A Fife-based charity has been awarded thousands of pounds of UK aid funding to help children in need in Africa.
The Tushinde Children’s Trust, which has three trustees registered in Kingsbarns, secured a grant through the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) to reach more families living in the slums of Kenya.
The support, which takes the form of a rolling grant up to £50,000 via the Small Charities Challenge Fund, will help send children to school and protect families from crises such as eviction, hunger or life-changing illness.
“It’s amazing news,” said Megan Wright, founder and director of the charity.
“With this money from DFID, we are able to trial a new way of supporting families with complex needs by using volunteers supported by our trained social workers.
“This is a trial project; if it works and children have the same or better outcomes with the volunteers than if they were supported by social workers alone, then it will mean our project can be more cost effective.
“We are looking forward to working with the team from DFID as we hope they are able to help us with the evaluation of the project.”
Tushinde Children’s Trust, which will receive cash for an initial 24-month project, has been working in the informal settlements of Nairobi for almost 10 years and has a team of 12 social workers who are in the field every day.
It aims to keep children with their families, off the streets and out of orphanages.
Tushinde was started in response to the observation that children in need were only coming to light when they were found begging on the streets, in exploitative labour or dead.
It aims to reach children before a crisis becomes so bad that the family falls apart.
Announcing the funding, International Development Minister Baroness Sugg said: “Tushinde Children’s Trust is keeping families together and helping children go to school by providing basic social care to stop them being forced into child labour.
“UK aid will help the Trust to train community volunteers to help sick parents get their children ready for school, or be a helping hand at night when parents may have to go to work.
“The Small Charities Challenge Fund makes it easier for small British charities like Tushinde Children’s Trust to access UK aid, helping them to improve lives and reduce poverty around the world.”
