're in a bubble. So it's good to kind of have an idea how some other people live. I mean, it's a bit like if you brought up, you know, born and bred in London, it's good to kind of maybe venture across to Scotland and see how, how they, you know, live and their culture there, in— or Wales, or, you know, Northumberland, things like that. Yeah, so it was quite an eye-opener. So was there any point during your first 18 years of your life that you were drawn— I know, um, you're very, uh, church-going like myself, and we believe in the power and the lead by God, um, what he— where he leads us. In the direction of Our Voice and the gifts and the training that we do here to go obviously on to the better place. But during that time, would you pull towards where, you know, seeing people with disability, did you notice people struggling when he was at boarding school that there was no people there with special needs, that these people did not exist in that school? Education sector? Ah, yes, good question. Yeah, um, growing up, we, um, never really came up— you know, I never came across, um, anyone with a disability apart from one neighbor actually, and it was a family that took on a relative, and I don't know what he had, um, but he had a learning difficulty, so might have been autism, or— but we didn't know because there was not, um, such awareness then. I mean, it's still— there's still not much now, but growing up, to be honest, I can't say I ever came across anyone with a disability apart from that, especially learning disability, apart from that, uh, one, uh, person. All my life in Kenya. Uh, we've seen the, you know, people with, uh, no limbs or anything, but in terms of a learning disability, autism, Down syndrome, all these people tend to be hidden. Um, maybe not so much now, but still some of them are hidden away, um, in villages. And, you know, because people tend to put a stigma, uh, on, on, on such children. Thinking, oh, you know, what's wrong with them? You know, we, you know, and again, maybe husband saying, oh, well, we don't have such kind of people in my family. So they're trying to blame the woman, or you might have brought this on us. And some, as far as, you know, going into saying it's a curse, but of course we don't know that because, and every child is a blessing. I tend to believe everyone is here for a reason. Um, so yeah, I never knew anybody apart from that young man all my, you know, all my growing up schooling. Yes, just it wasn't a common occurrence, um, up until I sort of met now my families that I met, um last week during my visit, about 70 families. And I, you know, I saw, of course, there's, there's been quite a shift. There's been, um, awareness to people trying to bring awareness to these issues. But then again, I was still in the city, so, uh, I'm driven to bring out those in the, in the counties, in the villages, because nobody seems to know what's going on there. And I'm sure in every corner of every county we have got people with disabilities, children with disabilities, and we're just trying to see how they can all be helped. Yes, I'm going to go back and touch on the subject of the curse, because when people hide away, it's like the shame. They felt shame a bit. Mental health, you know, we're trying to, you know, get people to have more mental health awareness and with disability inclusion and equality. But in the culture of Kenya, it's like, "It occurs, something's wrong, it's not our family, it's crossing over." And so these children were hidden away not to be seen. And for yourself, you know, when you noticed that, obviously that was the drive that came into. And so you've witnessed this, you have the neighbor in the city, but not on the full scale of what things in villages and that are there. And just fortunate that if, you know, you boarding school go, work, work, work in studying of the mind, empowering the mind, keep feeding the mind of everything that's on there. So when you come into England And I mean, you are somebody that has a very, very inspirational and empowering mind, but you're always looking to continually feed that. I mean, you've been a vocational trainer, you've studied at Bournemouth University. I mean, you've got skills in time management, your training, your sales. You know, many people endorsed you for that, your management side. Team building, also, you know, for leadership, marketing. You're a great public speaker, and I've actually seen and been part of the stage that you've graced, and with your beauty and your natural voice to empower and inspire is second to none. Um, you know, obviously with business development, etc. So when we look at that, we see you know, somebody that's constantly— has worked hard. Your roots, your foundation of your families, to put that in. But, um, I'm going to move forward. We all, uh, you know, you've got a family now. I'm— you're a special needs mum, you're an entrepreneur, you're a charity founder, um, you really are a go-getter. But you are so determined to inspire and empower others with special needs, parents, children, and other less fortunate people around you. Being in humanitarian and the person you are, you truly are a gift from God. In, you know, your angel wings, they are on there, invisible to our eye, but they are placed there because those invisible angel wings that you have on there send your mind constantly every day to bring out the best version and help. And your gift is, uh, to help. Can you tell me what was the point where you thought, I want to help people with special needs? Is there any reason? Do you have a child that has special needs? Um, yeah, good question. I mean, Yeah, obviously Daniel was born with Down's 11 years ago. We didn't know because obviously all the scans didn't show anything, and then on the day he was born we found out. But, you know, I always think, you know, God doesn't make a mistake, so I didn't ask why me, why me. I just thought, you know, get on with life. Up until obviously when we had the lockdown Um, it was just life as usual, trying to do the, you know, the best as, as, you know, as a mom to Daniel and, uh, make sure he's, you know, get best, um, schooling and life as possible. But come lockdown, obviously it was time for everybody to sit back, have a reset, rethink. Um, and I came across these, um, uh, talk shows in Kenya, uh, you know, just trying to, um, connect with, with, with my background. And, and there was a few ladies that were brought on with children with disabilities, um, one being, you know, a good friend now that, you know, um, we talk all the time. And one of the headlines is she, she actually wanted her kids dead. And I thought, oh, that's a, you know What was this all about? Let me have a listen. And it turns out that she had, you know, kids with autism. But in her case, gosh, she had triplets and all with autism. So quite challenging. And I salute her because that is a job in itself. I only have one child with, with the, with the, you know, learning disability. Then to have three 3 of them. Oh gosh, you know, it takes a special person to be able to, to wear those shoes. So I listened to that and another story and another story, and I thought that resonated with my spirit. And I thought, hmm, after lockdown, you know, we've all been given a second chance here. Um, so many passed away even before their time with the, with the, you know, during the pandemic. And I thought What do I do with my second chance? And I thought, well, you know, it seems like there are people here who are crying out for help, and I felt I could be a voice to the voiceless. Daniel is doing well, you know, in the UK, and I thought, I can either turn a blind eye here, or as a human being, I can do something. So I felt this was tugging at my, you know, tugging at my heartstrings. And being a special needs mom too, I thought, why not help, um, someone else? I mean, even if it's not, you know, that I've got the money, but I thought, uh, resources and, and the networks I have here, we could do something. Every little bit helps. Uh, so out I went in, uh, December I'd contacted a few of those families October, November time, said I was coming to Kenya. And December 2021, I met a few of them just to check out what's happening on the ground, met with some of the families, got to hear about them. And that made me, um, that, that gave me a concrete plan as to, um, start the charity. So came back in January and spoke with a few people and charity was launched in March, and you being a fabulous ambassador that you are for Service for a Reason, um, we decided, right, we can, we can do better as human beings. We can be a voice to the voiceless. And here we are running with the— running with this show because, um, you've got to do something, um, and not wait. For someone else to do it. If you feel there's something that you ought to do as a human being, helping someone, you know, helping your neighbor, helping someone else, do it. Don't wait for tomorrow because obviously nobody's, um, guaranteed tomorrow. So I decided to, you know, put my business on— well, not on hold as it were, but give it to, to, um, staff to run and, and dedicate my my time now to, to this course because it is like a second career now. So, and it's, it's exciting, it's energizing, it's given me, um, something to work towards, uh, and, and just re-energized me. So, um, looking forward to the journey, um, and June time, well, July time, we, we decided to have the Kenya launch for Service for a Reason, which we did on 23rd of July, which was 2 Saturdays ago. And that was fantastic, fantastic. But prior to that, uh, this— the Thursday before, 2 weeks ago, I met up with the families. As I said, 70 of them came. Um, I didn't expect that many numbers, but that just goes to show there's a great need out there. And, um, and, and just, um, gave us a reason to, to, to carry on with it, you know, to, to tell us that we are in on the right path as a charity, because