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Reverse Advent Calendar – True Meaning of Christmas

MAKE ADVENT MORE MEANINGFUL Everyone loves counting down the days to Christmas but this year why not make advent much more meaningful? Teach your little ones the true meaning of Christmas and encourage them to help those less fortunate than themselves. With our Kids for Kids’ Reverse Advent Calendar, you can choose a different Gift for Darfur from 1st – 24th December and make a real difference to young lives. DOUBLE THE DIFFERENCE Not only that but this year, thanks to two very generous supporters, all donations received will be DOUBLED until we reach our target of £25,000! So you donate ONE goat…it becomes TWO! You donate TWO trees…they become FOUR! You will be making DOUBLE THE DIFFERENCE! GIFT A PERSONALISED CERTIFICATE For every Gift you donate to Darfur, you can choose a personalised Gift Certificate to gift to a friend or family member this Christmas. So you’re making DOUBLE THE DIFFERENCE to young lives in Darfur & GIVING CHRISTMAS GIFTS to loved ones at the same time! What could be a more perfect way to teach your children the importance of Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago

CHRISTMAS IS COMING – it really is!

At last we can celebrate together. Do join me at our beautiful Candlelit Christmas Concert and herald in this wonderful time of year as it should be, together again after such hard times. If you cannot join us in person we are recording it and can ‘meet’ online – but it is not the same, as I am sure you have all found when, after many months, we have a last been with people we love.  My heart goes out to you who have lost someone precious. If you have been struggling alone in these difficult months, perhaps it has also made you count your blessings? Being alone with time to think has made me even more determined to reach out to help children facing lives of intolerable hardship, yet with parents with the same hopes we have for our families. No matter where we  are born we continue to prove that it is possible to help, one child at a time. No problem is too big if we tackle it step by step. The world seems to have become Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Still Waiting for the Rains in Darfur…

Tragically, the news in Darfur is that in some parts there has been no sign of rain and the intense heat continues, in others there are floods which are washing away the seedlings that people have had to already plant. I’m sure you know that Darfur is the size of France, so you can understand the extremes. The result, of course, if this continues will be starvation for families who have no way of diversifying from their subsistence crops. It gives you an indication of the importance of animals and in the extreme conditions of Darfur, goats are the ones we can rely on when all others fail. It has been such a worrying year with so many catastrophes combining to cause extreme hardship. Many families have been forced to eat the seed they had saved. We are therefore appealing, in addition to all of our much-needed projects, for emergency seed to enable families to plant so that they have something to feed their families in 2022. But it will be months before any harvest and meanwhile, children are hungry. Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Shaun runs London Marathon for Kids for Kids

We would like to say a huge congratulations to Shaun Gorvin & his wife Lucy for completing the London Marathon last Sunday. Hearing of Challenge20 and having obtained a place in the London Marathon through the ballot system, Shaun could think of no better cause than to try and raise some money for Kids for Kids. Shaun’s time was 4 hours and 52 minutes, with Lucy beating him by just 30 seconds! It was Shaun and his wife Lucy’s first marathon. Lucy is an NHS psychologist and when working with cardiac patients four years ago decided she should practice what she preached and start exercising. Shaun joined her on the ‘couch to 5k App’ and realising the physical and psychological benefits of running, has gradually built up the miles too. With regular Parkrun and other organised events, he feels running is now very social and much more fun than anticipated! During the run they were cheered on by friends and family, and even managed to spot their grandchildren in the crowd! In total, Shaun has managed to raise a HUGE Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Standing Up for Goats with a SUP20 Mile Challenge

If you happened to think you saw a GOAT paddleboarding down the River Thames the other day, you may not have been mistaken..!! A member of the Kids for Kids’ Team, Charlotte Allum, decided to take on a Challenge20, dressed as a goat to raise awareness for the Forgotten Children of Darfur. Charlotte and some supportive SUP-loving friends started in Goring on Thames at 7am on Saturday 25th September and arrived into Henley on Thames, 20 miles downstream, at 5.30pm the same day! Charlotte says, “I have loved paddleboarding for the past 2 years but have always loved messing about on (& sometimes in!) the water, rather than taking on serious challenges….until now, of course..! With Kids for Kids celebrating 20 years of supporting Darfur, it seemed only fitting that we attempt 20 miles on a stand up paddleboard (SUP)…dressed as a goat..!” Charlotte goes on to say “There was lots of planning involved to make sure everyone was safe on the day, a spare paddle was packed just in case and we had hoped for overcast conditions to ensure Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Dressing up for Darfur to Raise Awareness on RotaWalk’21

