Sarah Harding Addicts

To raise awareness of this year’s Red Nose Day on 18 March, Now travelled to Cape Town with Sarah Harding to see where some of the vital funds raised by Comic Relief are being spent.

It was Sarah’s first time in South Africa and she was delighted to be invited on the trip, visiting mothers and mums-to-be living with HIV and a community project to help vulnerable children.

‘I just think it’s an amazing opportunity to get out here and witness the hardship first hand,’ the Girls Aloud star explained during her visit.

‘When I was younger I was taught about the poverty here but to 
be truly passionate about it, 
it was something I had to see 
with my own eyes and talk 

to 
the people here about.’

Bandmates Cheryl Cole and Kimberley Walsh did the Comic Relief climb two years ago, which inspired Sarah.

‘I’ve wanted to do something like this for a long time,’ she revealed.

‘I was asked to 
do the Kilimanjaro climb but 
I couldn’t because I’ve got a 
dodgy back.’

http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk/celebrity-news/516723/sarah-harding-i-can-t-climb-kilimanjaro-because-i-ve-got-a-dodgy-back/1/

SHE’S usually found swigging free champagne at swanky showbiz parties and performing in sexy outfits on stage.

So the slums of South Africa are way out of Sarah Harding’s comfort zone.

The Girls Aloud star’s visit to Cape Town to promote Red Nose Day on Friday March 18 has opened her eyes to an entirely different way of life.

Here, the Aids epidemic is rife, with almost 1,000 people dying every day in South Africa alone.

Sarah visited mothers2mothers, a project offering support for HIV positive pregnant women and new mothers, and Grassroots Soccer, which uses football to educate, inspire and empower communities to stop the spread of HIV.

With tears in her eyes, the singer says: “To see the strength these people have is so humbling. I’m amazed at how strong these women and children are.”

Sarah is engaged to long-term partner, DJ Tom Crane, 31, and as one fifth of Britain’s hottest girlband she has played sell-out concerts all over the world.

Together the girls have amassed a fortune of more than £30million thanks to four UK No 1s and 20 consecutive top 10 singles, as well as two No 1 albums.

But the visit to South Africa, Sarah explains, is truly life-changing. She cradles a tiny three-day-old baby as she is given the devastating news that he is to be tested for HIV.

Sarah says: “It’s heartbreaking. I can’t believe how tiny he is.”

Cuddling the tot in her arms she admits the meeting has made her want to shed her party-girl image. Smiling, she gushes: “It makes me feel broody. He’s so cute.”

Helping Comic Relief is something of a Girls Aloud tradition. In 2007 they teamed up with Sugababes to record the charity’s official single, a cover of Aerosmith’s Walk This Way which topped the charts.

Sarah’s bandmates Cheryl Cole, 27, and Kimberley Walsh, 29, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania two years ago as part of a celebrity team which raised £3.5million.

Sarah says seeing their experience made her want to do something herself. She explains: “I was asked to do the climb with them but couldn’t because I have a dodgy back. 

“I’ve supported Comic Relief for many years, so when the opportunity came up to visit a project with British Airways I was keen to go.

But having never visited Cape Town, or a township, I didn’t know what to expect. I was told about the poverty here but to be truly passionate about it I had to see it with my own eyes and talk to the people about it.

“I met some exceptional people who are facing unimaginable circumstances.”

Sarah’s trip was part of a BA partnership with Comic Relief called Flying Start, which aims to transform the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged children in the UK and around the world.

She adds: “It was a privilege to witness the work and I came away feeling uplifted. Every penny raised for Comic Relief and British Airways Flying Start really counts.”

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