there are a lot of people that need the help and they're crying out for help. Yes. And obviously, for anybody that would, you know, uh, like to connect with Lucy, she is on LinkedIn, and Lucy, what of her— and it's under Lucy Gardner. What other platforms are you on? So for the listeners now that, you know, we're halfway through the show and can have a little look while we are talking to where they can see the photographs, you know, they can see, you know, the work, you know, with all these people, the come together with their children, and so emotional, so much empathy in those photographs. You know, when I was just saying when I opened the show that, you know, what is a pang to us and collectively makes such a difference, and I strive as your ambassador, and it was such an honour and a privilege to be asked, and I hold it very close to my heart In that, can you just tell the listeners how you can be contacted? Okay, we are on different platforms. Um, we've got our website, uh, first and foremost. Uh, you can just put, uh, that on your Chromebar, www.serviceforareason.org. Um, and also you can find us on Facebook Service for a Reason, Instagram Service for a Reason. And, um, you know, once you get onto the website, you've got our donation page, you've got our email, and there are different ways, um, that you can connect with us, you know, you can help us in terms of donations, and, and you can also get to see, um, what our services are. On the website, such as helping, you know, giving family support, you know, just helping these families, pointing them in the right direction in terms of practical solutions, or, you know, showing them where the services— where they can get different services. For example, for Down syndrome, we can connect them with the local Down syndrome group in Kenya called T21, or an autism group. We've got equipment provision, which is a major one as well as another part of our service. Children with no wheelchairs, with the cerebral palsy children, this is something that we really, really, really are short of. They need wheelchairs to be able to get out and about, out to schools. Um, so anyone who can help in that sort of way, tricycles, looking for a lot of those to ship out there. Treatment supports, you know, helping those families access things like speech therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy— very, very expensive to them. I mean, I was talking to, to, to the parents and they were saying, um, for a speech therapy half-hour session, 5,000 shillings. I mean, that's a lot of money. For someone who's probably just earning 10,000 shillings a month, which is £100. So 50 of that in half an hour. Yeah, because peanuts. Um, and, and these are parents who, uh, haven't got anyone to look after their kids, so therefore it's catch-22. They've got us with a disabled child, um, and do manual, you know, just menial jobs, and I can't really get £100 together, never mind £50 for half hour speech therapy session. Why is it so expensive? It is the ratio. Yeah, and this is where we come in, because it is, it's just neglecting these people, because you can't expect someone to cough up that kind of money, um, especially if they've got other kids to support too. Right? So it's mainly for the people who are well-to-do. So the majority of them, the 99.9%, are left to their own devices, therefore no schools, therefore sitting at home being locked up in houses or being chained to a tree, for example. Sorry, can you just repeat that? Chained to a tree? Yes, some of them. This is what I was saying about those out in those villages, you know, those are the ones in dire straits. Because we— I mean, in the cities they're okay, but in the actual back of beyond— chains somebody to a tree. But you see, this is where the awareness thing comes in, the, the caste income, it comes in, um, and, and a lot of, uh awareness to be done. So, uh, a lot of work to be done. A lot has been done, uh, with some organizations, but a lot more work needed. So we are going to be going around the country. So I've, I've just put out feelers, people in different parts of the country. I just said, yeah, if you know anybody that needs help, neighbor, friend, relative, just connectors. We've got, um, a young lady, Caroline, who's, uh, was very instrumental in, in sorting out the Kenya trip that end and, and getting the governors and the women. Um, she's got her 10-year-old son with cerebral palsy, and she's a widow. Uh, you know, in December her husband passed, so she's a mother of three with a, a child with cerebral palsy. Typical of, you know, situations women find themselves in. Uh, but, uh, being that she's our person on the ground there, she's able to connect now with people from all over the country. So yeah, they are shocking. We've got people out there chained to a tree or just left in a corner somewhere because maybe the parents have got to go on and find their daily bread, so they'll just leave them in the house