Well, what a way to spend a sunny Sunday..! If you happened to be in Holmwood Common, just south of Dorking, on Sunday 12th September, you may well have spotted the odd odd-looking GOAT, CHICKEN and even a FRIED EGG taking on the 4-mile RotaWalk’21, organised by Rotary in Dorking, to raise much-needed funds for Kids for Kids! There was much hilarity indeed, as well as increased awareness of Kids for Kids’ life-changing animal projects and generous donations raised! We set ourselves an ambitious target of £500 – that’s enough to provide TEN goats to two of the poorest families in Darfur. By the end of the walk, we had raised over £600! Just think how the goat’s milk will strengthen and nourish the children of the family. Children who are starving. Tragically in some parts of Darfur there has been no sign of rain recently and the intense heat continues. In other areas there are floods which are washing away the seedlings that people have had to already plant. Darfur is the size of France, so you can understand Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago

What a night! – 20th Anniversary Gala Ball

What a fabulous, star-filled, glamorous evening we all had at the exclusive Claridge’s Hotel in London’s Mayfair to celebrate 20 years of helping children!  We wanted a party – after these terrible months everyone deserves one – and it was the best party we have ever had.   We have booked next year’s Ball already, Saturday 30th July 2022.  Put it in your diary! I was so delighted to be able to celebrate at Claridge’s Hotel – I have wonderful memories from my teens, working opposite and living down the road in Hanover Square.  Yes – the truffles were as good as I remember!   We were looked after so well by everyone. The Ballroom is beautiful but our guests outshone even that! Thank you Martyn Nail, Executive Head Chef, for our wonderful dinner – a true celebration.  To see so many people having a wonderful time is so very special. I was touched to be offered handmade chocolates for everyone of our guests by the wonderful Raphia Chocolates.   Do you know them?  https://raphia.co.uk/  Flavours of Morocco.  They are fabulous! Thinking of Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Magical Candlelit Christmas Concert 2022

Join us for our Annual Candlelit Christmas Concert on Thursday 1st December 2022! Once again our Candlelit Concert will be held at St Peter’s Church in Eaton Square, London.  This is the perfect start to the Christmas season – Carols by Candlelight. It has always been a star studded evening with Readers including our wonderful Patrons, Joanna Lumley OBE, Miriam Margolyes OBE, Timothy West CBE, and The Lord Cope of Berkeley PC. This year we are thrilled that Valerie Singleton OBE and Karen Jankel, daughter of Paddington Bear‘s creator, Michael Bond, will be joining us.  We are also delighted that Thames Fanfare Brass will once again be raising the roof.  What would a Christmas Concert be without a Trumpet Fanfare?!  The angelic voices of the Queen’s Gate School Choirs will fill the church with gorgeous songs and there will, of course, be plenty of favourite Christmas Carols too for you to join in! The concert will begin at 7.00pm and will be followed by Mulled Wine & Mince Pies (included in your ticket). Adults £35.00  Children £17.00 (minimum donation). Book Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Candlelit Christmas Concert 2021 – LIVE IN LONDON!

We are delighted to announce that our magical, much loved, Candlelit Christmas Concert will once again be live in London at St Peter’s Eaton Square this year on Thursday 2nd December 2021.    The girls at our much loved Queen’s Gate School are already queuing up to rehearse! Please book your tickets as soon as possible as we will be extra specially careful to arrange social distancing as necessary and it will therefore be a first come, first served, basis.   Should Covid prevent us from holding the concert live, we will refund your ticket and restage the event on line, as we did last year. JOANNA LUMLEY WILL BE WITH US!    I am of course inviting all our Patrons – it was such a joy last year to have them all with us but on line.  You will remember us being able to talk to Timothy West from his home with Prunella in Wandsworth, and speaking to Miriam Margolyes in Italy.  This year the plan is to be together in person. Please order your tickets today!   We are keeping prices the Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Queen’s Birthday Honour for our children

Queen’s Birthday Honour – remembering the forgotten children of Darfur – OBE for Founder of Kids for Kids   Patricia Parker MBE, the Chief Executive and Founder of the Kids for Kids has been awarded an OBE by Her Majesty The Queen for her dedicated work over the past 20 years helping children in Darfur. “This is a fantastic honour to receive” said Patricia. “I can hardly believe that Darfur is being honoured in this way. It is certainly one I never expected. Darfur is one of the most forgotten regions of the world. When I first went to Darfur 20 years ago with my son Alastair King-Smith, who was working at the British Embassy, I was shocked to find how children were living. Even friends in Khartoum had not realised how bad conditions had become. The level of deprivation was beyond imagining, and sadly it has hardly changed in all this time. Water is the most basic essential for us all, yet children were walking hour upon hour across the desert under the unforgiving sun to reach a simple Read more

By Charlotte Allum, ago