News

28/11/11 A gift with a difference, that makes a difference – Happy Hampers for a child-headed families

If you’re stuck for present ideas this Christmas, we might just have a solution for you! From today, we’ll be selling Happy Hampers for child-headed families in Zimbabwe. Each hamper costs £15, and when you buy one, we’ll send you a lovely card to give to the recipient of your gift so they know who they’re helping.

Each gift will help a family being supported by the Reach-In Project in Bulawayo. The project provides intensive mentoring, training and income generation support for children who find themselves looking after their siblings following the death of parents.

There are over 1 million orphans in Zimbabwe, the majority of whom have lost their parents to HIV and AIDS. Many of these children carry the disease themselves and face multiple challenges such as abuse from adults in the community, feeding their family, paying school fees and accessing health care.

Network members Maranatha Trust will put each hamper together in Zimbabwe, buying contents to meet the specific needs of each family.

So for a unique gift that will have a real impact on the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable children, visit www.happyhampers.org.uk to buy a hamper and find out more about the Reach-In Project.

15/11/11 Network Member Open Doors wins Inspire Award for work in the community

Congratulations to one of our UK members, Open Doors, who won the Inspire Magazine Award for their work in the community yesterday. Volunteers who help run the project were presented with the award at a champagne reception at the Houses of Parliament yesterday.

To read more about the great work of Open Doors volunteers, visit www.opendoorsproject.org.uk

03/10/11 LifeLine beneficiary in the UK inspired to make a change

The hot weather over the weekend brought welcome support to ‘The Rugby Sevens event’ held in Croydon yesterday. The tournament was organised by one of the young people from the Vigor8 project run in London by LifeLine Projects. Tom lives on the Monks Hill estate in Croydon and whilst he was being mentored through the VIP mentoring scheme on the Vigor8 Programme he realized that he could do something positive, and decided to raise funds to re-build the community centre on his estate. VIP is LifeLine’s award winning Vision, Identity, Purpose mentoring scheme used across all the young people’s programmes.

Just a few months ago the 16 year-old was well on his way to getting an ASBO but since being supported by a mentor has turned his life around and is back at college studying for Law and PE at A-Level.

Tom has been passionate about raising awareness of the need for a community centre on the estate and the story has been featured in the local Croydon Advertiser. He managed to secure some big name sponsors including: Met Police; Mayor of London Playsport, Rugby Football Foundation, Rugby Football Union (RFU), Wooden Spoon and Premiership Rugby.

Hitz fm and London Irish club were also in attendance and supported the event with music and prizes.

Tom enlisted the help of six other teenagers from the mentoring programme to help him with this fundraising event. Together they raised £750+ towards the re-build project.