leave them to their own devices unattended, um, and who knows what harm might come their way. So we need a lot of help, a lot, um, these kids, get them out to schools, get them to these facilities, um, and again, community building projects, uh, school building projects. So here is where we really, really need those donations to come in. And if you go on to our website, like I said, www.serviceforreason.org, you can find our donations page there. You can donate whatever little you want, so however much you want. Every little helps. And along with our, our events, you can see you know, our events photos and what we, you know, we had our Glam and Glow Spring Ball, uh, in March. Um, and you know, if you ever fancy to join us in any of our events, they're all on our website. Our Glam and Glow Spring Ball, um, our African Ball we've just had in July, and then our Winter Ball coming up on November 26th. So all that can be found on our website and again on Facebook, Service for a Reason, Instagram, Service for a Reason, and many more to come. Like, um, YouTube will be coming, Service for a Reason, TikTok will be coming. So anywhere and everywhere we can, we can connect with people, uh, you will find us. So, and platforms like these radio shows Yes, but, um, every little helps. If I can just borrow that phrase from Tesco, every little helps. We, you know, a penny, a pound, £5, forgo your coffee for the week, for the day, that will go towards gifting education to these children. Yes, completely. Um, it's like when, you know, we look at We look at our Motivational Mondays, our Gratification Tuesdays, our Wisdom Wednesdays, to our Thankful Thursdays, to our fabulous exciting Fridays because the weekend's here, to having sincerity in our minds on a Saturday. To actually succumbing to the whole week and learning from what we've done. What do we do at the weekends? And as we're saying, every little helps. We have a regatta that I'm attending this weekend, and it's at the beach where I live. And, you know, I look at different ways how to fund and as the ambassador to help. So for instance, what I'm doing on Saturday, I'm having people around, you know, the food will be laid on, the drink will be laid on. If they was to go and buy a burger or drink or anything like that, I said, they want to come and enjoy this food. It's to support service for a reason. So these people will pay a £10 entrance. Yeah. And if they don't, they don't come and have the wonderful paella or the free beer or anything because the people that you surround £10 that's going to go in, even if I only had 10 people turn up, you know, because obviously, well, Birkin is big, but at the same time it's stuff. But like I said, that £100 gives an hour's speech therapy to children by the donation to it. Having some friends around, if you're doing a lunch and you're doing it at home just ask them. £2 entrance fee, put that in and do a donation. This is from the Mayflower Girls, you know, for their luncheon. I gave up my coffee this week, this is for me. All those bits, it doesn't have to be— when people think of charity, doing it just that small bit. And I know there's many charities out there, we know that, but when you're hearing that, you know, in a world that we live in now, that we need to bring awareness, we need to bring change. And, you know, so this work goes on and all the photographs, all the work can be seen and going. I mean, you had a lovely ball that took place and, you know, a lovely evening. And, you know, I just speak to young people to encourage and You know, people were very, very honourable there because when I did a speech, I said, you know, people are going to go to the bar here and, you know, people are having a pint and, you know, ladies are having a bottle of wine or, you know, someone would have a large vodka or something like that. I said, take £20 out and put that £20 in and help build this school. Everybody in that room did that because they understand What is your legacy? What is the legacy that you are going to leave behind of who you were? Your grandchildren, what if you had a child in the business? Because you don't understand it doesn't mean you can't grasp it. You know, you can help in all ways. I mean, when we look at all the big charities, you know, there's a lot of people in there, you know, continuing working. And I'm ambassador to, you know, several different charities, and with passion of going around to bring the awareness. And with COVID hitting, a lot of them, the donations stop, so everyone's having to work a little bit harder. I understand, Lucy, as you do, we're in a turmoil at the moment with energy prices, fuel prices, everything going up, extra pressure. But what we're saying is, by doing that, we're not going out as much. So when you're doing that tea party, you normally would save and just think, even if you had 5 people say, "Do you know what, let's all put a pound in and make a difference," that you put that on as a "Today I