A spring in our step
March seems to have has come around very quickly, along with my return to the UK after spending the last two months in Uganda.
In this time we have achieved a lot as a team; such as celebrating our 15th birthday with a big holiday camp with the kids and trekking up Mount Elgon, introducing our new UK Chair of the Board, Bill, to our Ugandan team and board, training 34 more families in running a business, carrying out research with thousands of children on the streets, and getting 147 children back into school, to name but a few.
I have also been privillaged to reconnect to, and share with others, what makes us all so passionate about being part of this amazing charity: spending time with resilient children and families who are getting the opportunity to build a brighter future with our support.
💚 At our Drop in Centres and on street walks where our team are building trust with children on the streets.
💛Listening to the stories of children staying at our Halfway Homes and seeing them enjoy learning new skills like Permaculture.
💚The hard work that children are putting in as they overcome the addictions they developed while on the streets as coping mechanisms.
💛 The incredible happiness of families being reunited with their children, sometimes after being apart for years.
💚 Inspirational parents who, with the help of our Business Empowerment team, are working hard to support their families.
💛 The joy being felt by the children in our Education Support programme as they returned to school for the new term/ school year.
At every step of the way, you can’t help but be inspired by our dedicated team of staff, supporters, volunteers and trustees, both in the UK and Uganda, who work tirelessly to support street connected children and their families. Thank you – without your hard work, we would not be able to provide these vital services at a time when they have never been more needed.
So I am returning to the UK with a spring in my step, buoyed by our amazing global S.A.L.V.E. family, ready to help us to support even more children and their families to turn their lives around. With a bit of luck, I’ll bring a bit of Ugandan sunshine with me too!
Three dates for your diary
We have lots coming up for you to look forward to!
The first is our fun-filled Ceili, which takes place on Friday 31st March in Manchester. Dance the night away for two fantastic causes – S.A.L.V.E. International and The Pearl Trust for Uganda – with tickets available from our website here.
The second is our S.A.L.V.E. Summit, which will be at 7:30pm on Wednesday 12 April. This engaging, free online event is designed to give you a current overview of S.A.L.V.E. International as an organisation and an insight into how we are supporting street connected children and their families in their own words. It will include us releasing our new research into life on the streets. The winners of our raffle will be drawn at this event too, more about that below!
And last but not least we would love for you to join our S.A.L.V.E. team to take part in the Peak District Challenge on 8-9 July. With distances from 10km up to 100km, there is something for everybody and we would love to have you along with us.
S.A.L.V.E. news round up
📄 We carried out the second phase of our research project in February to better understand the number of young people on the streets, their habits and trends. We will be sharing the findings of our study at our S.A.L.V.E. Summit in April which we hope you can attend.
📚 The children in Uganda returned to school in February and we are very proud to now have over 140 children in our Education Support programme. We are always on the look out for more sponsors or people who can give to our Education Fund to help the children who have not yet had the chance to return to education. Find out more about how to get involved here.
👀 Read our latest blog, ‘When Families Break’ about a young girl’s time on the streets, addiction to drugs and then returning home to her mum.
🏔️One of our epic Mount Elgon Mountaineers and all-round-super-star-adventurers, Alice Morrison, has blogged about her experience of visiting S.A.L.V.E. and meeting the children we support, including the child whose education she sponsors. Read ‘Not all love stories are romantic’ here.
Win big in our raffle!
We are very excited to launch our raffle for 2023! We have 14 fantastic prizes up for grabs, including a personalised photo frame worth £139, a case of Italian wines, go-karting and paintballing experiences, gorgeous goodies for you and your home and much, much more!
Tickets are just £3 and you can buy as many as you like. Keep an eye out on our social media as we will also be running a competition for people who share our posts and spread the word about our raffle.
So, what are you waiting for? To be in with a chance of winning one of our top prizes follow this link and remember – the more tickets you buy the better chances you have of being a winner!
S.A.L.V.E. news round up
📄 We carried out the second phase of our research project in February to better understand the number of young people on the streets, their habits and trends. We will be sharing the findings of our study at our S.A.L.V.E. Summit in April which we hope you can attend.
📚 The children in Uganda returned to school in February and we are very proud to now have over 140 children in our Education Support programme. We are always on the look out for more sponsors or people who can give to our Education Fund to help the children who have not yet had the chance to return to education. Find out more about how to get involved here.
👀 Read our latest blog, ‘When Families Break’ about a young girl’s time on the streets, addiction to drugs and then returning home to her mum.
🏔️One of our epic Mount Elgon Mountaineers and all-round-super-star-adventurers, Alice Morrison, has blogged about her experience of visiting S.A.L.V.E. and meeting the children we support, including the child whose education she sponsors. Read ‘Not all love stories are romantic’ here.
Lottery for Change
This month’s Lottery for Change winner is Harriet! 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 your continued solidarity and support. We are so grateful to be part of such a caring community of people, working together to give opportunities to children living on the streets of Uganda.
If you have any questions or feedback, please do not hesitate to get in touch. We always love to hear from you.
Lots of love and (hopefully) Ugandan sunshine from,
Nicola and the whole S.A.L.V.E. team
Each month the children in Uganda want to hear from your for our interactive debate on the last Thursday of the month. You can get involved either ahead of time or on the day via our website.
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