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Excellent Triathlon

28 July 2008 11:53
Climbing the UK’s three highest mountains, swimming the UK’s three largest lakes and cycling the 500 miles in between – in one week! That is the Excellent Triathlon - for some, an irresistible challenge, and for three Excellent supporters, also an opportunity to raise funds to help build sand dams and plant trees in Africa ...

Kumina Thina Kisaani

16 July 2008 16:25
The experiences of Kumina Thina Kisaani Self Help Group, as told to their Field Officer ...

A Planet Positive Charity

16 July 2008 05:51
Excellent Development has become the world’s first 'Planet Positive Charity' thanks to our partnership with innovative carbon consultants dcarbon8 ...

Annual Report 2007-8

11 July 2008 05:47
The past year has been another successful and eventful year for Excellent Development, which culminated in us being named Overall Winner at the

Excellent Wins UK Charity of The Year 2008

20 June 2008 10:50
Excellent Development is celebrating a resounding win at The UK Charity Awards 2008 ...

Excellent Shortlisted for Charity Awards

12 June 2008 02:54
Excellent Development has been shortlisted for a major national prize at The Charity Awards 2008, the UK charity sector’s most prestigious award scheme ...

MCC Tanzania Visit to Excellent Development Kenya

12 June 2008 02:48
Our Quest Team Leader Sarah was in Kola when a team of visitors arrived from Tanzania to learn about sand dams ...

Community Training Workshop

12 June 2008 02:45
Our Quest Team Leader, Sarah, reports on a community training session with Excellent Development ...

Josephine's Farm

12 June 2008 02:41
A visit with Josephine Kavita on her farm - by Alvera Stern, one of our MCC secondees ...

A great vision of the future

27 May 2008 02:53
This is the story of Kwa Mukonza Self Help Group, as told to their Excellent Development Field Officer ...

A real adventure!

27 May 2008 02:34
Thanks to MCC, our major funders, we are very lucky to have Jacob and Alvera Stern as part of our Excellent Development Kenya team in Kola ...

WaterRelief

27 May 2008 02:25
Sarah Charlton, Quest Leader on our WaterRelief expeditions, explains what the Quest experience is all about ...

A Dam Successful Technology

17 April 2008 12:25
The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) have been a tremendous support to Excellent Development Kenya over the last three years, providing much of the vital funds needed for our dam building programmes ...

How Sand Dams Help Prevent Malaria

17 April 2008 01:01
The 25th of April is World Malaria Day, raising awareness of the fact that although malaria is preventable and treatable, it is the world's second largest killer, causing up to three million deaths per year — one death every 30 seconds ...

GA Conference

01 April 2008 12:42
Excellent Development staff attended the Geographical Association Annual Conference in March, presenting a workshop on sustainable development and distributing complimentary copies of the new Excellent Development Teachers’ Resource Pack ...

An innocent adventure

07 March 2008 05:02
The innocent foundation is a long-term supporter of Meka community group ...

Community Groups' Superb Progress

15 February 2008 03:04
We are still 6 weeks from the end of the financial year and already the 47 self-help groups working with Excellent have smashed their annual targets, making superb progress towards our 2010 goals ...

Excellent Smoothies

14 February 2008 04:55
Many of you will be familiar with delicious innocent smoothies, but did you know that innocent drinks gives 10% of its profits to charity, via the innocent foundation? And that Excellent Development is one of the charities supported by this foundation? We are currently being featured on the back of litre cartons of innocent smoothies – in this case Mango and Passion Fruit ...

30 years and Still Going Strong

17 January 2008 02:45
The Utooni Development Project was formed in 1978 by Excellent co-founder Joshua Mukusya ...

The Secrets of our Success...

