#needsmet-your donations at work
Below is a list of recent projects supported by grants, made possible by your generous support.
2024
This grant will improve early learning for an Ethiopian community by building three new classrooms for pre-school children, providing positive and appropriate learning environments for children aged 5-6 in a peri-urban community. As well as building the classrooms Together We Learn will also provide age appropriate learning materials and training in active learning techniques for the teachers. This construction is part of a wider initiative supporting four pre-school communities in order to develop exemplary models of effective early learning in low resource settings.
This project will provide:
- An appropriate and inspiring learning environment for 120 children aged 5-6. This will be measured by attendance registers six months after completion.
- 3 new classrooms with age-appropriate comfort, accessibility, resource and inspiring designs. This is proven to affect children’s engagement and motivation for learning and will offer positive experiences in the early years proven to lay the foundations for future success in education.
- 10 teachers will be equipped with the environment, resource and skills to truly make the most of this stage of education, and raise awareness with parents about the importance of early childhood development and continued participation in education. This will continue to have an impact for the
community well beyond the construction year.
This project will support the costs of running the Village Africa Mountain Ambulance service for half a year. The ambulance serves a total population of approximately 7000 people in an area of severe deprivation. It is available 24 hours a day and provided free of charge to the community. The conditions requiring emergency treatment include complications in childbirth, acute malaria, typhoid and other tropical diseases, pneumonia, snake bites, broken bones and other serious injuries. Since the ambulance service began in 2006, 901 emergency cases have been transported to the nearest hospital (110 kms away).
The rugged terrain necessitates a 4-wheel drive vehicle, experienced drivers and high levels of vehicle maintenance. A driver and co-driver have to go on each trip, as they may have to move fallen trees, free the vehicle from mud, change wheels, etc. During 2022, the ambulance transported 79 emergency cases. In addition, 27 non-emergency patients were transported on these trips. In recent years there have been an average of 55 emergency cases a year.
Children with complex needs and disabilities and associated social issues do not get invited to as many parties as children who do not have additional needs.
Building for the Future brings members of their community together to celebrate Christmas in an accessible, adapted and inclusive playtherapy building for disabled children called Our House.
The entire family is welcomed and catered for at this specialist building and they aim to give each and every child an experience that is tailormade to their needs but also traditional and seasonal and special as well.
With their volunteers (including Santa) the children will have a wonderful, meaningful and memorable afternoon and go away feeling valued and wanted and thought of. Siblings and parents are included in the celebration as they are often ‘put last’ and at times like these it’s nice to give them some special treatment.
It is estimated that there are at least 100,000 victims of modern slavery and human trafficking in the UK.
Due to the traumas of their past and the complexity of their lives, 75% of survivors require support for an ongoing legal case, 44% have little to no English, 76% are digitally disconnected, 100% have mental health problems, 54% require housing support, 63% need financial help, and 100% have no job prospect at the point of referral. The expectation is that the levels of complexity facing people leaving exploitation in the UK will continue to worsen over the coming years.
The Snowdrop Project counselling team enables people to deal with the psychological traumas they face. Clients can access one-to-one and group counselling to help them to process the impact of past events and to cope with the symptoms of their traumas. In response to the needs identified by Snowdrop’s clients, we have created appropriate counselling pathways that respond to individuals’ experiences and ability to process and understand their trauma.
This project funded trauma-informed therapy for 60 survivors, as part of Snowdrop’s wider support services that help build the framework they need to live independently.
Children bear the brunt of conflict around the world and children from Ukraine are no exception. They have been killed, displaced, lost family members and continue to witness atrocities. There are nearly 7 million children in Ukraine (UNICEF, 2023. ) The ongoing war is unequivocally altering their childhood experiences. It is violating their rights and stripping them of stability, safety, friends, family, home life and hope for the future.
