Wood Foundation

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Sir Ians “Wood foundation” is one of the most remarkable success stories to emerge from his life, the project was started as a vehicle to plough back his wealth into projects which could make a difference. Amongst the more amusing stories surrounding the Wood foundation relates to Sir Ian being asked if he would visit Africa to meet a small number of tea farmers so they could thank him for what he had done to change their lives. For context, Sir Ian’s charity increased approx. 4 fold what each tea farmer was receiving financially from tea harvests. Sir Ian duly obliged and made arrangements to head across to Africa for a thank you meeting with the local tribe chief, and after days of arduous travel he reached a village deep in the heart of rural Rwanda, where he was duly greeted by a small number of prominent tea farmers. However he was then led into a Sport Stadium where 10,000 grateful tea farmers were waiting for him, many having travelled on foot for days to attend. The Wood foundation has transformed the lives of around 40,000 tea farmers and changed the tea distribution model beyond recognition in order to benefit those who grow the tea.