made a difference." I changed somebody's life because that pound or that £2 or that £5 you put in has collectively gone in to collaborate and network to bring together, whether it's the transportation, the shipping costs, there's so much that is involved to get this there. Now, after the ball, I mean, you were saying you went out to Kenya. Obviously, and I am going to say it onto the radio, that unfortunately with the charity you have to be careful, you know, what happens. And the charity actually, a gentleman called Jack Shea was going to perform at the ball and obviously never turned up, but took, you know, £1,200, you know, to come first. And I think it's about £1,500 that is owed to the charity, which is invented now that it's gone to, um, a court to get the money back, because that money is the children's money. So when you have worked so hard and somebody comes along and takes it, is wrong. He has owned up to it, and we will say that onto the radio. Sorry, this is an unjudgmental thing, but when somebody does this to children, it has to be called out. You have, um, you know, this has to be done. Still waiting for that even today, you know, with the court summons, and he's been summoned to the court, he's to come in, and I will shout that out, you know, uh, because as a charity, you can't take knocks like this. And when somebody does that, we all have a conscience, and when that's going— so that the charity has even got to work harder to replace that because that was the money that was going to open the school. Yes, you have to put entertainment on. Yes, this money has to go out to bring this ball on to generate more income to come in for the charity. And it's a spiral, and lessons are learned from that. But one in that, you know, obviously that can't be done, and obviously that will be dealt with, as you know. Um, so like with the balls, any, any needs, um— a wound, you know, that it's the children who do it. And I know it's being taken very seriously, certainly Ambassador New is the founder. I just need people to know that when that comes in and people do that, you know, what sort of person does that? And no, and, you know, it has to be said, it's something that's happened. So your fight was a lot harder when you was going to Kenya. You were hoping to take this extra money, but from the donations that came out, because, you know, he'd taken, you know, and didn't turn up, so obviously other people had to be paid and brought in. But the charity will survive because the charity is full of God and strength and, you know, wise words and moving on from that. But, you know, he has said he's going to pay it back. We've just got to wait for that rainbow pot to appear. And, you know, luck yourself with that. But moving forward is, you know, with donations and why they are so important. So yes, we were hoping in a school. How much does it cost to open a school that you do there? Well, the school obviously is going to, you know, take a bit of money because we've got to find the land and then we've got to, you know, bricks and mortar and all that. And so that's going to take time and money. But I would imagine with roughly, because depending on Um, the size of the school, I mean, obviously, for example, say we have like 3 acres because we need the, the grounds, we've got the maybe the staff quarters and things like that, and depending on the area, so maybe $30,000 for that. And then the building costs, for example, I mean, I, I haven't got costings and all that, but out of the top of my head, maybe $70K, for example, if, you know we, we get everything sort of together. But it's not to say that it's— that's a big amount of money that, oh, we can't afford that. But if you put a pound, a fiver, £10, all helps. Every little helps. And, and before you know it, you, you'll, you'll have exceeded your goal even. But in the beginning, we can always start with the, say, for example, the day centre offering the speech therapy, get that up and running very, very quickly, just so people are not missing out on the speech therapy, on occupational therapy, on physiotherapy, all those kind of things. So that wouldn't take so much to get started. Maybe if we give ourselves even a target of 5 to 10K, that is a, um, that's something that's quite feasible to begin with whilst we look at the bigger, bigger project. Um, so yeah, um, all I can just say, um, is everybody's excited that we met the families. Um, they, you know, they, they, at long last, uh, they can get help. I mean, we've got parents who've been going round and round and round the country looking for a to admit their child, and for years they haven't had any luck. Years, I'm talking children are now 9, 10, 11, never set foot in a classroom, which is a shame, which is a shame. So as a human being, you know, I'm just, you know, pleading with people out there, forgo your coffee for a day, for a week, Um, forgo that black little dress for the women, handbags, treat, um, and just do something