Attending Events
Anyone wishing to attend an event should contact the Hon Secretary for further details using the contact form on the Contact page.
There is no charge to attend the events but we suggest that a donation of £10 (minimum) per head should be made to the Charitable Trust Fund to help fund our project activities in Malawi.
Ekwendeni Women Dawa Organisation (EWDO)
2025 Project Summary
A grant of £915 to support the renovation of a girls’ menstrual hygiene changing room at Elangeni Primary School in Mzimba District.
Hope Jackson and Mariam Manda from EWDO explained that through providing a dedicated safe space for girls during menstruation will help reduce the stigma and absenteeism among students. The grant will help to refurbish an existing room by installing a secure door, shelves, water containers and educational signage. The room will be of use to over 100 girls and contribute to improved school retention
and gender equality.
This project is underway – check back soon for an update!
The Mlambe Project
2025 Project Summary
A grant of £1000 to support the building of a new toilet block for female pupils at Nkwikwi Primary School, Balaka District.
Andrew May-Millar, Manager at The Mlambe Project explained that for over 10 years, the Mlambe Project have been involved in the construction of sustainably-built school infrastructure in Balaka District using stabilised soil blocks (SSBs) which have a far lower carbon cost than traditional fired bricks. In 2024 Nkwikwi School in Mpilisi Zone, had a new classroom block constructed but the toilet facilities remained poor. The FOMA grant will help support construction of the girls toilet while Mlambe will support the construction of the boys toilets.
This project is underway – check back soon for an update!
Alton Climate Action Network (ACAN)
2025 Project Summary
A grant of £1000 to support the purchase of a farm motorbike to enable members of the Gumbi Permaculture Community Training Centre team to visit homestead farmers in the rural villages of Nambuma.
Jenny Griffiths of ACAN explained the Permaculture Community Training Centre (PCTC) in Gumbi is a social enterprise project that aims to empower local communities with the knowledge and skills of permaculture to radically improve food supply through sustainable organic farming methods. It promotes food diversity rather than reliance on maize and following training at the centre, the PCTC team support homestead farmers through visits to villages. The motorbike will help with outreach visits to some of the furthest farmers that are up to 20km away.
The motorbike was purchased in early November and was put to use straight way making follow up visits to 30 new homestead farmers that recently completed their training.
Anglican Diocese of Upper Shire (ADUS)
2025 Project Summary
A grant of £1000 to support the purchase of a solar powered water pump to be used to improve irrigation among the women’s farming groups in Mangochi.
Victor Mnelemba, Diocesan Projects Officer that currently the small scale farming approaches used by the women’s groups are limited by the availability of water, but a pump would help increase capacity in terms of yield and income, also then increasing the ability to better support their families. The grant will enable the group to purchase a solar powered pump ‘Pump Yanga’.
This project is underway – check back soon for an update!
African Youth Employment Initiatives (AYEI)
2025 Project Summary
A grant of £1000 to support the construction of an Early Childhood Development (ECD) Centre in Chiziya, Nkhata Bay.
Eric Banda, AYEI Director explained that the existing space used to care for the children is in a poor condition. It is small with no proper windows, grass-thatched roof and lacks any learning and play materials which compromise children’s learning and safety. A new building would help to serve 70 children under the age of five with a better, safer and more stimulating environment for early
learning.
This project is underway – check back soon for an update!
Mitsunge AIDs and Community Development Support Organisation (MACODESO)
2025 Project Summary
A grant of £1000 to support the construction of 4 new toilets at Mwaya Primary School, Nkhata Bay.
Michael Standford from MACODESO explained that due to recent heavy rains the current sanitation facilities have become structurally unsafe with severe cracks and unstable foundations posing a serious risk to the health and safety of over 1,000 learners at the school. The grant will enable new facilities to be a constructed which will help to improve sanitation and the overall learning environment.
This project is underway – check back soon for an update!
Wildlife Society of Malawi (WESM)
2025 Project Summary
A grant of £900 to support the purchase of equipment to set up tree nurseries among the communities of Michiru Mountain Nature Reserve, Blantyre.
Lindsey Macdonald of Blantyre WESM explained that in late 2023 Michiru Mountain Nature Reserve was overrun by organised gangs poaching trees to make charcoal. Since then, WESM Blantyre has been working with the police, TAs, the Department of Forestry and Centre for Environmental Policy & Advocacy, to help the neighbouring communities stop this poaching. Volunteer rangers patrol the area, local villages are helping regrowing Michiru’s lower slopes and bee-keeping has been introduced. Together, these activities are helping to families to support their incomes, their environment and recreate a safe space for visitors.
This project is underway – check back soon for an update!
FOMA – Grants Programme ‘open round’
The Open Round submission period is from 1st to 31st August.
Organisations supporting community projects are welcome to apply – full details are available on the FOMA grants page
Expressions of Interest – new Trustees for FOMA
FOMA Trustees are seeking Expressions of Interest (EoI) from parties that would like to explore the options to take forward FOMA under new trustee leadership, or merge FOMA with an existing organisation. Trustees are open to considering EoIs from any person or organisation, including those FOMA have worked with previously.
Further details can be found on the Charity Jobs website – click here
Closing date for expressions of interest to be submitted is 31st August 2025.
FOMA Treasurer
The Friends of Malawi Association (FOMA) wishes to appoint a new Honorary Treasurer
The Honorary Treasurer will be responsible for:
- keeping the accounts of FOMA and its associated charity the FOMA Charitable Trust Fund.
- being an authorised signatory of their bank accounts and be the main contact with FOMA’s bankers
- will prepare the annual accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charity Commission
- will make payments consistent with the organisation’s Trust Deed
- will liaise as necessary with the Charity Commission and HMRC
- liaise with FOMA’s Grants Coordinator regarding review of grant proposals and payments of grants
- will undertake such other duties as are agreed with the other Trustees.
FOMA has around 300 members and an annual turnover of about £3,000, most of which is passed on to the Trust Fund. The Trust Fund makes up to 20 grants for projects in Malawi each year totalling £10-20,000. The Committee meets twice a year, and FOMA up to three times (in most cases online).
The required time commitment is of the order of 1-3 hours a month.
If you are interested and would like to discuss the role, please email sec.foma@gmail.com FAO Simon Broadbent.