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From Darfur to Downing Street – Celebrating 23 Years Changing Lives

Kids for Kids, the only charity dedicated to transforming the lives of children in Darfur, Sudan, marked its 23rd birthday with a special celebration at No. 11 Downing Street, hosted by The Rt Hon Mr Jeremy Hunt MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, on Thursday 7th March 2024. Hunt opened the celebration, which welcomed long-term supporters of the charity, by saying: “This is an amazing and wonderful cause. I was incredibly impressed by Kids for Kids and I want to thank you all for your commitment to it and the incredible difference you are making to the lives of children in and around Darfur. It is absolutely incredible”. Long-standing Patron of Kids for Kids, Dame Joanna Lumley DCMG FRGS was guest of honour at the event and took to the floor to say just why she is such a firm believer in the charity. “Kids for Kids, that sounds easy. Give kids so that they will produce milk, that means that children can be nourished, that means that yoghurt can be sold, that means that little families can stay together. But Read more…

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Could you Dance for Darfur?

Could you Dance for the children of Darfur this year and have some FUN with FUN-draising? We recently received this wonderful video from one of our Kindergartens – do take a look, it is heart-warming! And it goes to show that children are still able to dance in our Kindergartens, despite the war! Isn’t that incredible? So we thought – why don’t we all Dance for Darfur this year?? How can you help? Could you hold a Show for us this Summer? We would be so grateful if you could organise a show for the friends and family of your students and donate the proceeds to help us save the lives of the Children in Darfur. Perhaps you could raise enough for five Goats for a family (£250), a Midwife to save babies’ lives (£2,000), a Handpump to provide clean water (£6,500) or even a Kindergarten so children can gain an education & dream of a future out of poverty (£20,000)? Sell drinks & snacks for Donations? Are you already organising a show? Please could you ask for donations for Read more…

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Give us the best Birthday Present this International Women’s Day

This International Women’s Day is our 23rd birthday! To help celebrate our 23rd birthday on 8th March 2024 and support Mothers, Aunts, Grandmothers and young girls in Darfur, so desperately struggling in heart-breaking conditions, please will you give a gift that will change their lives for good – on International Women’s Day? What can I donate to really help save lives? By donating a Goat this International Women’s Day you will be helping a mother in Darfur to feed her starving children and help her to earn a living for her family. A Goat allows a mother to protect her children from starvation by giving them nutritious milk and provides the opportunity for her to earn an income by selling excess milk and yoghurt. For the first time, a mother will be able to influence her family’s future. By donating to our Water projects, you will help mother’s give clean, safe water to their parched children. No longer will they have to risk their lives on the long treacherous walk for water. Or donate to our Emergency Fund, whatever you Read more…

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Darfur: the news no one wants to hear

This is one of the hardest updates I have had to write in all the 23 years since my son Alastair and I first went to Darfur in 2001.  We were so shocked at seeing the conditions in which children were living then that we knew we had to find a way to improve their lives with projects that would transform life long term.  So many aid agencies provide help that leaves no trace.  We were determined to be different.  The projects we devised, by working directly with the communities, have lifted individual families out of abject poverty and helped to strengthen whole communities over the years.  I could not have known how invaluable our projects would become.  Despite years and years of conflict, massive inflation and turbulence, the world has continued to look away as even worse violence erupts across the entire country. Since the overthrow of the transitional civilian Government and its hope for democracy, the subsequent violence has decimated Sudan, and nowhere worse than in Darfur.  Today the regional capital of North Darfur, El Fasher itself, is Read more…

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Welcome to new Patron, Sir David Suchet CBE

Sir David Suchet CBE has been a supporter of Kids for Kids since 2017, after appearing as a Guest Reader at our Candlelit Christmas Concert, and we are delighted to now welcome him as an esteemed Patron in 2024. Sir David Suchet CBE is an English actor known for his work on stage and in television. He has received international acclaim and recognition following his performance as Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot (1989-2013), has portrayed Edward Teller in the television serial Oppenheimer (1980) and received the RTS and BPG awards for his performance as Augustus Melmotte in the British serial The Way We Live Now (2001). Thank you so much for all your support, Sir David, it is wonderful to have you as part of the team saving lives of children and their families in Darfur.

