Education boost for young women in the CAR thanks to generous NI communities raising over £1 million

Wednesday 25 March 2026

Thousands more young girls and women in the Central African Republic (CAR and beyond) will have the opportunity to gain an education thanks to the success of a partnership appeal from Tearfund, SPAR, EUROSPAR and ViVO.

For the first time, the annual Christmas appeal between the charity and retailer in Northern Ireland has surpassed £1,000,000 in funds raised from generous local communities in just three months.

This year’s funds will go towards providing education opportunities in countries including the CAR, where currently, three in every four women cannot read or write. Through literacy and vocational training, Tearfund will ensure women are gaining the essential tools to lift themselves and their families out of poverty.

Chris Thompson, Director of Tearfund in Northern Ireland met with pupils from Ashfield Girls High School, which places an important emphasis on reading and literacy skills to further their pupils’ education. Alongside Elanna McGowan, ambassador for the appeal, and Bethany Priestly from SPAR NI, they discussed how this fundraising would go into projects which help young women like them in the CAR and beyond to access education.

Chris commented; “Once again, we are blown away by the generosity of local store communities, churches and schools who helped us raise £537,030.83, while SPAR, EUROSPAR, ViVO, ViVOXTRA and ViVO Essentials matched every pound up to £500,000.

“This means, for the first time in our 13-year partnership, the one-million-pound target has been surpassed and £1,037,030.83 has been raised. This is such an incredible milestone, and we have been humbled by people’s generosity. Each donation, large and small, from families, individuals, churches, youth groups, schools and business, have all played their part to get us to this moment.”

Local beauty entrepreneur, Elanna McGowan, supported the Appeal alongside her network of followers online. Elanna has been vocal about her Christian faith and understands the importance of education and the opportunities she and her family have been afforded.

Elanna commented; “I was homeschooled in Canada, and my children, Olive, Oscar and Josie, love learning to read and write at school and nursery. Thanks to the opportunities me and my husband were given growing up, we are able to provide our children with an education, which isn’t an equal opportunity around the world, particularly for women and girls in the CAR. I have been so honoured to use my voice and platform to help with the success of this appeal and so thrilled to have not only met our one-million-pound target but surpassed it! I can’t wait to see how this money helps to lift young women and girls out of poverty, through opportunity and education, in the CAR and beyond.”

Tearfund’s partnership with SPAR, EUROSPAR and ViVO is longstanding, with the amount of funds raised growing each of the 13 years it has been active. Last year, a cohort from the retailer travelled to Rwanda and witnessed the community transformation driven by local churches through Tearfund, specifically through sustainable agriculture and entrepreneurial projects like tailoring and electronics.

Bronagh Luke from SPAR NI commented; “The success of this year’s partnership appeal with Tearfund just goes to show how generous our shoppers and local communities are. People throughout Northern Ireland understand that education is a privilege afforded to us here, but that isn’t equal for all around the world. We are proud that many of our team have had the honour to meet women, families and communities Tearfund reaches with their work, which helps propel our Appeals each year.

“We are so proud of the response to this year’s Appeal. Raising over one-million-pounds for Tearfund projects from a country as small as Northern Ireland in only a few months, is so impressive and it is a huge privilege to be able to bring back the Appeal every year.”

Wednesday 25 March 2026