Creating Better Futures was registered as a charity in 2012 in Reading, UK, by CEO Dorothy Dix and her husband, Michael whilst Dorothy was on maternity leave with her first daughter, Jasmine. However, the concept of Creating Better Futures began many years before this. Dorothy’s mother, Beverley, who still lives in Zimbabwe, has been identifying needy children in the community for a number of years and helps them where possible, but Dorothy decided it was the right time to create a fully registered charity to support these children.
Our CEO, Dorothy Dix, was born and raised in Zimbabwe and received sponsorship to go to school when she was a child. After excelling, she received a scholarship to attend United World Colleges in Norway, and later the University of Reading. After starting a family in the UK, she decided that now was the time to give back to the community that she grew up in, which is where our passion comes from.
We currently have a core team of 5 people in the UK:
- Dorothy Dix- Co-Founder and CEO, dorothy@creatingbetterfutures.org.uk
- Michael Dix- Co-Founder and Treasurer, michael@creatingbetterfutures.org.uk
- Annie Burt- Operations Manager, annie@creatingbetterfutures.org.uk
- Izi Coley- Development Officer, izi@creatingbetterfutures.org.uk
- Sasha Moran- Events and Fundraising Co-ordinator, events@creatingbetterfutures.org.uk
We currently have a core team of 3 people in Zimbabwe:
- Beverley Matondo- Co-Founder and Domboshawa Operations Manager, beverley@creatingbetterfutures.org.uk
- Dean Matondo- Mutare Operations Manager, dean@creatingbetterfutures.org.uk
- Tatenda Muchenje- Admin and Schools Support
Our office hours are 9.30am-4.30pm Monday-Friday (depending on the availability of our volunteers) and our office address is First Floor, Unit 4, Beacontree Plaza, Gillette Way, Reading, RG2 0BS. Our office phone number is 0118 327 1154.
This situation could occur for a number of reasons; however, it is not a standard that we strive towards. We must recognise that the nature of our work and the vulnerability of the children we are involved with may mean that the child has had to miss school on the letter writing day, and the team are finding a convenient time to reschedule the letter writing with absent children, meaning there is going to be a slight delay in getting the communications to you. The UK team will update you where possible. However, if it has been a number of months and you have still not heard from your child, please contact us on sponsor@creatingbetterfutures.org.uk and someone will be able to look into this for you.
Unfortunately, there is some occasions where a child has had to relocate with other family members into a different area. Where this happens, Creating Better Futures does not have the right to intervene, and whilst it is sad, we must hope that the decision made by the child’s family is within the child’s best interests. The team will keep in contact with the child where possible and ensure their welfare needs are being met. In these cases, we will immediately contact you as soon as we have heard that the child has relocated, and we will allocate you a new child to support.
We are very lucky to receive our office space for free through Centric Community Projects. Their work is incredible, and you can find out more about them here: http://centricprojects.org
If you would like to register your interest in volunteering with us and joining a team of positive and passionate people, please email volunteer@creatingbetterfutures.org.uk and someone will send you an application form to complete.
We work in 2 areas of rural Zimbabwe- Domboshawa and Mutare. Domboshawa is 40km North of the capital city, Harare, and Mutare is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, surrounded by rural mountainous villages.
We work in 10 schools, both primary and secondary:
- Cheza Primary School
- Chinamhora Primary School
- Mutake Primary School
- Zimbiru Primary School
- Chitakatira Primary School
- Chitakatira Secondary School
- Chinamhora Secondary School
- Makumbi Secondary School
- Muchapondwa Secondary School
- Nyakudya Secondary School
We currently support 3008 children through our feeding programme and 200 children through child sponsorship, numbers of lives indirectly impacted by other projects will be in excess of 6000.
The bulk of our funding is from individual sponsorships; however, this funding is restricted. Our unrestricted funding budget comes from one-off donations and ongoing campaigns as well as large events such as the Out of Africa charity ball and the Reading Half Marathon.
The CBF office address is: First Floor, Unit 4, Beacontree Plaza, Gillette Way, Reading, RG2 0BS.