I’ve been involved with Bridge2Aid since 2006. Nearly two decades. Long enough to have seen incredible highs, quiet graft, moments of real pride – and, if I’m honest, moments where things felt pretty tough.
But nothing quite prepared us for 2023.
It was a hard year. A really hard one. Funding pressures, uncertainty, and some very real questions about sustainability meant the trustees had to face the most difficult decision any charity ever has to consider: do we continue, or do we close? At the time, I was a trustee – not CEO – sitting around the table with people who cared deeply about this organisation and the communities we exist to serve.
What stopped us walking away was people.
We knew the depth of support we had from the dental industry. We knew what Bridge2Aid meant to the hundreds of volunteers who had given their time, skills and hearts over our first 20 years. And we knew something else too: communities across East Africa were still being left behind when it came to access to oral health education and care. The need hadn’t gone away – if anything, it was growing.
So instead of closing, we paused. And we asked some very difficult questions.
2024: Reflection, Challenge, and Change
2024 became a year of listening and reflection. We spent time with stakeholders. We met new local partners. We sat down with national decision-makers and asked ourselves whether what we were doing was still the right thing – and whether we were the right people to be doing it.
Those conversations led us to work much more closely with national oral health policy in Tanzania. With the Chief Dental Officer, the Tanzanian Dental Association and local partners, we began training a different cadre of healthcare worker – people already embedded in their communities, aligned with national systems, and able to create long-term change.
We piloted new programmes. We expanded and refined our Infant Oral Mutilation (IOM) awareness work. We deepened our collaboration with Bristol Dental School, exploring what ethical, socially accountable global engagement really looks like in practice.
And we strengthened our governance, inviting new trustees to join us – people with the skills, challenge and insight we needed for the next chapter.
It wasn’t always comfortable. But it was necessary.
2025: Building Momentum
By 2025, our new strategy wasn’t just words on paper – it was happening.
We built on what we’d learned and extended our academic partnerships, welcoming Leeds Dental School into the Bridge2Aid story. Our programmes became more focused, more locally led, and more firmly rooted in national priorities.
Slowly, steadily, things began to feel different. Stronger. Clearer. More hopeful.
January 2026: Looking around and taking it in
And now here I am, in January 2026, and I honestly can’t quite believe how far we’ve come.
Not I – we.
This has been a collective effort in the truest sense. Our small but mighty team. Our trustees. Our volunteers. Our supporters. Our Fundraisers. Our local partners. Our stakeholders. And the UK dental industry as a whole, standing with us and believing in what we’re trying to do.
Right now, 45 incredible people are travelling to Tanzania with us across January and February. Forty-five people who have chosen to give their time, energy and skills because they believe that together we can improve access to oral health care for underserved rural communities.
This week, our fabulous Programme Manager for Tanzania – Annie – is working alongside a team from Ikigai/NSK on the ground in Morogoro supporting Dr Nila and helping shape our IOM and oral health awareness “train the trainer” programme. They even attended the opening ceremony this morning – a moment that quietly says this work matters.
Next week, 20 utterly intrepid cyclists take on the challenge of cycling from Kilimanjaro to the Ngorongoro Crater. They’ve almost reached their £50,000 fundraising target, and every single one of them has covered their own costs. That level of commitment still blows me away.
The week after that, 16 volunteers will be joining THEDI and Bridge2Aid in Mwanza for our dental training and outreach programme. This includes team members from Henry Schein Dental and Den-Tech.
And behind all of this are our Practice Unity Partners, (directly funding the training of local dental therapists), organisations who have chosen us as their charity partners, our regular donors and those taking on their own fundraising challenges – investing not in short-term fixes, but in people and systems that will last.
Looking ahead through 2026, we’re also committed to further developing our partnerships with Bristol and Leeds Dental Schools – not only to strengthen ethical global engagement, but to ensure that people facing barriers to accessing oral health care in our own cities are not forgotten. Social accountability doesn’t stop at borders, and the learning, relationships and responsibility flow both ways.
Sitting with Gratitude
As I sit here packing scrubs (donated by Happy Threads), folding t-shirts, sorting cycling tops and stuffing information packs for the next group heading out, I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude.
Two years ago, we were asking whether Bridge2Aid had a future.
Today, I’m watching that future unfold in real time.
Together.
I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.
And none of this would be possible in Tanzania without the continued support of the Ministry of Health, the Tanzanian Dental Association, THEDI, Sibaba Dental Clinic, and funding partners like Colgate-Palmolive East Africa – walking alongside us as we work towards a world where oral health really is for everyone.
If you’re reading this and wondering how you might be part of the Bridge2Aid story – we’d love to hear from you. You could volunteer your skills, fundraise for us, become a Unity Partner, choose us as your charity of the year, interact with us on our social media platforms, become a regular donor, or share information about our work with friends and colleagues. Some key events coming up are:
- The Bridge2Aid/BDIA Bash on the Friday of showcase – 13th March in London. Click here to buy tickets
- A Dental Industry Jurassic Coast Walk hosted by Barker PR
- A Glastonbury cycle event in partnership with Festival Medical services and supported by De NoVo Dental
- A chance to take part in a bucket-list challenge – climbing Mount Kilimanjaro
- Visit an art exhibition at the Dentistry Show in NEC in May – in partnership with the BDA Benevolent Fund.
To find out how you can get involved, email shaenna@bridge2aid.org.
And if you’d like to support our incredible cyclists as they push towards a staggering £50,000, please consider sponsoring them here: https://www.justgiving.com/team/peaktoplains
Thank you for believing in this work – and in what we can achieve together 💙
Shaenna
CEO, Bridge2Aid
