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Learning for Life is an incredible charity!

Learning for Life’s (www.learningforlifeuk.org) mission is to overcome poverty by providing South Asia’s poorest and most oppressed with education, health and opportunity. Their vision is of a world where everyone has access to education, health, civil liberties, and safe, sustainable employment.

On 17th September, I and 25 others will be cycling from Paris to London to raise money for this amazing charity!

Learning for Life (LfL) supports teachers and their pupils on the streets, in slums and in remote villages, providing primary education, vocational training and health check ups for children suffering from malnutrition and other medical conditions, integrating the provision of education and basic health facilities.

The need is immense.

· A staggering 20 million people in Bangladesh live on less than 16p a day and more than 70% of children living in slums do not have access to education.

· In Pakistan, almost one in ten children dies before the age of five because of inadequate healthcare.

· In India, many children are orphaned by HIV, leaving them open to exploitation through child labour and commercial sex when they should be at school.

For all of these children, simply being born in the wrong place at the wrong time means a life of crippling poverty. Education is their ticket out. It gives them at least a fighting chance in life. Education and basic health care is something we take for granted in the UK, but  it is denied these children – with devastating consequences - it destroys lives before they’ve properly begun.

Learning for Life has been addressing this need with impressive results. Specifically, LfL works with local grassroots organisations, local teachers, parents and community leaders to ensure they respond to what people need and thereby maximise their impact. Secondly, and crucially, through the provision of training, and by involving the local community, they ensure their projects continue after they have gone – that is they make sure they become independent and sustainable.

Since 1994 Learning for Life has benefited over 67,000 individuals by providing education for children, training for teachers, support for parents and community members and through the provision of health clinics. Examples of their work include:

· Re-building 19 schools, and eight new schools (each with a community health centre) following the devastating earthquake in Pakistan in 2005
· Treating and provided health check-ups to over 1,300 malnourished, orphaned and vulnerable children in Andhra Pradesh, India
· Providing education to over 3,000 Afghan refugees, living in camps

At present, amongst other projects, they are working with children in the slums of Dhaka city, mothers and children in Pakistan to reduce infant mortality (at present almost one in ten children die before the age of five) and HIV infected and affected children in India, preventing them from falling into the hands of those who would otherwise exploit them.

This is how far your money will go!!

· Just £20 will cover a student textbooks for a year
· Just £300 will pay a teachers salary for a year
· Just £360 will pay for 2880 health check ups AND general medical treatment over one year
· £1000 will cover an entire schools running costs for a year

As a charity, they are also amazing value for money. By keeping their administrative costs to a bear minimum they make sure that the vast majority of your money goes to directly to help these children.

· In 2007 – 08, 92% of all the money they spent went directly to the projects they support 
· In 2008 – 09 this increased to an impressive 96% (with only 4% spent on generating income and governance).

Thus donors know their help will make a real difference. This low-cost ethos has been the guiding principle of their charity since its foundation. They are also transparent and accountable, publishing full details of their accounts in their annual review.

After the earthquake that devastated her school in 2005, Zainab Bibi, started the new term in a building funded by Learning for Life. When asked what she wanted to be, she replied “a teacher” in the school in which she attends. When posed the same question her classmate replied that she would like to be a doctor as she witnessed first hand the suffering experienced by her friends, family and community as a result of the earthquake.

By donating money, you can ensure that people like Zainab and other desperately poor and exploited children are at least given a fighting chance in life, by providing them with the basics we take for granted: access to an education and basic health facilities.

Anything you can afford, is greatly appreciated, and since Learning for Life keep their costs so low, you can guarantee your contribution will make a real difference.

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Learning For Life gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

Thanks for your support!