The brutality and loss of war can create emotional distress in children and young people. The results can be profound fear, panic attacks and other forms of anxiety, risky behaviour and nightmares. Evidence shows prolonged and repeated exposure to trauma impacts a child’s mental health and well-being and can be severe and life-long, manifesting in social isolation, self-harm, aggression and depression (UNICEF, 2009). The increasing complexity and duration of the Ukraine war also means more children are likely to need assistance for longer.
The war in Ukraine is constraining children’s opportunities to learn, recover and flourish through play. Despite being a fundamental right, play is often deprioritised in crises ((The Committee on the Rights of the Child (as referred in General Comment No. 17 on article 31 of the UNCRC). Yet, it plays a crucial role in children’s well-being, development, and survival. Children, with their special and different social, physical and emotional needs, require various forms of support, and one essential aspect is play.
Clowns Without Borders UK’s impact framework aligns with our Theory of Change, emphasising a collective impact. Grounded in trauma-informed approaches, their framework relies on participation data, staff, artist, carer and project partner observations, and proxy indicators to measure impact. Unconscious bias is acknowledged, prompting efforts to collect first-hand testimony through safe and reciprocal means from children and community members.
This grant supported Project Play Now, which will:
- Harness the tranformative power of play to support 1,000 children’s well-being within Ukraine.
- Employ a minimum of 4 Ukrainian artists whose livelihoods have been restricted.
- Inspire and motivate 1,000 front line staff working with children to share playful actvities in their day to day settings via the Laughter & Play resource.
This project supported more than 80 young people with additional needs and disablities, providing access to a fun and active environment during school holidays. Activities include horse riding, outdoor play sessions, multi-sports, magical quests and more.
This activity program provides a positive, independent social experience for these young people including:
- Reduction in isolation
- Increased social range and experience
- Increased well-being and confidence
- Increase in independence both socially and physically
Magisterio in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, is a community effected by extreme poverty. 60% of families live on under $1.90 USD per day. The country average is 44% of people living in multi-dimensional poverty, and whilst they report economic development this is rarely touching those in the most challenging circumstances as the country still has a huge divide with a Gini coefficient of 45 (World Bank, 2024). The families in the area traditionally lived and worked around the old rubbish dump, often building their houses and their lives, from the recyclables salvaged.
Children’s Voices in Action believes that children are the only experts in their own lives, and we conducted multiple research projects empowering children to tell us what they need to create a better future for themselves. Children told us they did not want to work on the dump, and overwhelmingly that educational support was the route out of poverty for them and their community. The children’s perception is supported by academic evidence directly relative to their circumstances (J. Garza-Rodrigues et al. 2021).
Children in Mexico receive only half a day of public schooling, which is often over-crowded and under resourced. Expected to spend the rest of the day completing homework, this is often impossible for those with caring duties, illiterate or absent parents and in crowded shack housing.
La Escuelita is a community centre where children receive a nutritious meal, have access to a well-resourced space for working and teacher support for completing homework.
This grant will provide:
- More than 100 hours of tailored and personalised reading support to 25 of the most needy children in the community.
- Access to a range of books for at least 135 children.
- Improved reading age for 25 children over the course of one year.
Additionally, the children’s love of reading, confidence and experience in education overall will improve.
Break Fast Primary School in the outskirts of Victoria Falls is facing a critical shortage of classrooms and teachers accommodation. Despite the community’s persistent efforts over years to address these challenges, classrooms are overcrowded and teachers reside in dilapidated housing two kilometres away from the school without water and toilet facilities. The Break Fast Primary School and community is seeking support to complete the construction of a classroom block, renovate teacher’s cottages and provide ablution facilities. This project aims to secure funding to ensure that students have a conducive learning environment and the teachers have suitable living conditions through the completion of the classroom block, essential for accommodating two classes of 25 kids each totalling 50 kids adequately. Additionally, funds will support the renovation and outfitting of teacher cottages with proper amenities, including electricity, flooring, glazing and ablution facilities. By completing these crucial infrastructure projects, we can empower the community to continue providing quality education to the students of Break Fast Primary School. This initiative not only enhances the learning environment for students but also prioritizes the well-being and dignity of educators. By investing in education infrastructure, the project aims to uplift the community and fosters a conducive environment for holistic learning and development. This grant will provide:
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- Project Harar works in some of the most disadvantaged and rural areas of Ethiopia, to enable access to life-saving treatments for infants and children affected with cleft lip and palate. Geographical constraints and the cost of reaching the capital Addis Ababa make it impossible for the vast majority of families to reach treatment without their services. Project Harar enables patients to access free treatment at 13 partner hospitals across the whole of Ethiopia.
