About Learning For Life

LFL is a small, focused and flexible organisation, which allows us to ensure that almost 85% of our funds go directly to our projects. LFL has two full-time staff who are supported by volunteers and is guided by a team of experienced trustees and advisers who steer its work and development. LFL works with local South Asian partners to increase the quality and provision of education to the most marginalised communities - in particular girls, refugees and the disabled.

In 1999/2000 the charity's work benefited over 13,000 children through the various education programmes it support. Amongst its work it have been able to support almost 3,000 Afghan refugee children in Peshawar, NW Pakistan, and over 7,000 children in community initiated and managed schools around Pakistan. In addition, the charity have enabled a further training of over 100 teachers - with a particular emphasis on the recruitment of local women. Some schools have even seen past pupils return as qualified teachers.

LFL never initiates projects but responds to the needs expressed at a local level. It encourages innovative and flexible projects, which respond directly to the specific needs of each community or targeted group. This allows it to pilot new approaches and ideas. Furthermore, this approach allows the charity to enter into and contribute to an international development and educational dialogue sharing our experiences with others. For example, a whole chapter was dedicated to one of our Indian projects in the recent Department for International Development, UK Government (DfID) and Save the Children Fund, UK (SCF) publication - Towards Responsive Schools: supporting better schooling for disadvantaged children, DfID, 2000.

The development and capacity building of our local staff and partners is an important part of LFL's work. We work with our local partners both to encourage organisational development and sustainability, and strengthen each project undertaken. In addition, LFL is able to monitor and evaluate every project regularly through annual visits to the field.

Our history

LFL was founded in 1993 by Charlotte Bannister-Parker and Sophia Swire as a result of their experiences in India and Pakistan. This experience became the basis for the organisation's work, as well as its geographical focus. Charlotte worked with NGO's in Nepal and South India, while Sophia taught for a year in the Hindu Kush, N.W. Pakistan