Generous coffee drinkers at the recent Christian Resources Exhibition (CRE) at Sandown Park, Esher have given a boost to children in Central and South America.

For having been served at the Kingdom Coffee stand, people then gave a donation to the charity Latin Link which will directly benefit children in projects in Colombia and Costa Rica.

Manning the stand on all four days was Jonathan Leeson, of Tonbridge Baptist Church and Latin Link’s Area Representative for the South of England (pictured, second right). He recently received a £1,800 cheque from Kingdom Coffee, representing donations made by visitors and subsequently doubled by the Reading-based ethical coffee supplier. 

He explained that the two Latin Link projects to benefit from the donations are Vive Kids and the Los Guido Community Project. Vive Kids works in places affected by violence and extreme poverty on the northern coast of Colombia, training children’s club leaders to run clubs for the children in their communities.

The Los Guido project is involved in community development, including English teaching, among the poor and needy in Los Guido shanty town on the edge of San José, Costa Rica.

Jonathan added, 'It’s a privilege to work on the Kingdom Coffee stand, as you get so many opportunities to engage people in conversations. You also get to hand out cups of delicious coffee, which always brings a smile to people’s faces.’

Latin Link is an international charity which works with local Latin American churches, organisations and communities to help them meet the needs around them. Find out more at www.latinlink.org.uk.