About COCO
Please download our recent Annual Report. (requires Adobe Reader)
A Message from our Chairman, Steve Cram MBE
The importance of education for children cannot be overstated; education promotes better health, improved self-esteem and the development of skills that are essential for making a living in later life.
For 100 million children across the globe, poverty prevents them accessing the education they so desperately need. If we do not join the fight against poverty and inequality now, we are condemning these children to a life of misery and despair.
You can play your part in helping others to help themselves. People living in poor countries don't want handouts; they want the opportunity to transform their lives and the lives of their families. COCO works closely with local community organisations in these poor countries to ensure that the money that you donate is used to maximum effect to give the poorest families hope for the future.
In this increasingly globalised world in which we live, the needs of the world’s less developed countries are coming closer to our doorstep. Each and every one of us has the potential to change the inequalities of the world. You can play your part, however large or small, in eradicating poverty for the most vulnerable children in the world.
COCO is working with some of the world’s most vulnerable children in an attempt to give them the opportunity not only to survive, but also to strive towards a healthier, happier and more fruitful way of life.
Thank you to all of the companies, schools and individuals who have helped COCO to achieve so much this year remember you really are making a BIG difference!
COCO Background
In 1998 former British Army officer Jim Panton and former international athlete Steve Cram joined forces to raise much-needed funds for the children of a small war-torn community in Bosnia, where Jim was stationed. Running a 52-mile marathon, the same distance as The Comrades Marathon held each year in Jim’s home country of South Africa, they and a handful of Army officers succeeded in raising vital funds for the community.
After seeing the difference that their support and funds made they decided to do it all over again the following year, this time at The Comrades Marathon itself. Between them they raised in excess of £12,000 for children in Liberia and made a pledge to continue their efforts for the benefit of many other children throughout the world. It was at this point that COCO, Comrades of Children Overseas, was born.
To this day, COCO continues to work towards brighter futures across the globe with the same drive and determination.
The COCO Team
Lucy Philipson: Operations Manager
Lucy Philipson started working for us in February 2004 after discovering COCO through a project she visited in Durban South Africa. Lucy has a BA(hons) in Urban and Regional Geography from Sheffield Hallam and a Masters in Development Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Lucy has travelled extensively in and around Sub-Saharan Africa and is interested in all things developmental particularly poverty and HIV/AIDS. Lucy is currently COCO's Operations Manager and has the gruelling task of trying to choose our projects out of the many worthwhile possibilities.
Gemma Dyer: Finance and Office Coordinator
Gemma started working for COCO in Dec 2004 as Finance & Office Coordinator. Her main roles include managing the financial activity of the charity, organizing the annual accounts, maintaining the COCO database and managing COCO's extensive volunteer base. She grewing up in and around Vancouver, Canada and moved to England in 1999. She is a member of the Association of Accounting Technicians and her interests include travelling, history and reading, her favourite books been Nelson Mandela's "Long Walk to Freedom" and Martin Luther King's "Let the Trumpet Sound", both of which she highly recommends!
Laura Elliott: Fundraising and Marketing Coordinator
Laura is the most recent addition to the team and previously worked for Nova International, organisers of the Great Run events. Laura grew up in North West London and came to Newcastle in 2003 to study Geography at Newcastle University and now considers Newcastle to be her second home! Laura has been lucky enough to travel extensively and during her GAP year she taught English in China until she was evacuated due to the threat of the SARS virus. Her favourite destinations include New York, Australia, Hong Kong, The Maldives, Singapore and she is always looking for others to add to the list including a trip to Africa. Laura will be looking after the fundraising efforts for COCO in addition to TeamCOCO so look out for some exciting developments in the near future!
Directors
Steve Cram MBE
Steve is one of the UK's most well known sporting individuals. As an athlete his career was forged alongside Coe and Ovett to form a period of unprecedented success in British athletics and since retiring Steve has become one the BBC's most respected Presenters/Commentators.
In a career spanning over three decades, sicne appearing as a 17 year old at the Commonwealth Games in 1978, Steve's many achievements include six Gold medals at the Commonwealth Games and the European and World Championships.
In 1998 Steve formed a partnership with former Army Air Core Major, Jim Panton and after the pair tackled the Comrades Marathon in South Africa and saw the difference their fundraising could make to children's lives, COCO was set up.
Edward Chapman
Edward is a Chartered Accountant now working as a management consultant specialising in the not-for-profit sector. He also runs a business called Run the Country that produces off-road running maps and organises running holidays and trips in the UK and abroad. Edward started running aged 40 and soon developed an addiction for marathons and ultramarathons, his favourite being the Comrades ultra-maraton. He has also taken part in adventure races and triathlons.
Edward has always had a keen interest in helping the developing world and been a trustee of several charities working in this area.
Dr Peter Warburton OBE
Peter was appointed to the post of Director of Sport at the University of Durham in 1995 and since his appointment he has gradually built up the university's involvement within the community. Peter is directly involved with a number of the university's community initiatives and was appointed to the Regional Sport Board in 2003, taking the role of Vice Chair in 2004. He has also been Chair of the County Sport Partnership and the Durham Sporting Forum. The latter was described by the Sports Minister as probably the best example in the country of a multi-sports club set around an academic institution. In recent years, Peter has been heavily involved in helping to develop Sport Universities, North East England, which is nationally renowned in the university sector for its work with disadvantaged groups. Peter is also involved in overseas projects with Sport in Action Zambia and next year will open a new project relating to sport in Shri Lanka.
Alan Capper
Alan Capper is an award-winning Landscape Architect based in Newcastle. Originally from the south, Alan has lived and worked in the north-east for over 15 years and is proud to be part of it's exciting regeneration.
He established Kent Design in 1997. Projects include masterplanning, urban regeneration, housing and leisure facilities and increasingly designs in the UAE. He also designs private gardens and has had three medal-winning show gardens at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the most recent raising awareness for GardenAfrica which brought Soweto to Chelsea in partnership with RBG Kew and Eden Project. Where appropriate he really likes the chance to do 'traditional with a twist' in his designs. His professional ambitions include winning a Gold medal at Chelsea and staging a show garden at Capetown Flower Show using local black empowerment training schemes.Alan writes articles on garden style for a regional magazine and is also a Prince’s Trust Young Business Mentor. In his spare time Alan likes scaring himself mountain biking and is learning the congas (slowly!) www.kentdesign.co.uk
Muriel Armstrong
Muriel runs the Kenya Acorn Project and is a senior nursing lecturer at Northumbria University.
Articles of Association/Articles of Memorandum
COCO works from the Articles of Association and Articles of Memorandum authorized by Companies House. For a copy of the articles please contact the office.
