Hope for Children launches first ever match funding appeal in partnership with UK Government

Hope for Children, an international children’s charity, has been selected by the Department for International Development (DFID) to receive match funding in support of their first ever national fundraising appeal. Hope for Children will launch the 3-month Head Held High appeal on Saturday 23^rd September, which will run until 23 December. The appeal will raise funds for vulnerable children in Africa who are being denied their basic right to education. Through the UK Aid Match scheme, every pound donated or raised by members during the appeal, will be matched by the Government.

The Head Held High appeal will raise funds to transform the lives of at least 1,500 children living in poverty by ensuring they have access to a quality education. Without an education, children as young as 6 years are often forced to work in fields, pick scraps or are exposed to the daily dangers of wandering the streets or slums they live in.

Match funding will support the charity’s education based projects in rural, northern Ghana. In this region, children are 4 times more likely to be out of school than the rest of the country, and a shocking 1 in 5 are still involved in hazardous forms of child labour.

The Head Held High appeal will fund activities including providing school books and uniforms, as well as running teacher training programmes to improve the quality of education available – only 53% of teachers have any formal training in Ghana.

As a result of these simple solutions, thousands of disadvantaged children will have the opportunity to break free from poverty and live their life with their head held high. Funds raised by the appeal will also be used to support the charity’s education projects in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

Murielle Maupoint, CEO of the charity said: “We are absolutely thrilled that Hope for Children’s Head Held High appeal has been selected for UK Aid Match. As a small but ambitious charity, this is an amazing opportunity for the UK public to get behind this appeal and double the impact of their donation to improve access to a quality education for vulnerable children in Ghana and East Africa.”

International Development Secretary Priti Patel said: “Children across the UK are back at school but far too many around the world – including those in rural Ghana - still lack access to basic education. On top of barriers such as having to walk long distances and a lack of quality classrooms, some children are forced into child labour and early marriages which means they miss out on vital learning and do not get the skills they need for jobs in the future.

The UK is a global leader in education and over the past five years we have helped over seven million children get an education globally.

We want to help more kids get the best start in life which is why every donation made by the generous British public to the Hope for Children’s Head Held High appeal will be matched pound for pound by the UK Government.”

Throughout the appeal, Hope for Children will tell the real-life stories of 9 children from Ghana & Uganda, and how their lives have been transformed by education across an omni-channel advertising appeal. Corporate supporters, including Jet2.com, will also be promoting the appeal to their customers, as well as hosting and taking part in their own fundraising events.

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