From the ashes of poverty to published author.

“For me, it was a trigger of childhood memories that prompted me not to forget where I’d come from…” Lela Burbridge

Born in Uganda, our Founder, Lela Burbridge spent her formative years in the slums of Kampala living in unimaginable poverty. One day at Sunday school, she heard a story read from a book and it was then she fell in love with reading. But Lela’s single mother could not afford to buy her books and there was no such thing as a library that she could access. Fast-forward to 2018, married with three children and living in the UK, Lela decided to re-visit her childhood memories. And the outcome was her first book ‘Ashes of Childhood.’

Not forgetting what books meant to her as a child, Lela wanted to ensure that children growing up in poverty like she once did, can have the opportunity to experience the power of books. In 2019, after her first book was published she employed young Ugandan’s to operate a mobile library in the slums of Kampala, reading to children who would otherwise never have been reached with books. The project was very successful and in a short period of time there was rapid growth with an increase in demand for regular visits, more books and staff to read to the children.

The need gave birth to the Lela Initiative, an organisation with a vision to publish books that generate profits with a purpose to transform lives. Through the initiative, the work in Uganda has grown from a single mobile library to planting reading hubs in communities and improving school libraries in rural area. We also supports aspiring Ugandan writers by giving them access to a wide range of books, mentoring and creative writing discussions. In 2020 Lela sponsored the Initiative’s first creative writing competition to showcase local talent and this has grown into an annual event. In 2022, Lela was joined by Andrew Burbridge and Suzy Elliott to support the growth of the Initiative both here in the United Kingdom and In Uganda.

“I see my story and life as a mosaic of hope…” Lela Burbridge