Andy Lloyd, a National Express driver with Edwards Coaches, has recently returned from Sierra Leone in West Africa where he spent a month volunteering with UK charity Home Leone. Andy is the regular National Express driver of the 508 service from the coastal communities of West Wales towards London.
The aim of Home Leone is to relocate the poorest and most vulnerable people from horrific slums in the capital Freetown to newly built communities outside the city. The first such community, named Destiny Village, will home 2,000 people on its 22 acre site at Newton, providing six foundational elements to ensure sustainability – low cost homes, employment and skills, education, healthcare, water and waste management, and power.
Andy was involved in providing assistance to local teams of construction workers – brick makers, bricklayers, plasterers, plumbers, electricians, decorators and labourers. He said; ‘This was a thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding experience set in a beautiful tropical landscape but in a country that suffers from much deprivation. I am really grateful to my employer Edwards for allowing me the time off work to participate and make a small difference.’
Edwards Coaches said: ‘We are so proud of Andy for all of his selfless hard work and effort. Andy and his co workers have made a real difference to people’s lives in a relatively short space of time and they all deserve the utmost credit.’
