CHARITY campaigners have been left “overwhelmed” after a couple stepped up to donate the full £3,000 needed to build a breakfast kitchen for impoverished children in Africa.

Sue and Ron Hayes, from Windle, set up Africa’s Children in Education (ACE) to provide schooling to poor children and have recently devoted themselves to building a school on the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania.

Before Christmas, the Star publicised the charity’s Breakfast Appeal, which aimed to raise enough money for the schoolchildren to be able to have a meal each morning with plans for a new kitchen to be built.

And Sue and Ron received the wonderful surprise when they were contacted by a couple from Billinge who had read about the charity and decided to pay the full amount for the school’s new kitchen.

The money given by the couple, who wish to remain anonymous, will enable the kitchen at the school to be rebuilt to replace the old one which sees the school cook Atu cook porridge using use a wooden fire.

The new kitchen, while still using wood, will have four different hobs and the smoke will be channelled out of the building to create a healthier environment and will allow the children to eat more than one meal in the day.

“They rang up and we were just amazed that anyone could be so kind, we couldn’t have had a better Christmas present,” said Sue, 66, a former children’s social worker.

“We’re absolutely thrilled and the timing was absolutely brilliant. Hopefully they’ll be able to get the building work done out there and that it shouldn’t take too long.

“Our breakfast appeal has been very successful so we are going to be able to provide breakfast, which will be something like a peanut butter sandwich and milky tea.

“With the porridge having been their only meal of the day, they will now get a breakfast and push the porridge back to around lunchtime.

“We’re absolutely overwhelmed by this couple’s generosity.”

n More information on ACE can be found at acecharity.uk