A TEACHER has delivered sports equipment to a deprived school in Africa.

Gary Parker visited Bluebells, a small school in Watamu in rural Kenya, on behalf of the Rob Stephenson Trust.

Rob, of Pickering, was 21-year-old when he died on March 26, 2016, after being involved in a road collision on a night out in York.

His parents Patrick and Nicki and elder brother Sam set up the Rob Stephenson Trust to help young people participate in sport. The trust has so far raised more than £125,000.

Gary, who went to school with Rob and Sam at Lady Lumley’s in Pickering, said: “I was initially asked to go out to Kenya by Pat and Nicki as I am a PE teacher and would be able to show the teachers in the school how to teach with the equipment we sent and obviously teach the children myself too.

“Our contact out there, Jax Comyn, admitted to being brought to tears when she saw the two football goals we had transported being put up in the dustbowl of a school field.

"The children are aged from 12 to as young as two, and come from extremely poor backgrounds.

"The comparison between what they have available to them - the school buildings, the resources, the equipment - and schools in England is huge and yet their enthusiasm for learning is so much more.

“Sport is such a universal language, as we know. I spent a lot of time teaching basic English to classes of the youngest children – a significant challenge, but as soon as I gave them a football, a hula-hoop, a skipping rope or the multi-coloured parachute you loved from primary school, they had no issues at all and were as enthusiastic and grateful as I have ever seen young people.”

The next fundraiser for the trust is Rob’s Ride on May 27. For more information, go to robstephensontrust.com