Why LittleWood Creek?
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Little: Our focus is on children—the heart of our mission. Children are little, precious, and full of potential. They inspire everything we do.
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Wood: This represents the deep roots of our journey. After losing my sister, Lynda Wood, at the age of 50, I found myself asking, “If I died tomorrow, what could I say I’ve done to help someone?” Her life and legacy sparked my path in charity work, and she remains my guiding light.
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Creek: The creeks in Kenya are stunningly beautiful—symbols of life, hope, and growth. By building our community shelter on a creek, we aim to inspire everyone who visits. It’s a reminder that beauty and resilience can flourish even in challenging circumstances.
At LittleWood Creek, we’re building more than a shelter—we’re building a future filled with hope, love, and opportunity.
Our Projects
The Shelter
At LittleWood Creek Community Shelter, our vision is to create a safe and welcoming haven for women and children in need—a place where they can find shelter, support, and the tools to rebuild their lives.
In the next year, we aim to:
- Provide housing, meals, and essential care to those most in need within the community.
- Partner with local organizations to offer counseling, educational programs, and job training.
- Create a nurturing environment where children can grow, thrive, and access quality education.
“The Big Feed”
Alongside our shelter, this program aims to fill hearts and plates with hope
A powerful initiative to bring the local community together and provide warm, nourishing meals to those who need them most.
In Kenya, so many people, including children, go without a meal each day. Let’s work together to fill some bellies and spread kindness.
We aim to feed over 400 people in surrounding villages.
Every meal you help fund makes a difference. Together, we can create change.
A Road To Hope
When we purchased the land for LittleWood Creek, one of our first and biggest challenges was access.
The road leading to the site runs down a steep hill and was in extremely poor condition. No vehicles could make the journey, and walking was dangerous, especially for women and children carrying heavy containers of water on their heads. What should have been a simple route had become a daily hardship for many in the community.
We knew we couldn’t move forward without making this road safer, for us, and for everyone who relied on it.
With the support of our donors and hard work from our local team, we rebuilt the road, turning a treacherous hillside into a safe and accessible path. Now, not only can we reach the land to begin building the shelter, but local families can more easily access clean water and move through the area with ease.
This road isn’t just a way to get from one place to another. It’s a path to progress, connection, and hope, for us, and for the entire community.
The Giving Well
At LittleWood Creek, we believe that access to clean water is not a luxury—it’s a basic human right.
That’s why one of our first priorities after securing the land was to build a well. Not just for the future families who will live in our shelter, but for the wider community too. For many in the nearby village, accessing clean water meant long, difficult walks, often up and down a steep hill, carrying heavy containers under the hot sun.
We knew we could make it easier.
Thanks to the support of our donors and local partners, we’ve successfully built a well that will serve both the shelter and the surrounding community. Clean, safe water is now being pumped directly from the ground, reliable and free from the contamination risks that many face daily.
Lighting the way forward
One of the first major steps in bringing LittleWood Creek to life was securing access to electricity on the land.
Through Project Power, we worked to have electricity poles installed through the village, all the way to our site. This crucial infrastructure means we now have the power we need to begin construction on the shelter. But the impact goes far beyond our project.
By extending the power lines through the village, we’ve also made it easier and more affordable for local families to connect electricity to their own homes. What started as a step to power our build has become a powerful resource for the whole community, bringing light, opportunity, and a sense of progress to those who’ve gone without for too long.
Our Story
Starting in 2021
For the past four years, my family and I have been visiting Kenya, and during this time, we have witnessed firsthand the vulnerability many people face.
We have seen children with no place to call home, and women fleeing domestic abuse with their children in tow. Often, these mothers are forced to travel vast distances to return to family members for safety, making it almost impossible for their children to continue their education. Without an education, life in Kenya becomes incredibly difficult.
It is vital that mothers are given the chance to stay locally, in a safe and secure environment, until they can rebuild their lives and reintegrate into the community. This is why I want to create a shelter – a safe haven for those who find themselves homeless, unsupported, and without love or care.
I envision a place where women and children can feel safe, valued, and nurtured. A home they can be proud of, a place filled with love, where they can rebuild their lives and eventually stand on their own two feet, stronger and more resilient than ever before.
Gill Vailes | Founder
The Heart Behind the Help
Behind every step forward at LittleWood Creek, there are people who go above and beyond to make it happen, our incredible Fundraising Champions.
These are the everyday heroes who turn passion into action. From hosting events and taking on personal challenges, to rallying their communities and sharing our story, they’ve helped raise vital funds that are transforming lives.
Their dedication has helped us bring clean water to the village, power our land through Project Power, build a safe road to our site, and take real steps toward completing our shelter for women and children. Every pound raised, every effort made, has brought us closer to our vision.
But beyond the numbers, what makes our Fundraising Champions truly special is their heart. They see a need—and they choose to respond. They believe, like we do, that everyone deserves a safe place to call home, and they’re doing something about it.
To our champions: thank you. You are a driving force behind this mission. You remind us that when people come together with purpose, incredible things happen.
Want to become a Fundraising Champion? We’d love to welcome you to the team. Get in touch and let’s make change together.