for, for your fellow human being. Um, it's not that, you know, I, I, we, we can, um, do this by ourselves. I mean, we're just— you're just an ambassador here trying to do your bit, spreading the word. I'm just the founder, but But together, me, you, everybody else, we can impact these lives. And we— who knows what potential they've got? Um, if we don't give them a chance, they'll amount to nothing, sat in corners chained to trees and all that. But if we, um, we give them that chance of an education, the gift of an education, um, they'll be able to contribute positively to society. And I'm a great believer of everybody's got a, you know, potential in them, um, until it's pushed out of them, we can't really tell how far or high, how high they can go, jump. Um, so I'm excited about the journey. I mean, having seen those little kids I met from 1 year, 2 years, 8 years, 10 years, And the parents, they've got that hope, as it were, of better things to come for their kids. And who doesn't want better things for their child? Yeah, so yeah, every little helps. Ines, when you come back from there yourself and meeting all these people and coming with that voice and who you are, and that hope and, you know, that guidance to go on there. Obviously in the UK, is there no— as a founder of your approach, is there any organizations that can gift anything to help with the charity? Well, now our work has begun because like we only launched in March, so our work has now well and truly begun.— in lobbying anyone and everyone, in lobbying our friends, as we were saying, our neighbors, our— my clients too. I preach the word out there. They're supporting me. Big companies, small companies, everybody can do something. Everybody can do something. So— Collection boxes, you know, like Macmillan and the hospice have, because it might be quite nice to get this group up and let's go around Hyde Park, you know, in August, you know, for the train people coming and collect and see, you know, if anybody wants to do that, you know. Yeah, yeah. I mean, and these are the, you know, ways of getting involved. We've got in our, you know, we've got that listed on our website, you know, from getting together with friends and family, I mean, substituting your birthday money to you know, get from getting presents to having service for a reason at your, your, your course. Um, things like maybe doing a golf, um, a tournament for those, you know, people that like golfing, or people like— what my husband does, cycling. Maybe, you know, roping him in with a couple of friends doing a Land's End to John o'Groats cycle tour, for example. Whatever takes your fancy, you know, email us, call us, discuss what you have in mind. We, we are open to— we just need to get these schools built, uh, whichever way we, you know, you want to do it. Hey, we're here to listen. So, uh, if you fancy just going out with your friends out on us, you know, a coffee morning or a cake morning, and any donation raised or selling your cakes or whatever, or you fancy doing your cycling or whatever. Or indeed, companies can do a team building day in aid of Service for a Reason. Why not? So, and also we are on the lookout for the, you know, people coming out with us when we go, hopefully next year, on a mission strip. You know, professionals, dentists, doctors, psychologists, people, therapists, anybody that can afford a week out there, or the company can sponsor them. Hey, come out and join us. So, and we're hoping the committee will go, LKJ, you being the ambassador, lead the— fly the flag for the— yeah, it's gonna begin back. Yeah, I'm sorry. Yeah, I was just saying where it started in March of this year and with all our schedules and different things that are happening, and sometimes life throws us a spanner in the works, but we don't give up, we still continue, and I look at different ways, you know, but yes, I will be there next year, and obviously, you know, from January, really start pushing and lobbying and to come in. Yeah, and having our, you know, all these Um, you know, like you said, um, like an evening with the, you know, Lady Kendall-Jagger, things like that, you know, just lobbying and talking to our family, our friends, our networks, our, you know, our business networks, our neighbors, anybody and everybody, uh, because it's for children, um, and we can't go wrong helping little ones out there in the world. So, um, I'm sure You know, the good Lord will, will open the doors for us. Uh, you know, it's not that we can do this, uh, but we just have given our time, we have volunteered, and he paves the way for us. Because not one person could— can be able to do this. Uh, it takes a community, it takes a village, it takes a whole network of people. So And you know, we're connected, you know, with through work and other things like the leadership, LET, so roping anyone and everyone. Yes, I think, you know, as I say, you are an ambassador for the Sean Fair Leadership Tour. So when I go to