Our passion at Creating Better Futures is for every child that we support to achieve their potential through education. We could not do this without our dedicated supporters, partners, staff and volunteers for whom we are extremely grateful.
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our work became a lifeline for more than 5,000 orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe as they were abruptly sent home without learning resources, protective equipment, access to clean water and school meals. At the same time, we faced an uphill challenge as our fundraising events and activities were cancelled. With the rising infection rates and reported deaths, our already limited resources have been dwindling rapidly.
We urgently need your help. Please support our appeal with a one-off or recurring donation. You could enable 5,000 children to learn, grow, and follow their dreams. May God bless you for your generosity.
Navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic:
The pandemic continues to cause a severe humanitarian crisis and medical disaster in Zimbabwe. Our team received a record number of requests for assistance in March and April 2020. Because the children we support have lost one or both parents, they live with extended family, usually grandparents. The guardians, unable to work, didn’t know how they would feed their children. Few people had masks, which exposed young children to the deadly disease. With your generous support, we delivered a successful coronavirus appeal. Together, we were a vital lifeline to hundreds of vulnerable families. We provided food, hand washing facilities, sanitizers, supplies, protective equipment and information about the virus in the local language.
Now our small charity feels the financial cost of the pandemic. We have lost countless fundraising opportunities and have been forced to cancel several key events. Major events like the Reading Half Marathon, the Out of Africa Ball and other fundraisers organised by our supporters usually enable us to deliver life changing support in Zimbabwe. These opportunities to raise much needed funds were unfortunately cancelled in 2020 and this is likely to be the same until the end of 2021.
As a result, we have no choice but to flexibly furlough our UK staff team, who will only work on a much reduced part time basis. This was an extremely difficult decision for such a small team with such critical responsibilities. Our dedicated team members work above and beyond to secure funding opportunities for the children, administer programmes for them to participate in, organise events for their benefit, and share their stories with the world. We are deeply concerned by the impact that this will have on our work but with limited resources and few opportunities to hold major fundraiser, it is our only resort.
Risks:
How will these developments impact the children? Most importantly, our core programmes will remain in place. The 250 sponsored children will continue to receive their access to education and food parcels. We are grateful to all CBF child sponsors for making this possible through their continued support. However, 4,750 children that we have supported through fundraising events and activities are at risk. It is to enable our team to continue raising funds to support these children and others like them that we are appealing for ongoing support.
We are deeply concerned about the long term effects of the pandemic on the children. Being at home has exposed them to the risk of hunger, malnutrition, infection, exploitation, rejection and lack of education. All this risks having an impact on their mental health and well-being. Our mission is to give every child we encounter the best chance in life. Whatever their goals and dreams, every child benefits from our work. Sadly, COVID-19 risks drastically limiting the opportunities we can provide. A year without fundraising activities has prevented thousands of children from accessing life changing programmes.
Appeal summary:
We can’t let the pandemic stop children reaching their potential. We are asking for support to make sure it doesn’t. Any contribution you make will help to replace the major fundraising opportunities lost due to the pandemic.
You can create a long lasting recovery from covid-19 by:
- Making a one-off donation to help replace the loss of our fundraising events.
- Setting up a regular recurring donation. Donating as little as £5 a month could provide a week’s food supply.
Your generosity is vital during this, the worst of the COVID-19 crisis. Your ongoing support will help us to plan ahead. Please join us to build a sustainable post-covid future. Thank you.
