October 2024 newsletter

Thank you for stepping up

September has completely bowled me over. This month, we asked people to #StepUpforSALVE and street connected children as we embarked on a mammoth challenge to raise £10,000 in just 30 days.

When the month started, I wasn’t sure what to expect – would we reach the total? Would people get behind us? Would it help raise awareness of the needs of young people on the street? The answer, I’m very pleased to say, is a resounding yes all round!

I am utterly delighted to share that we beat our target of £10,000 and, to date, have raised over £12,000. A very big thank you to everyone who has donated, sponsored or taken part.

With this money we can do so many wonderful things to give young people and their families better opportunities. We could:

📈 support 20 families to receive business training and start up capital

📚 send 50 primary-age school children to school for a whole year

🏠 provide 1,200 days and nights of safety for children away from the streets

September has also been an exceptionally busy month for our team in Uganda. Not only were they taking part in #StepUpforSALVE themselves, our team has been travelling the length and breadth of the country to help children in our education programme return to school. This often involves long journeys and multiple visits to pay for school fees and to check-in with the children that they are happy and remain settled at home.

Our social worker team also reassess families’ needs during these visits to see if they need additional support – such as empowering them with a business – and we also identify where families are in the position to start to pay for their children’s school fees themselves.

This is a hugely positive step forward – as it shows that our business training programme is working and that families are improving their income. It also means that we can turn our resources to help support more young people who need us. Thanks to the £12,000 that you helped us to raise this month, we are excited to be able to make an even bigger impact over the coming months.

How we #SteppedUp this September

Our incredible #StepUpforSALVE month started with young people staying at our residential site doing a four hour, non-stop aerobic session in the Ugandan heat. For anyone who has ever taken part in an aerobics session, you will know that this is a LOT! You can watch a video of their epic achievements here.

Then one of our co-founders, Nicola, hosted a ‘Dinothon’ where she walked laps of a park in Manchester clocking up an impressive 40km, dressed as a T-rex with her friends and family. Catch up on her roarsome achievements here.

Throughout the month, we had walkers and runners tackling various distances, from the pre-schoolers at The Burrow Nursery running laps in their garden to our UK Chair of the Board walking 100 miles over the month.

A garden party was hosted and I attempted my own (with hindsight, totally crazy) challenge of covering 125km in 24 hours – which I’m pleased to say I survived, even if my knees did not! I was lucky to be joined in part by the local MP for where I live who, along with the others in her running club, was interested to hear about the plight of life on the streets for children in Uganda and how we’re trying to make a difference for them.

We are very grateful to everyone who took part and supported this challenge. There is still time to donate online via our appeal page here, and for anyone who fancies stepping up next time around – we’d love to hear from you!

Latest S.A.L.V.E. news

💃 We are co-hosting a fundraising ceili on Friday 18th October in Manchester. No previous dancing experience is required and everyone is welcome. Buy your tickets online via our website.

⚖️ Children at our residential rehabilitation site have enjoyed learning with the Legal Aid Project of Uganda Law Society, Jinja this month. They have been teaching the children about children’s rights and who to report to in case their rights are being violated.

🏏Young people at our Drop in Centre have enjoyed a cricket coaching session organised by Cricket Without Boundaries and East Enders Sport. This is the first of a programme of regular cricket sessions designed to give street connected boys and girls access to sport that they wouldn’t otherwise have.

Lottery for Change

Congratulations to Emma – this month’s winner of £100 in our Lottery for Change.

Would you like to be next month’s winner? For just £3 a month, you could be in with a chance of winning £100 and provide a street connected child with lunch for a week! Find out more here.

Webale nyo

Thank you for taking the time to read this email and catch up with what we have achieved, thanks to your support. If you are inspired by our work, please can we encourage you to tell your friends, family and colleagues about us: the more people that hear about the situations facing street connected youth the better.

If you have any questions or feedback, please do not hesitate to get in touch. We are always keen to hear from you.

With optimism and thanks,

Lucas and the whole S.A.L.V.E. team