17 January 2008 02:38
The Utooni Development Project was formed in 1978 by Excellent co-founder Joshua Mukusya ...

News from Kenya

15 January 2008 11:52
Excellent founder Simon Maddrell is currently in Kenya and has sent us this update ...

Kenya Community Groups Safe

11 January 2008 04:25
It has been a difficult start to the year for Kenya, as you are almost certainly aware ...

Research on Ecosystems & Poverty looks at Excellent's Work

14 December 2007 03:37
Excellent Development has had some great news recently - our work in Kenya is being used as part of a worldwide scoping study looking at the links between poverty and ecosystem management ...

Kilimanjaro Challenge 2007

10 December 2007 02:59
Our second Excellent Expedition to Kilimanjaro has raised over £5,000, thanks to the hard work of all involved and their generous sponsors ...

100,000 trees for all seasons

07 December 2007 03:50
Forty-four community groups working with Excellent have planted an incredible 104,471 trees in November ...

Car TreeDuty launched!

03 December 2007 05:46
For those of us who worry about our carbon emissions but love our cars, Excellent Development is proud to announce the launch of its Car TreeDuty® carbon offsetting programme ...

Tree Planting with Excellent

28 November 2007 03:26
As the long-awaited rains finally come to Machakos and Makueni Districts, the self-help groups working with us have started to plant the tree seedlings they have been propagating in their tree nurseries since May ...

Excellent Education Pack Launched

01 November 2007 09:00
Excellent Development have launched a Sustainable Development Education Pack - films and educational resources - for Key Stage 3 and GCSE teachers and pupils ...

A visit to Mumbuni School for boys, Machakos

31 October 2007 12:31
When Excellent attended the Geography Association’s Annual Conference in April, our small exhibition stand attracted a huge amount of interest ...

Kenya - A Personal Perspective

08 October 2007 11:49
Being a relatively new member to the Excellent workforce, I felt very fortunate to be offered the chance to go to Kenya, to visit the sand dam projects near Kola ...

Excellent partner dcarbon8 wins HSBC Business Award

18 September 2007 04:13
The carbon offsetting consultancy and Excellent Development partner, dcarbon8, has been selected out of over 1,000 small businesses to win a prestigious HSBC Start-up Star Award ...

Auction in Aid of Excellent Development

07 September 2007 11:23
Ribble Valley artist, Heather Paris, is offering her painting 'The Year of the Sweet Pea' for sale by auction on 19th September 2007 to raise money for Excellent Development ...

Excellent's New Offices in Kenya

03 September 2007 12:20
Thanks to funding from the Andrew's Charitable Trust, Excellent Development Kenya have been able to move into new offices in Kola ...

Excellent On The Move

31 July 2007 04:50
We have reached an exciting new milestone in the progress of Excellent Development ...

Annual Report 2006/7

12 July 2007 01:00
Our new annual report is now available to read online ...

An Excellent Investment

30 June 2007 02:54
We are delighted to announce that we have won the support of two long-term funders to help with the expansion of our operations and promotion of our holistic development model ...

World Water Day

22 March 2007 12:20
The 22nd March is World Water Day, and we are pleased to be marking it this year by reaching the milestone of 100 sand dams built since 2003, providing clean water to over 100,000 people ...

Climb Kilimanjaro!

15 January 2007 02:09
This is your opportunity to climb Africa’s highest peak, raise money for Excellent Development, and visit some of the projects to see how your vital funds will be spent ...

Offset your Annual CO2 Emissions

15 January 2007 01:26
Excellent has set up online donations via our brand TreeDuty ...

2006 Progress

11 January 2007 10:49
2006 has been another outstanding year for the communities we work with in Kenya ...

Walking on Water - an excellent film

07 December 2006 09:37
Last night we launched our feature documentary 'Walking on Water' at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London ...

Artistic Impressions

30 November 2006 01:03
In September 2006, artist Krista Magee visited our work in Kenya to do some filming and help out with one of our dam building projects ...

Partnership with Travel Counsellors

15 November 2006 03:36
Excellent Development is delighted to announce a new corporate partnership with Travel Counsellors, the UK's fastest growing independent travel agency ...

Sand Dams - Africa's answer to Climate Change?

