The name ‘Umtshayelo’ means broom – hence the slogan “sweeping away suffering” and is inspired by The Besom Foundation in England started by James Odgers. He found that the Shorter Oxford Dictionary defines “besom” as “sweep thy soul clene with the besom of the drede of God.” James Odgers has since discovered that, albeit spelt ‘byssome’, the word was to be found in an early edition of St Matthew’s Gospel from 1000AD.

                           

Motivated by a desire to help the disadvantaged and marginalised, we are committed to work along the original principles of The Besom Foundation in London – to provide an effective bridge between the church, community organisations, business and private donors who want to give money, time, skills or things…and those who need it.

Primarily we want to bring heaven to earth, through persistent prayer and practical projects that will assist in restoring the dignity and self-worth of the disempowered and disenfranchised.