RotaWalk’24 – Let’s Step for Sudan!

Join us for the next RotaWalk, organised by Rotary in Dorking which will take place on Sunday 28th April 2024, on the National Trust land of Holmwood Common, due south of Dorking. Help us raise desperately-needed funds for the children of Darfur by raising sponsorship and challenging yourself to complete this 4 mile circular route with family and friends around the beautiful Holmwood Common. The route is a flattish, cinder-based all-weather circuit, suitable for all ages, and easily negotiated with push-chairs and mobility scooters. Join Charlotte, Davina and friends for this lovely walk – a great chance to get some steps in, enjoy the countryside and perhaps do a bit of bird-spotting too. April 28th will be just under one year on from King Charles’ Coronation, so there will be some Royal connections to pass, as well as other interesting beauty spots! Fancy dress outfits are actively encouraged too! Join us on 28th April 2024 When? We will meet at 10:00am for a 10:30am start on 28th April 2024 Where? We will check in at the ‘base camp’ on the Read more…

A thread of hope

At this terrible time of violence across Darfur there is a thread of hope. Hassan, our Acting Programme Manager, has managed to join our Trustee, Khalid Mekki, in Port Sudan.   They are working together, with the volunteers in Darfur, to help us get emergency supplies to families in desperate need out of sight in the remote villages of North Darfur. Our priority is initially to deliver emergency supplies to the 110 villages that Kids for Kids has already adopted. We are thankful that we can at last plan, despite the atrocities that are being perpetrated in Darfur. Internet is intermittent but they have established contact and are now working on a safe plan to enable desperately needed basics to reach families. The violence broke out in April and as yet there is no end in sight. ”I am enormously grateful to our friends in Darfur that, despite their worries for their own families, they are doing all they can to enable Kids for Kids to help families struggling out of sight of the world” said Patricia Parker OBE, Founder of Read more…

Midwife in Darfur holding a baby

Sudan Emergency – can anything be done? Midwives save lives in Darfur

Midwives in remote villages in Darfur, Sudan, are more urgently needed now than ever. There is no health care in villages. The few rural hospitals are not only struggling with those injured in the fighting, they are short of medicines – short of everything. The danger of travelling anywhere in Darfur is endangering the lives of expectant mothers. Can anything be done? Midwife training Since 2001 Kids for Kids, the British charity founded specifically to help children in remote villages in Darfur, has been training midwives, not only in the 110 Kids for Kids’ villages but across the whole of North Darfur. There are over 500 Kids for Kids midwives working in villages with no other health care. They are saving lives. They are helping to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality rates, and they are providing desperately needed support to women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. Women at great risk It is known that many babies have been born prematurely in Khartoum since the fighting, but with virtually all hospitals under attack from indiscriminate bombing by the warring Read more…

Cubs do their Best for Children of Darfur

These wonderful Cubs in Berkshire have baked and sold delicious treats , run mile after mile (with and without footballs! ⚽ ), completed chores to fill smartie tubes with coins and generally been FABULOUS FUNDRAISERS!! They’ve all worked hard to achieve their Project Africa badge and, in total, have managed to raise a whopping £1,300.08 for the children of Darfur!! Thank you so much – what kind-hearted souls you all are. Could you follow this Cubs Pack’s lead and set up your own fundraising challenge to raise vital funds for the families in Sudan? Have FUN with FUN-draising and get involved today! – Fundraise for Us Or please donate today towards our emergency appeal – Donate to Kids for Kids

KING-dergarten donated by King Charles III changes children’s lives in Darfur, Sudan

RH King Charles III took part in a one-off and unique art auction to raise money for families in Darfur, Sudan, before he came to the throne of Great Britain, and enabled Kids for Kids to build its first Kindergarten – or King-dergarten – to transform children’s lives! Joining an impressive list of celebrities which included His Holiness Pope Benedict VII, Prime Minister David Cameron, Sir Quentin Blake CE FCSD RDI, Eamonn Holmes, Dame Kelly Holmes DBE, Ken Howard OBE RA, and many more.  HRH King Charles III donated a lithograph in 2012 as part of ‘Drawn to Darfur’ an art auction, organised by Kids for Kids to help children living in remote villages. The auction raised a staggering £72,000 which enabled the charity to adopt an entire village in Darfur, introducing its life-changing sustainable projects to the community. A new handpump meant there was clean water for families at last. The Kids for Kids’ Goat loan allowed mothers to feed their malnourished children protein-rich goat’s milk and save their lives. Not only that, but a new Kindergarten was built Read more…