With limited or no access to hospitals that offer corrective surgery in rural Ethiopia, children affected are unable to access the life-saving treatment they need. Without treatment, babies and children face a multitude of developmental issues, including a greater risk of becoming malnourished due to severe difficulties with feeding. It is estimated that 90% of children with an untreated cleft condition will not live beyond 19 years old and 50% of children under 5 years old with a cleft condition are undernourished. Untreated children can be excluded from school and grow up not communicating and forming friendships with other children. Only a quarter of children with both cleft lip and palate have ever been to school, and many will be forced to drop out. By treating a child for a cleft condition you are averting a disability for the child and for their entire family.
This grant will provide:
- Vital surgery and treatment for 25 children affected by cleft lip and palate in remote and insecure living situations
- Comprehensive rehabilitation services including nutritional support
- Support to local services to alleviate a backlog of children awaiting treament as a result of civil conflict.
Mighty Convoy organises the delivery of essential provisions, including food and medical supplies, together with a working ambulance to areas in Ukraine in need of these donations.
This grant will provide:
- Purchase and delivery of a 4×4 vehicle or decommissioned ambulance that will be used to transport casualties to hospitals
- Medical supplies and other essential provisions for the local community
Imagine a school full of happy, healthy students, working and playing hard. Loving life! This is what all parents want for their children, and it is not different for the parents in the Oldendereti community, in the Arusha Region of northern Tanzania. Certainly, the kids are happy, but their poor diet is hindering their growth and their ability to learn and is impacting their future. The parents don’t want this, no one wants this, and we can do something about it because we have built school farms in the past to improve children’s diet and give them a better future, but we need your help.
The primary school has allocated an acre of land to be used as a school farm which with few a resources could grow greens, bananas, avocado and papaya and many other crops all year round, to improve the nutritional intake of the students at lunchtime. Additionally, it can provide agricultural education for the local Maasai community that are not experienced in cultivating land for food.
This grant will help provide:
- A fence to protect the land from hungry animals.
- A small reservoir to store water from the local river to irrigate the land.
- A solar pump, pipes and tanks to move water from the pond and rainwater collection roofs to watering the plants without it being a burden.
- Seeds, banana suckers and fruit trees to be planted to create a 500 strong banana orchard, alongside mango, avocado and papaya trees. An assortment of fast-growing ‘greens’ will be planted such as Mchicha, Mnafu, Sukama weki. The farm will produce vegetables within 6 months, bananas within 12-18 month and other fruit within 3-4yrs.
- Trees to provide shade and firewood for the school kitchen will be planted to reduce the need to cut firewood elsewhere reducing the contribution to deforestation. The tree nursery will be ready to transplant seedlings within 12 months and trees ready for coppicing within 6 years.
- A salary for a farm hand for the first two years until this can be paid with the sales of 15% of the bananas.
- The greens produced will be added to the school meals to enrich their nutritional content while the fruit will be cut up and shared amongst the school children each day.
FEAST With Us aims to improve the nutrition, wellbeing and health of people at risk of food insecurity in London. Through this project, FEAST with Us will provide nutritious community meals for their venues in London where they use surplus food donated by food distributors, supermarkets and retailers alongside purchased food, to cook nutritious balanced meals with and for vulnerable people experiencing food insecurity. Each meal brings volunteers and people experiencing food insecurity together, to cook and eat as equals. Creating friendly, welcoming, inclusive spaces, they strengthen emotional well-being through conversations and socialisation, building community and improving a sense of belonging. They also provide opportunities to learn basic cooking skills through participation in meal preparation. Moreover, FEAST With Us prepares and delivers nutritious meals to hostels and community centres for individuals experiencing food insecurity to collect.
