Classrooms, dinosaurs, aerobics and politicians… here we come!
September is upon us! How did that come around so fast?! For many children they will be returning back to school soon and, for those in Uganda, they will be returning to their third term in the academic year. It has been a privilege to watch young people who were once on the streets flourish in education this year, thanks to the incredible support of you, our supporters and global family.
September also seems to have come around quickly here at S.A.L.V.E. and this is our month to ‘Step up for S.A.L.V.E.‘ – our fundraising initiative hoping to raise £10,000 towards our services for street connected young people. The money raised will be used to support children as they need it most – be that in education, to trace their families, with basic food and medical care or more complex residential rehabilitation.
It’s a daunting month, as there is a lot to do (not least my own 125km run in 24 hours) but it’s very exciting as there’s so much you can get involved in.
The first is your own Step up for S.A.L.V.E. challenge. There’s still time to do your own activity to help raise funds for children on the streets and this can be anything from a bike ride to a bake sale. Find out more on our website.
Or why not join Nicola’s dinothon to celebrate her 40th birthday, walking loops of a park in Manchester dressed as yes, you guessed it, a dinosaur.
Or you can show your support to the young people staying at our residential site as they undertake a non-stop-aerobics session. We would love you to encourage them by sponsoring their efforts. It would be a huge motivator for them to know that people across the world are rooting for them as they lunge, march and jump for their peers!
For my own challenge of 125km I have invited my local MP who will be running alongside me with members of her local running club for part of my route. I hope this will help to elevate the profile of the need to support street connected young people, the challenges they face and the resilience they show each and every day.
I hope that you will find some way to join us, either us a dinosaur, a sponsor, or finding your own way to step up for street connected youth this September. And presuming I am not completely destroyed at the end of my run, I will very much look forward to telling you how much our combined fundraising efforts have raised in our next newsletter!
Giving in kind
We appreciate that not everyone is able to financially commit to giving to us as a charity. Although as a small NGO, we are heavily reliant upon fundraising to continue our work with street connected youth, the good news is that we have lots of other wonderful ways you can gift in kind.
If you are in Uganda, perhaps you could consider giving something that the young people could use and enjoy. For example, we recently were gifted some new footballs which have gone down a treat! Donations of food, drinks, sports equipment, clothes, shoes, art materials and games are very much appreciated.
If you are in the UK, two of our UK staff members are travelling to Uganda in October and we are always on the lookout for better quality cameras/video equipment and smart phones. This allows our team to capture their work and record data while out in the field. If you have any decent quality smart phones with chargers that we could take to Uganda, we would very much appreciate your donation.
Or for anyone globally, a great way to support S.A.L.V.E. is to tell people about us! Share our posts on socials, recommend a friend joins our newsletter and help us to amplify the voices of street connected youth together.
Please get in touch with us if you can give in kind.
If you feel inspired there are lots of other easy ways to fundraise for free on our website. With ideas from recycling ink cartridges to raising funds while you shop online, none of these will cost you a penny.
Latest S.A.L.V.E. news
👀 Read our latest blog, On the Verge, about a young man’s battle with addiction and street life. Our blogs are written by our team in Uganda and based on first hand accounts and real life stories of the young people we work with.
🌱 A big thank you to EJ from EARN who visited our residential site in Jinja for two days in August. He helped to assess our permaculture farm and shared key knowledge with our young people and team on topics such as contours and water collection. This follows two of our staff visiting Tanzania to spend time with the EARN team in July.
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