Boy from Darfur, Sudan looking out from his hut

Emergency Appeal to help Children in Darfur, Sudan

Kids for Kids is appealing for emergency funding to help families without any food, water and basic supplies in Darfur, Sudan. Kids for Kids is the only organisation, working from the regional capital El Fasher, helping children in remote villages. Emergency funding is essential to help provide for thousands of families in desperate need of food, water, shelter and medical care. Patricia Parker OBE, CEO and Chairman of Trustees for Kids for Kids, said: “We are seeking emergency help for families who are desperately short of food and water. They dare not leave their homes whilst fighting rages around them – battles have broken out across Darfur, not just in Khartoum. Children are always the first to suffer when fighting erupts. The situation in Darfur has exacerbated an already dire situation where shortages across the country have led to many families struggling to feed their children. In Darfur, conditions were already worse than we have ever known. Families need basic essentials including flour and seeds as well as repairs to broken water hand pumps. Drinking water is in desperately short Read more…

Davina Patel, Kids for Kids Deputy CEO

Welcome Davina Patel, our new Deputy CEO!

We are delighted to welcome Davina Patel to the Kids for Kids Team who has joined us today as our new Deputy CEO. Davina has always been passionate about helping women and children who seemingly have no voice and developed a real interest in Darfur, choosing to base her dissertation on the struggles in the region when she studied journalism at the London College of Communication in 2006. Since then, Davina has worked for social impact organisations in management roles, providing strategic direction and innovation, and brings with her a wealth of experience in PR, marketing, communications and event management. Davina says, ‘I am thrilled to be joining Kids for Kids. I am in awe of the work the team and Patricia has done since starting in 2001. What I love about the charity is that it provides real sustainable change to children and families living in Darfur. The projects have the ability to lift whole communities out of poverty and give children hope for a better future. I am really excited to help Kids for Kids grow, reaching more Read more…

Update on 2,023 SIT-UPS in March 2023

Well, there were sit-ups in the sun , in the gym , with dogs , by the side of the rugby pitch , with goats , and even dressed as a goat!! There were times we didn’t think we were going to make it, there were times we felt broken BUT your wonderful messages of support and very generous donations carried us through!! Thank you so much to everyone who took part in and supported our 2,023 Sit-ups Challenge in March! We are delighted to announce that so far this challenge has raised a whopping £7,692.86!! WOW! And funds are still coming in! That’s a new hand pump for one of our villages in Darfur..!! And more..! Clean water for a whole community! No longer will children need to walk hours under the hot desert sun for every drop to drink. Instead they’ll be able to go to school, gain an education and dream of a future out of poverty All because of you!! You guys really are incredible!! Thank you so so much! And if you haven’t managed to Read more…

Kids for Kids’ Quiz Night 12th April

Are you a serious Quizzer seeking your next challenge? Or perhaps just looking for a fun night out with friends?

Whatever your quizzing capability, come and join Les and the Dorking Wanderers on Wednesday 12th April at their Charity Quiz Night all in aid of Kids for Kids!

Entry is just £2 per person, maximum of 7 people per team! Food is available and do enter the raffle!

To book a table please email les@dorkingwanderers.com or text 07970 8900031.

Best of luck and do let us know how you get on!!

Good News – and Bad

The good news?  Despite the worrying news I get almost daily, Kids for Kids is thriving in Darfur.   Our wonderful team continues to make field visits to our villages – as you know we have 110, with another five I will be announcing in the next few weeks.  Our volunteer committees report that children in our villages are not dying from starvation despite the worst conditions I have known since we started Kids for Kids 22 years ago.  Our little goats continue to deliver the miracle of health, and water is flowing in new handpumps thanks to the wonderful people who donate to our water projects.   But – donations are NOT flowing.   I need your help please if we are to do what we have promised. Last year the World Health Organisation warned that a third of the population across Sudan would face starvation. It was worse than that. Darfur is struggling with conflict, drought, floods – and soaring inflation. In Darfur there were floods in August. There was no spraying of standing water, and mosquitoes swarmed. Malaria is still Read more…