America, also I'm seeing Sean Fairway doing Paris stuff like that, is that I want to— I'll be taking my banner like I do with that service for a reason. I put it on there with Somi. I've just got to— here, there, everywhere, everybody that knows me, whether on the radio or not, we're busy doing something with the ball for leprosy, writing, travel writing, doing the news. Et cetera, being that, so having that audience and having an evening of Lady Kenny Jagwitch and having the leprosy, and then obviously I've got your ball on it. But obviously for Sean Clare is something, you know, that I'm working on with Sean that, you know, for people that are coming out there, you know, let's have a nice meal and just, you know, if people can donate, and it's not to put pressure on anybody, As you know, like yourself, it's about if people can share, connect with you and for service for reason and share it and share it and share it. And then, you know, to bring more. If you want to do the missionary trip next year, I will be putting together, obviously, when we meet shortly, we can connect You know, October, looking ahead, so we get the plans in for people that want to make a difference. If you are a doctor, a dentist, a psychiatrist, I have sign language, you can work with that, working with people, let's do this missionary trip where you can help people, where you can make a difference, because we're only here once. And we need to help. As I was saying, children are our future, but those disabilities and the equality and inclusion is so important. You know, if you are a company, you know, you've got your Christmas ball and everything coming up, and you might put the drinks packages up. Why not put your name and your covenant that you believe in the future. You believe that everybody has a voice, everybody has that right, and with it, and even helping through your encouragement, connection, collaborating, and networking to show this charity. Do you honestly think when you put your head to that pillow tonight, when you, you know, you've come in, you've been out, whatever you've been doing, or your plans, whatever, and you put your head on it. Can you imagine being chained to a tree? How would you think? Because you're not blind, you know, people who have their eyes and they're chained to a tree, the mental health stigma that is applied, and that child is chained to a tree while all the others go out and do everything. Imagine being in the mind of that child. So I want all the listeners just for one moment to stop what you're doing and think. And imagine that picture. We've seen it with animals and cruelty to animals. These are human beings. They are a gift of life. They are not a curse. They are not a disease. Unfortunately, things happen, but we don't stone, we don't hurt. We empower, we inspire. So when you put your head on that pillow tonight, my question as the ambassador to this charity is, when you go off in your own dream, would you like to be chained to a tree? Would you like to change so that this stops and become a missionary and help? Would you like to have a tea party, even if it was £5, and donate to this and to see a difference. Yes, there are lots of other charities, but when people die with cancer— I support many charities, Macmillan, my mother died of cancer, I do a lot of that, the Pilgrim Hospice— but this is a charity that needs the help. This charity needs all these listeners' help because this is a mental health radio. Station. This is mental health. This person, Lucy Gardner, is on a mission, not for herself to receive some halo above her head. She's on a mission to help through her voice, the power in her hand, to offer support. As Mother Teresa said, that smile gonna be so last, it make a difference. And to imagine walking up to that child chained to that tree and cutting that chain, freeing that child, enabling him to go with educated people in here to ask them, can you give this time up to educate and take that person that is chained to the tree From zero to hero. By zero to hero thinking, it is not some beaten, cursed disease that's in there. It is not. A human being has a right, has a right to life, has a right to education and the gift of education. So please, my appeal to people on this who's listening to this show, please make a donation, whether it's 50p, a pound. Be the person that by doing that donation, you are going to be the biggest cutters to be able to free this and educate them over there. So for me, Lucy, we are coming to the end of the show now, where we wind down, and I have to thank Thank you for this wonderful hour that I hope has touched people that have empathy, the people that want to have change and to work. And let's get this school open. Yes, it's been hit again for what happened, but we won't fail. Cherish won't fail, or certain people don't. So please, I ask you again to donate. And for me, LKJ and Lucy Gardner, Through Your Mind, Let's Talk About LKJ, thank you very much and goodbye.