► Charity of the Year
As well as raising supporting students in running fundraisers for random charities, every year the Students’ Union officers responsible for RAG decide on a specific charitable organisation to donate to.
This is done for a number of reasons:
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As we are a small student community compared to most other institutions, the amount raised is guaranteed to be a lot less.
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As such if we were to have lots of charities to donate to they would receive amounts that would hardly make any difference whatsoever.
- We also require that our end of year donation can be proven to be put towards a specific project so the students can see and know that their money is making a difference.
2010-11 UCSU Charity of the year
Last year's chosen charity of the year was L.A.R.K. (Linking Arms with Rescued Kids)
LARK’s sole purpose is to support the Centre, through prayer, contact and funding, and we contribute about 50% of the Centre’s income. Some of us have visited the Centre and we have regular contact with the Trustees and the Centre’s Administrator so we know where the funds are going and are updated with news of the children and the development.
The charity itself
LARK is a charity based in Kings Sutton that runs a rescue centre for street children in Eldoret, Kenya. Eldoret is a large town in the Rift Valley district in Western Kenya. It is definitely not on the tourist track!
There are thousands of children living and sleeping on the streets in Kenya, because they have been orphaned, abandoned or have run away from an abusive situation. The Rescue Centre, which was set up in 2002, houses up to 250 children and takes any child who wishes to be there, irrespective of their health state or age – they can be babies or teenagers, girls and boys, healthy or HIV+, on drugs and glue. The Centre aims to rehabilitate them through caring for them, helping them off drugs, treating any illnesses they have and educating them – initially in the early childhood development class and in the primary school (6-14years) in the Centre. Many then go out of the Centre to the local primary and some to secondary school or to vocational college. All the girls learn to use a knitting and a sewing machine and hairdressing. If possible children are reunited with family members or settled back into their community. Younger children may be transferred to a permanent children’s home and the older youngsters are helped to find work and accommodation before they leave the Centre.
Ambitious plans to replace all the temporary wooden and galvanised huts and to expand the Centre’s activities have been approved. Secure fencing is part completed and building of a unit to provide security, support and education for street mothers and their babies and a unit which will provide for full vocational training for all the older boys and girls are the priorities.
LARK’s sole purpose is to support the Centre, through prayer, contact and funding, and we contribute about 50% of the Centre’s income. Some of us have visited the Centre and we have regular contact with the Trustees and the Centre’s Administrator so we know where the funds are going and are updated with news of the children and the development.
The Rescue Centre
The Rescue Centre in Eldoret is a safe refuge for about 200 children and young people who have been living on the streets. Its focus is rehabilitation and it provides a safe, caring environment, health care, counselling and education - key to enabling the young people to gain independence and to grow into useful, productive members of Kenyan society. It is an exciting, challenging place, dealing as it does with children rejected by society - abandoned through extreme poverty, orphaned, and those who have run away from an abusive situation. On the streets the children get by through stealing and begging. They are subjected to abuse and prone to take to glue or drugs to forget their misery. The Rescue Centre takes in any child, whatever their condition. Through the rehabilitation programme, the children are enabled to reach their potential, all undertaking primary education (6-14 years in Kenya), some going on to secondary school or vocational training and one is now at University. Whenever possible the children are repatriated with family members. If this is not possible young children are placed in permanent children's homes. On leaving the Centre, the young people are found jobs and are then able to earn a living and rent a room, often in Eldoret.
History
LARK was set up specifically to support the Rescue Centre because its founders had a personal contact with the first Director of the Centre. In 2010 we have sent £2,000 a month to the Centre as a contribution towards maintenance costs (food, staffing and so on) together with funding for secondary school and vocational training fees, and for special projects. LARK is a UK registered charity, but is based in the small village of King's Sutton, near Banbury, so it is a huge challenge to maintain the funding. Over the past five years several of the Trustees and others have visited the Rescue Centre to undertake voluntary work, to support the Director and staff and to ensure that the funding is being properly deployed. So - we know where our money goes and we get regular updates from the current Director.
The Building Project
In 2009 the Trustees of the Children's Community Society (the charity in Eldoret responsible for the Centre) signed the lease on the land occupied by the Centre plus an adjacent field - a total plot size of 20 acres. This was achieved after years of negotiation, and was a real cause for celebration. A volunteer UK architect has drawn up plans for the development of the whole site and continues to be responsible for all detailed planning. The plans involve replacing the old wooden and galvanised huts with purpose built stone buildings. They include separating first stage, intake units and the rehabilitation units, providing also a permanent children's home, a primary school that will also be available to neighbourhood children who would not otherwise be able to access school, an ambitious vocational training unit - again potentially available to neighbourhood young people, and a unit for street mothers and their babies for short term rehabilitation, including parenting classes and some vocational training. The total cost of the project is about £2m – and exciting challenge!
What your hard work and generous donations will pay for!
Previous charities yourselves and the Union have contributed to:
