For the last several years, I have been involved with WeSeeHope in helping raise funds in aid of vulnerable communities in Africa. In 2018, I was fortunate enough to participate in a field trip aimed at helping improve WeSeeHope's data collection and analytics to measure effectiveness of their programs. What I saw in the field blew me away. I knew that the work was helping people and impacting lives but I was not prepared for the scale of the impact. There are communities who have managed to stand on their own two feet and help those vulnerable in the community despite after being hit by wave after wave of tragedy. Every face had a smile and a story to tell. Today, as WeSeeHope struggles due to the drastic cuts funding driven by the CODIV-19 crisis and resulting macroeconomic factors, I have decided to help WeSeeHope raise funds because it is my way of ensuring I can do something to help, and give back. Join me by donating money to this cause. Any amount, big or small, is welcome and will have a direct impact.

Here is an appeal from WeSeeHope. 

For 20 years, we have existed to create genuine and sustainable change for vulnerable children through our education, child rights and economic empowerment programmes. These are delivered by our network of committed in-country partners in over 200 communities where they are most needed.

We are hugely concerned about the implications that the spread of COVID-19 may cause in the poor and isolated communities we are working with in Southern and Eastern Africa. I urge you to imagine what it will feel like to face this crisis with limited medical infrastructure and ability to respond.

Since the middle of March, we have lost 80% of the funding we were expecting to receive for the rest of our financial year (ending June 2020), and 50% for the following year. Working hard to cut back on costs to stabilize us both in the short and long term, we have furloughed members of our team and reduced working time for all others in the UK and Africa. 

With all fundraising events cancelled and corporate partnerships under threat, our ability to recover the money we need – £470,000 by September 2020 – is more limited than ever. The closer we can get to this target, the more we can reduce the impact of the proposed cuts on our work in the coming months. I can only imagine the pressure you are under in your own family and working lives, and so please forgive my frankness – but we must act now.

If you can help by making a donation – big or small, it will count tenfold if you do so today.

Read more about the impact of our programs by visiting this page: https://www.weseehope.org.uk/2020/04/09/the-power-of-data/