North American retailers help adventurer Kingsley Holgate improve lives in Africa

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North America’s retail partners raise more than $21,500 to support Land Rover ambassador and South African adventurer Kingsley Holgate with his humanitarian work.

The money was donated during Jaguar Land Rover’s Pride and Pinnacle retailer awards, before the 24 winners got the opportunity to help the Kingsley Holgate Foundation with its work.

Focused on using adventure to improve and save lives across Africa, the money raised has been used to support a number of projects Kingsley is currently involved in.

These include educating the younger people about wildlife conservation and stopping poaching.

While the Zambesi Sight Expedition sees the charity help ‘Doctors for Life’ set up two mobile operating theatres along Mozambique’s Zambesi River Delta.

Using a fleet of Land Rovers and a large inflatable boat, the foundation has transported hundreds of cataract operation patients from remote villages for treatment, as well as distributing reading glasses to those with poor eyesight.

Funds will also be used to support Kingsley’s first initiatives – preventing malaria. As the world’s third biggest killing infectious disease and with 90 percent of cases occurring in Africa, the foundation focuses on educating mothers with young children about preventing the disease.

Kingsley says the decision was made to use his great adventures to improve and save lives, adding:

“We started with malaria. Young children are the most vulnerable because their immune systems are weak. So we started to distribute mosquito nets in villages as part of our travels, very often in incredibly remote areas where there were no regular health facilities, hospitals or clinics.

“We solely use Land Rovers to do all these adventures and great work. Recently we had North America’s largest retailers come to Africa, and they did some great community work as well as learning more about the Kingsley Holgate Foundation.”