Why we need your support

On 14th October, a terrible road traffic accident took place which badly damaged our partner, Star Flower's specially adapted school minibus for 30 children with disabilities who attend the centre. Thankfully, no children were on the minibus and the driver is safe but without accessible transport, children can no longer travel to the centre and continue their education, nor can we continue supporting parents and families at home, providing much-needed support to keep families together.

We are launching an urgent appeal to raise funds for a new, fully accessible school minibus for our partner, the Star Flower Centre. We hope that you can support our appeal enabling children to return to school and continue learning.

Every day, Star Flower relies on their school minibus to transport all 30 students to and from school. Many of the students' homes are in remote areas that can only be reached with a four-wheel drive vehicle. Families are frequently unable to transport their children to school because they lack access to transportation or a vehicle, and they may need to work to support the family.

Star Flower is located in Mae Sot on the Thai-Myanmar border, where children first arrive, often alone, after fleeing the civil war in Myanmar. They face enormous challenges upon arrival, including inadequate shelter, a lack of food and nutrition, and limited access to health and education services. Star Flower was founded to fill a gap in services for migrant children with special education needs, allowing them to grow, learn, and develop. Today they are the main service provider to the 12,000 migrant children registered at migrant learning centres in Mae Sot. Currently, Star Flower supports migrant children with disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, hearing impairments, learning difficulties, and other developmental delays.

Safe Child Thailand works with Star Flower to strengthen families and help them overcome hardships they face, to prevent family breakdown and separation, and provide the best possible outcome for the life of each child.

We are hoping to raise £15,000 for a new, accessible minibus for Star Flower to enable children to return to school and continue their learning and we would be incredibly grateful for your support.