Charity of the Month: SOS Children

November 2, 2009 by Brenda
Filed under Charity of the Month, Featured Posts, TGF Features

SOS Children’s Villages

There are an estimated 143 million orphaned children all around the world today. Many children lose their parents because of natural disasters, war, famine, disease or poverty. For many children without parents, life can be very hard. SOS Children, the world’s largest orphan charity, makes sure thousands of these children can have a new family and home for life.

SOS Children believes all children should belong to a family which is why they look after children who have lost their parents through war, famine, disease, natural disaster or poverty and strengthen families in need of support to enable them to stay together.

For 60 years, SOS Children has developed an approach based on building a community for children who have nobody to turn to. Traditionally, they provide children with a home, a family and a new mother in a purpose-built local Village, where they can stay until they are ready for independent life. They currently run 480 of these SOS Children’s Villages, caring directly for more than 70,000 children in 123 countries worldwide.

They also invest in the futures of thousands of children in the community, making sure they have the tools they need to become independent young adults. SOS Children do this by building and running more than 500 nursery, primary and secondary schools, which are open to children in our care and to those from the local community. Furthermore, Vocational Training Centres equip people of all ages with the practical skills they need to earn a living and lead independent lives.

In areas where medical support is scarce or non-existent, SOS Medical Centres provide communities with immediate medical treatment and preventative and palliative care. SOS Children also offer skills, training, education, counselling, micro-loans and improved nutrition to vulnerable families so they are able to provide for their children and stay together in difficult times. And in times of conflict, famine or disaster, they are quick to provide emergency assistance.

Around the world, SOS Children supports over one million children and adults in their efforts to ensure children have a family for life. By 2016, they aim to make sure a million children will get to grow up in a family. Of these, 100,000 will be given a family and home in an SOS Children’s Village and 900,000 will be able to grow up in their own family with their support.

For just £20 a month, you can sponsor an orphaned or abandoned child and ensure they have the opportunity to grow up in a loving home and have a family for life. For more information, visit www.soschildren.org or call 01223 365589 or email info@soschildren.org

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