31 October 2006 04:10
The release of the government commissioned Stern Report has renewed attention on the impacts of climate change in Africa, and the measures that can be taken at a grassroots level to mitigate the risks ...

Kili Conquest Raises £8K

27 October 2006 01:01
Six Excellent Development suppporters recently raised £8k towards our work with community self-help projects, when they pushed themselves to their limits in a bid to conquer Kilimanjaro ...

Launch of flight offsets

26 October 2006 09:27
Have you been on holiday recently? ...

Going back to my roots

20 October 2006 01:00
Planting trees is my hobby, because where there are trees the place is beautiful ...

Focus on Africa

11 October 2006 11:48
Excellent Development co-founder Simon Maddrell was interviewed on the 22nd August by Victor Silva on the BBC World Service's Focus on Africa programme ...

Another Excellent Quest!

24 August 2006 03:07
Excellent has now hosted its 3rd Quest Overseas Expedition to Africa - enabling young people to experience life in Africa and make a sustainable difference to life as they see it ...

LBC Radio Interview

07 August 2006 02:40
Rodah Silu, wife of co-founder Joshua Mukusya, was interviewed on LBC - London's Independent Radio Station - on Sunday ...

fruitstock

07 August 2006 01:06
Excellent Development had a great weekend out with those nice people at innocent drinks - along with about 100,000 of their friends! ...

Seed Bank Appeal - Results

28 July 2006 07:03
As you may remember we launched a Seed Bank Appeal in March 2006 in response to the famine situation in Kenya ...

Environment First! Development Later…?

18 July 2006 12:55
Sustainable Development is the latest and greatest philosophy (and practise?) of International NGO’s and their donors ...

Quest July 2006

15 July 2006 18:33

This year's first Quest expedition went off with a real bang, with most of the participants begging to stay on longer! In the end we managed to drag them away from the dam building onto the safari and back home, where they have not stopped raving about their experience to family and friends ...

$1.2 Million Funding Win!

04 May 2006 04:01
Excellent Development Kenya has succeeded in obtaining funding from the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), worth $1 ...

25 Years and Still Going Strong…

05 April 2006 02:15
Under the trees, the wind rustles the leaves as Esther Musyimi reflects on 25 years involvement with the Utooni Development Project ...

WestSide Magazine Article

16 March 2006 03:18
West London lifestyle magazine WestSide ran a double page article about us in their March 2006 issue ...

Kilimanjaro Tales

15 March 2006 03:07
Simon and Joshua, founders of Excellent Development, recently realised their ambition to climb to the peak of Africa's highest mountain ...

2005 Annual Report

14 March 2006 03:58
2005 has been another excellent year for us, having continued to increase our income and activities ...

Introducing our Patrons

10 March 2006 03:52
We are delighted to announce our first two Patrons – Lord Joel Joffe CBE and Sir Edward Clay ...

Film for Seeds

07 March 2006 08:31
Heading home after six months in Morocco and Western Sahara in his battered Land Rover 110, adventure film maker and supporter of Excellent Development Darrin, is donating his films to help provide seeds in famine struck Kenya ...

Urgent Seed Appeal

07 March 2006 02:37
Excellent Development today launches an urgent appeal to provide seeds to project members working in districts affected by the Kenyan drought – just

3.5M Kenyans under Threat of Starvation

05 March 2006 02:08
The United Nations says a "catastrophic" number of Kenyans will starve to death unless immediate donations arrive to buy food for 3 ...

Founders climb Kilimanjaro

17 February 2006 17:26

Founders climb Kilimanjaro

Simon and Joshua, founders of Excellent Development, have been talking about climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania for some time, but eventually set themselves the challenge to reach the highest point in Africa in February 2006 ...

RBG Kew Collaboration

13 January 2006 08:10
In a new collaboration with the world-renowned Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, Excellent Development make great strides in the protection of critically endangered plant species ...

