Quicken Trust
UK
Quicken Trust is a Sussex-based charity which is transforming the lives of people living in poverty in the Ugandan village of Kabubbu. It works in partnership with a range of organisations around the UK and worldwide. The name was inspired by the old English word “quicken” meaning to give new life to others.
The Trust now concentrates entirely on working to help the villagers find a way out of poverty, destitution, disease and despair. In the last 20 years we have built new primary and secondary schools, teaching over 1,000 children each year, a health centre that treats over 13,000 patients each year - many of whom are AIDS sufferers, a vocational training centre, 9 water boreholes and most recently a new church completed in December 2019. Over 160 families have benefitted from local building projects and there is also a tourism centre for visitors to Kabubbu.
About 400 children are supported through school by UK sponsors, as well as another 100 or so people supported through our Fostering and Elderly Care projects.
Quicken Trust has won plaudits from high places. Uganda’s vice-president, Edward Ssekandi, said after a visit in 2010: “This is the finest example of rural development I have ever seen or heard of in Uganda.”
Oxfam emergency food security expert, Jonathan Brass, said after visiting in 2008: “A great experience and quite inspiring - particularly seeing and knowing how you lead much from the heart, common sense and Divine guidance”.
Bill Farmer, an international development consultant with 40 years’ experience, was so impressed he said: “In all my years of working with aid agencies, this is the Rolls Royce of all the projects I have seen or been involved with.”
From the start, Quicken Trust was underpinned by the Christian faith of founders Geoff & Geraldine Booker. But preaching was never the main aim. As Geoff puts it: “We are inspired by the words of Francis of Assisi: ‘Wherever you go, preach the Gospel and, if necessary, use words’.