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Happy News from Darfur at Last!

Despite the ongoing war in Sudan and more than 14 million children in dire need, we have just received this wonderful video of children at the Kids for Kids’ Kindergarten in Azargarfa, a village we adopted in 2004, celebrating Independence Day with their friends and families! This Kindergarten was donated by the City of London School back in 2014 – and just look how their help really is continuing to make an enormous difference! This is an amazing sight and proof that life is managing to continue in our Kids for Kids’ Villages thanks to our sustainable projects. Could you also change children’s lives like this? Please do give whatever you can to our Education projects and give children hope of a future out of poverty.

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Animal Lovers, Please Help us Spread the Word!

We are appealing to all you animal lovers to please help us spread the word about the terrible plight facing our life-saving Goats. Since fighting broke out in April 2023, veterinary care in Darfur has collapsed. Our Goats, who save the lives of countless children in our villages, are sadly dying at a rapid rate due to untreated infections.  Could you please ask your local Vets to put this poster up in their waiting room? Downloadable versions of the poster are here: Veterinary Poster for UK Supporters Veterinary Poster for US Supporters Veterinary Poster for Australian Supporters Thank you so much for all your support in helping us spread the word and putting up a poster in your local Vets. We are so grateful to you all.

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Our Projects Give Women Valuable Life Skills

We do not believe in charity. We believe in helping people to help themselves. How do we do it?   Before we introduce any of our sustainable projects to adopted villages, we have to be sure that the whole community wants to support our projects.   Although, in time, we will be helping the whole community, initially our help is to the poorest families, so we must be sure that there is agreement, and full accountability to the village as a whole.   First we help with the selection and training of Committees to run the projects so they become self-sustainable. Through democratic election, the Village Development Committee (VDC) and Animal Loan Committee (ALC) are chosen, trained and assisted by our Kids for Kids’ team in Sudan. 98% of women in Darfur are illiterate. Hard to believe in this day and age.  But, as part of the training we provide, many women are given skills they would not otherwise receive. Khadiga, a married woman aged 42, was democratically chosen as the ALC Leader of Fardal back in 2017, when the village was adopted. In Read more…

By Charlotte Allum, ago

You made DOUBLE the Difference – and more! – in December

You may remember that Joanna Lumley and three generous friends very kindly pledged to double any donations we received in December – up to £27,500? Well, the figures are in and amazingly you wonderful lot not only helped us reach that target but exceeded it…by donating over £44,900! So that means that the £27,500 has been doubled to £55,000 and the extra £17,400 means together we have raised a total of £72,400 in December! Just incredible! Words cannot begin to describe how grateful we are to you all. The UN describes the situation in Sudan as ‘the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today’ – with more people who have lost their homes than in the rest of the world combined. But your support now means these families are not forgotten. We are determined to make 2024 a year in which we reach more people than ever and your support is giving us hope, as well as to the families we care for, thank you.

By Charlotte Allum, ago

Magical Candlelit Christmas Concert 2024

Join us and celebrity friends for our Annual Candlelit Christmas Concert on Thursday 5th December 2024!  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. Click here to book your tickets > It has always been a star-studded evening, and this year we will have readings from Lyse Doucet CM OBE, award-winning Chief International Correspondent and Senior Presenter for BBC World News television and radio, together with our wonderful Patron the Lord Cope of Berkeley PC. Soprano Bibi Heal, accompanied by Stephen Barlow, will be entertaining us with stunning solos and we are 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, together with wonderful harp music by Lesley Magee, 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 Read more…

By Charlotte Allum, ago

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