Lotto Winner Makes Excellent Choice

10 January 2006 01:29
Jenine Langrish was the only Hornets fan with a smile on her face during Bolton’s 3-0 FA Cup victory over Watford – after scooping the Watford FC Foundation Lottery top prize of £10,000 ...

Famine Fears in Kenya

22 December 2005 12:36
Failed rains may leave up to two and a half million Kenyans dependent on food aid according to UN agency, The World Food Programme (WFP) ...

Simon and Joshua to climb Kilimanjaro

21 December 2005 04:42
Excellent Development's founders, Simon and Joshua have set themselves the challenge to reach the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa, in February 2006, to raise money for Excellent Development's expansion into Tanzania ...

The Village Stud

19 December 2005 05:38
How is Chacha the Goat single-handedly changing the fortunes of the entire Kitui Kya Musyi community? ...

Kilimanjaro Challenge

30 November 2005 10:11
This is your opportunity to climb Africa’s highest peak, raise money for Excellent Development, and visit some of the projects to see how your vital funds will be spent ...

Mid-Year Update

19 October 2005 12:50
Having reached the half way point of our financial year, we are delighted to report outstanding progress in our fundraising and development work ...

Daily Telegraph Coverage

06 September 2005 12:55
Excellent Development has been covered in the Daily Telegraph Gardening section for our tree planting work ...

Quest August 2005

15 August 2005 06:14

The second WaterRelief team included nine volunteers from the Isle of Man, of whom three were sponsored by the Isle of Man Governor's Golden Jubliee Trust ...

Praise from British High Commissioner

28 July 2005 09:56
Excellent Development has earned high praise for its work in Africa from the British High Commissioner, Sir Edward Clay ...

Quest July 2005

15 July 2005 03:54

Our first WaterRelief team stayed with the Nzaaya-Muisyo Self Help Group in Mbuani Village, where they helped build one dam and extended another ...

Race for Africa Returns

04 June 2005 01:36
3 men, 3 bikes, 3,000 miles in 30 days ...

Race for Africa - Reaches Morocco!

19 May 2005 01:27
Cyclists Richard Barnes and Sam Towndrow have reached Africa in 13 days on their round trip of 3,000 miles ...

Kenya Drought & Famine Warning

18 May 2005 08:52
US weather forecasters have issued a drought alert for Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia warning that the three countries would face widespread crop losses and food shortages ...

Race for Africa - Celebrity Send Off

28 April 2005 11:35
4th May 2005: Cyclists Richard Barnes and Sam Towndrow have set out for Africa – a round trip of 3,000 miles ...

2004 Annual Report

28 April 2005 03:37
2004 was a year of outstanding growth and achievement for Excellent Development, the charity's annual report shows ...

The New Muendo

21 April 2005 10:12
Standing in his nursery, Muendo Mdambuki proudly surveys the lush tomato plants and kale which have changed not only his, but many of the lives of the villagers in Kangemi ...

MPs Support Call to Make Poverty History

08 April 2005 11:17
More than half of Britain's MPs have signed an Early Day Motion demanding trade justice, debt cancellation and more and better aid, the Make Poverty History Coalition has said ...

Our Man in Africa - Joshua Mukusya

29 January 2005 08:21
Simon Maddrell, founder of Excellent Development, pays tribute to Joshua Mukusya, whose vision, inspiration and commitment have been vital for Excellent's environmental work in Kenya ...

Volunteers needed for dam building

25 January 2005 04:32
Excellent! has teamed up with expedition experts Quest Overseas in a bid to boost volunteer support for water conservation projects in drought-stricken areas of Kenya ...

Kangemi – Where There is No Food

12 January 2005 12:06
There have been no harvests in the small rural community of Kangemi, southeastern Kenya for three years ...

Simon Maddrell “Highly Commended”

26 November 2003 01:50
Simon Maddrell, Founder of London-based charity Excellent Development, has been “Highly Commended” after being nominated for the prestigious Beacon Prize 2003, for his ...