Andy Perry

Africa and, in particular, Kenya has formed a backdrop to my married life, where various carvings and other items can be found around our own home and the homes of my in-laws. The reason for this is that my wife and her siblings lived with their parents in Kenya for around 14 years during the 1960/70s. My wife’s parents were missionaries, selling Christian literature in east Kenya over that time. In addition we currently have two sponsored children in Uganda and Rwanda respectively so the opportunity to make even stronger connections with Kenya in particular and to help individuals and families to both be blessed and in turn become a blessing to others was something not to missed.

I have four step-children from my marriage and a granddaughter who came along in 2018. I’m a long standing Civil Servant and worked for DWP in various managerial roles. I have also led worship in a number of different settings since around 1995 (including on a number of mission trips to Romania) and it was through worship that I met Hannah, the driving force behind The Janna Foundation. I’m very much looking forward to working with Hannah and the other trustees and am excited for what the the future may hold, as the charity looks to support families living in Kenya in difficult circumstances and provide what we would consider the basics of life.

Jean Burston

I was born in a small village in Saddleworth which had a strong community spirit where people looked out for one another. Church was an important part of my life, as it is now, and, as a teenager, I became a Sunday School teacher. This made me realise that I really had a heart for working with children which led me to choose a career in teaching and eventually I became a Headteacher. My other passion was music and I met my husband in a musical show and we now have three grown up children – two boys and a girl.

In 2010 we went for a holiday to South Africa and visited a township there which had a profound impact on me. As a family we decided to support three children through Compassion and I also support a Granny through the Winnie Mombasa charity. Consequently, I am delighted and privileged to be part of the Janna Foundation to support its valuable work in Kenya.

Hannah

I was raised in a small rural community in Cornwall, the daughter of a vicar and a teacher. I studied music at university in London, met my husband whilst living in the south (treading the boards in a musical show, as one of our trustees also did!), and moved to the north of Derbyshire in 2013 with our two sons.

In 2014 I began sponsoring a little boy in Nairobi, Kenya after hearing about the work of Compassion UK, and a couple of months later I sponsored another little boy – the same age as my eldest son. I ‘met’ a wonderful man called Evanson Njeru who runs a charity, Compassion CBO, and is the head master of a school in one of Nairobi’s slums, as well as running numerous other projects there. I soon realised that he was the most selfless man I had ever met, which remains the case to this day.

A year later, I began sponsoring a little girl also. I remained in touch with Evanson over the years and during Lockdown 2020 my boys and I wanted to help him help the children in his school, during what was a most difficult period. Little did I know the path that I was now on. Within 5 weeks The Janna Foundation was born – named in honour of the little girl who was my inspiration (who I now also sponsor – sorry hubby!). I met all three of the trustees at the church that I soon took as my family on arriving up north in 2013. They are all very loving, compassionate and wise individuals and I am so grateful to them for coming on board this incredible journey that God has set us on. I am committed to ’seeing the one’ – as Mother Teresa said – and feel incredibly blessed that I have been welcomed into the lives and hearts of some very special children and families in Kenya.

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Hannah Laxton – Founder & CEO

I was raised in a small rural community in Cornwall, the daughter of a vicar and a teacher. I studied music at university in London, met my husband whilst living in the south (treading the boards in a musical show, as one of our trustees also did!), and moved to the north of Derbyshire in 2013 with our two sons.

In 2014 we began sponsoring a little boy in Nairobi, Kenya, after hearing about the work of Compassion UK, and a couple of months later we sponsored another little boy – the same age as our eldest son. (A year later a sponsored girl also became part of our family.) I had ‘met’ a wonderful man called Evanson Njeru who ran a charity in Nairobi, Compassion CBO (unrelated to Compassion International and Compassion UK). He had set up a school in one of its slums (he was the headmaster) and also ran numerous other projects as part of the charity. I soon realised that he was the most selfless man I had ever met, which remains the case to this day.

I remained in touch with Evanson over the years and during Lockdown 2020 my boys and I wanted to help him help the children in his school, during what was a most difficult period. Little did I know the path that I was now on. Within 5 weeks The Janna Foundation was born – named in honour of the little girl who was my inspiration: God’s gracious gift. (We now sponsor her too.) I met all three of The Janna Foundations’s trustees at the church that I soon took as my family on arriving up north in 2013. They are all very loving, compassionate and wise individuals and I am so grateful to them for coming on board this incredible journey that God has set us on. I am committed to ’seeing the one’ – as Mother Teresa said – and feel incredibly blessed that I have been welcomed into the lives and hearts of some very special children and families in Kenya.

Evanson Njeru – Compassion CBO Director

June 2002 is the time I came to the slum. I was working as missionary in Western part of Kenya but when I came to slum found the condition of children I resigned and decided to see what I can do for them. In 2005 I started Compassion CBO School and gave it a name Greener Life. Priscillah joined me as a volunteer teacher and we married same year. In 2006 I invited Compassion International and they partnered with the church I was attending then. I worked for them 3 years as a project member. I lived in the slum until 2011. We lived in a 2 metres by 2 metres shanty. We now live 3 kilometers away. I go to the slum every day.

Marie Beasley – Trustee

I have been involved in mission work from being 16 years old when I moved with my family from quiet Essex to a busy inner estate in Manchester, to work as part of a team on a pioneering youth work project. Consequently, I went on to become a qualified youth worker and I met my husband whilst working as part of this team.

When I was in my early twenties, I went out to Johannesburg in South Africa to work with an organisation called Door of Hope who look after abandoned babies and support them to be adopted. This experience had a profound effect on me and gave me a heart for Africa. When I came back I got married to my husband (who I had met in Manchester) and we then returned to South Africa as newlyweds for six months to work with a church.

We now have four boys!! As a family we sponsor a child with Compassion UK and now one child with The Janna Foundation. I love what this organisation stands for; valuing ‘the one’ not just the many, that ‘one’ life counts and is valuable.