Some time ago, LifeLine successfully bid for funding from the Big Lottery Fund to support a vocational training project, after three years we then applied to Comic Relief for further funding to expand the project, then Ebola hit, but the project continued afterward.

In August 2018 the last of the funding for Betteh Tumara Project in Freetown came to an end. Wanting to be as sustainable as possible, the LifeLine Betteh Tumara Technical Vocational Institute was birthed.

Moving from completely free training courses funded from overseas, a very different approach was required.

The LifeLine Team created a new business plan to meet the challenge and turn things around. They needed to start charging students, a very different mindset for both the team and the community in which they are based.

To date it has been a success and in January 2020, 130 of our latest trainees graduated from courses in Electrical Installation, Hospitality and Cooking, and Computer Skills.

Our last review showed that over 60% of our trainees secured sustained employment, post training. This is an incredible success, given the economic climate in Freetown. We look forward to the team surpassing that this year!

Great leadership is about enabling others to not merely succeed but to go beyond their teachers’ expectations.