A RUTHIN resident has raised more than £1,000 in donations to help a Kenyan children's institute - all by tidying up his own town.

Upon turning 44 years old in March, Jozsef Vass wanted to start up an unusual fundraising campaign and decided to do so on behalf of Lucy's children's institute.

Run by Lucy Achieng Agenga, who Jozsef met in June of last year, the Kenyan charity provides working opportunities and food for their beneficiaries who are mostly widowed mothers, orphans and others in need.

In order to raise money for the institute, Jozsef set off on a journey of litter-picking, pavement cleaning and more in order to hit his fundraising target.

He spent hours tidying up the 60 zone on the A525 between Ruthin and Llanfair DC and has so far raised £1,130 (correct at time of writing) which will go towards buying life-changing garden elements for Lucy's.

Jozsef said: "The institute lacks the basic requirements and a new toilet site was essential to them. Weeks went by and suddenly it was Spring. The vegetation got too dense and I couldn’t get on with the litter picking.

"I also got too busy as the lockdown restrictions eased and the project seemed to be stuck. But I couldn’t give it up, I couldn’t let them down and I decided to go back to my original plan.

"I knew that it was going to be hard and I was planning something challenging that was also good for my town, Ruthin, where I promoted this campaign. Fast forward a few weeks and I was litter picking along a busy road in a rough terrain which had become an eyesore for more and more of us.

"The bushy ditches along Lon Parcwr were covered with years of waste that was abandoned or just dropped accidentally. I collected the rubbish for nearly a month. It took around 3 hours to clean a 30-40m part, collecting three to six bags of litter, and the whole length was around 300m.

"I sent updates of the project through local Facebook groups so people could see the difference without having to walk there. Friends and other locals started donating making it possible to start this project in Kenya at the same time."

Having been joined by Llandyrnog resident Neil Connor who brought a shovel along with him, Jozsef then hit his fundraising target of £1,000 quickly.

Denbighshire Free Press:

PIC: Compost toilets at Lucy's children's institute.

Jozsef added: "Then, it only took a few days to raise the missing amount to get this compost toilet (above) ready to use which is a groundbreaking project in a conservative country like Kenya.

"There's still a lot to improve in this community to give a chance for these children and other disadvantaged people to survive and to thrive. The next step now is to get solar energy for the children allowing them to learn in the evenings so that they could emerge from this poverty."

To donate to the cause, visit: uk.gofundme.com/f/save-lucys-children-institute Jozsef Vass Ruthin resident