This grant will provide:
- Enriched diets: Service users diets improve from increased intake of essential nutrients, vitamins
and minerals through weekly nutritious meals at our venues. - Improved mental well-being: Service users gain a better quality of life through making friendships
and connections building their emotional well-being with a stronger sense of belonging through
conversation and socialisation. - Reduced food waste: Surplus food is redirected to meals instead of ending up in landfills and
stopping CO2 food emissions from entering the atmosphere.
Food 4 Children is a volunteer led charity providing healthy food to families facing food insecurity in the UK. For families facing the agonising choice between paying rent, Council tax, energy bills and feeding their families, the year-round delivery of weekly boxes of fresh fruit, vegetables, butter, cheese and eggs help to alleviate some of the stress and provide essential nutrition.
This grant will provide:
- 52 boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables, butter, cheese and eggs to at least 3 families for one year
Happy Days provides repite break holidays, group activity holidays, day trips and theatre visits for children and young people aged 3-17 with special needs that are further disadvantaged by living in poor socio-economic conditions. The children have varying special needs, from profound and severe disabilities, life limiting conditions, social, emotion and mental heath issues and children that have been abused.
This grant will help provide:
- A visit to Chessington World of Adventures in Kent for 20 children aged 6-11 with their carers
- A visit to Matlock Farm in Derbyshire for 30 children from Wolverhampton aged 3-17 with 15 carers
- A visit to Scarborough Beach for 30 children from Leeds aged 6-16 with 16 carers
- A visit to Drayton Manor Park for 70 children from Birmingham aged 4-11 with 50 carers
- A visit to Blackpool Please Beach for 25 children from Warrington with 14 carers
Young Star Mentoring provides care leavers in the UK with opportunities to develop new skills and independence. Through this project, Young Star Mentoring will take 7 young adults leaving the care system on a visit to Normandy in Northern France to visit the D-Day landing sites and other World War II landing beaches and cemetaries. Experiencing these areas of historic significance and sacrifice will greatly enhance the young adult’s minds and perspectives about themselves and the world around them.
This grant will provide:
- Rental of a 9 seater minibus for 7 care leavers and 2 leaders
- Visits to Normandy and Caan landing sites and nearby cemetaries and the Mont St Michel monastery
- Understanding of history: The trip can provide a deep understanding of World War II and the
significance of D-Day. This can help students connect this historical event and develop a sense of
perspective of what happened in the world around that time 80 years ago - Appreciation of sacrifice: Witnessing the sites where soldiers fought and died can develop a greater
appreciation and understanding for the sacrifices made during World War 2 . This can inspire
respect for veterans and a sense of gratitude for their service and appreciation for the freedoms
they enjoy in present day. - Development of empathy: Learning about the experiences of soldiers and civilians during the war
can help the care leavers develop empathy and understanding for people from different
backgrounds and time periods.
Electric Umbrella believes music can be a positive force, uniting people and creating a more inclusive society.
Electric Umbrella’s Shine a Light programme aims to unite the communities of mainstream and SEND schools through music. As with all Electric Umbrella events, it’s musical excellence and equality, diversity and inclusion going hand in hand and culminates in a huge performance with all schools coming together at St Albans Cathedral in June 2025.
This project inspires schools to make music together and stand shoulder to shoulder with other schools in their area. The schools will come together as a Super Choir of inspirational young people that can Shine a Light on what it means to be truly inclusive and celebratory of difference – we all have a voice and deserve to be heard – raising voices, spirits, and awareness to shine a light on the values of hope, togetherness, compassion and understanding.
This project will deliver musical excellence for schools and an exciting communal singing experience through our resources, workshop and performance.
Schools have applied to be a part of this project. All the participating schools will benefit from a whole school musical workshop prior to Christmas, which will be led by professional and learning disabled musicians from Electric Umbrella.
In January 2025 all the schools will receive a digital teaching resource with a repertoire of music (backing tracks, choirs charts, lyric sheets, Makaton sign videos) and key stage specific lesson plans around equality, diversity and inclusion. We will run some teacher workshops which will equip the teachers with the confidence to deliver this programme in the classroom. Each school will bring one year group to participate together, in a concert alongside Electric Umbrella at the St Albans Cathedral in June 2025.
All the participating schools have completed detailed information about what they hope to get out of the project. We will be collecting evidence and data around the impact of this project which is uniting communities and harnessing inclusion – all through the power of music.
This grant will help:
Enhance Inclusivity and Engagement
- Promoting Inclusion: Electric Umbrella focuses on creating inclusive music experiences, which aligns with our school’s values of community and happy memories. This partnership will allow all children, regardless of their abilities, to participate in music-making, fostering a sense of belonging.
- Boosting Student Engagement: The dynamic and interactive nature of Electric Umbrella’s programmes is likely to increase student engagement in the arts, encouraging children to express themselves creatively and develop a passion for music.
- Building Confidence: Participation in music activities can significantly enhance children’s self-esteem and confidence. As children perform and colloarte with their peers, they develop essential life skills that prepare them for future challenges.
- Encouraging Teamwook and Collaboration: Working in groups to create music helps children learn the importance of teamwork , communication, and collaboration, which are critical skills for personal and academic development.
Enriching the Curriculum
- Broadening the Curriculum Offer: By integrating Electric Umbrella’s programmes into school curriculums, schools can provide a broader range of learning opportunities that cater to diverse interests and talents, enhancing our ambitious curriculum design.
- Cultural Awareness: Electric Umbrella often incorporates a variety of musical genres and cultural influences, which can enhance children’s awareness and understanding of the wider world, aligning with our goal of reflecting diversity in our teaching.
Champion Chanzige has long been dedicated to supporting the education and well-being of children in the Kisarawe region. Although past efforts primarily focused on local primary schools, they recently identified a significant need at the Kisarawe orphanage, where many of the children they support live and attend school. In response, Champion Chanzige expanded their mission to include the orphanage, completing the largest project to date—the rebuilding of the main orphanage house. This critical project has ensured a safe and stable living environment for the children, marking a major milestone for Champion Chanzige.
Building on the success of that project, Champion Chanzige have now embarked on a new initiative: creating a vocational training centre at the orphanage. This initiative began with the establishment of a kitchen garden, which not only contributes to the children’s nutrition but also teaches them basic agricultural skills. Our long-term vision is to fully transform the orphanage into a vocational training hub, empowering children with practical skills to secure their future.
For this grant, Meeting Needs will support the creation of a dedicated sewing room to provide vocational training in tailoring, which will support the long term livelihood of the children.
The grant will provide:
- Sewing Room Construction: The sewing room will be central to the vocational training efforts. It will provide a dedicated, well-equipped space for children to receive hands-on training in tailoring from the orphanage director, a skilled and experienced tailor. By the end of the project, the sewing room will be fully constructed, providing a dedicated space for vocational training in tailoring. The room will be equipped with workstations and storage for materials, allowing up to 12 students to train at any given time.
- Installation of Electricity: Installing electricity in the sewing room is crucial for operating the sewing machines and other equipment. This will allow the children to work efficiently and create opportunities for future expansion into other vocational areas.
- Purchase of Additional Sewing Machines: To ensure that all children can participate in the training program, the grant will purchase three additional sewing machines, bringing the total to six. This will allow more students to train simultaneously, maximising the impact of the program.
Due to El Niño-induced droughts, communities in Hwange West District, including those served by Break Fast Primary School, harvested nothing during the past planting season. This has resulted in acute food insecurity, with many households unable to provide even the most basic meals. Children attending Break Fast Primary School are among the most affected, with many coming to school on empty stomachs, leading to severe consequences such as malnutrition, poor concentration, and increased absenteeism.
This grant will provide:
- Emergency relief to provide daily meals for 273 through April 2025