In June this year, 11-year-old Jude and his 38-year-old mum Cathy are travelling to Urubamba, Peru as part of a school trip, to work for the charity Kiya Survivors. The charity aims to provide a new beginning for children and young people in the area who have special needs or have been abused or abandoned. 

We will stay with local families and work at the Rainbow House, home to seven orphans, three of whom have special needs, and the Rainbow Centre, a day centre for 60 children, together with a local family who need support. We will be doing everything from building a chicken run, rabbit hutch and creating a vegetable patch at the Rainbow House so the children can grow their own vegetables and have fresh eggs, to maintenance projects such as making and putting up curtains, sanding and varnishing floors, painting walls and installing running water and a loo for a local family. We will also spend a lot of time playing and looking after the children, running craft workshops, baking and playing football. At the end of the week we take them on a day trip to the Sacred Valley.

We are funding all the costs of the trip ourselves and each making a substantial donation to the charity. But, as a group, we’re hoping to raise enough money to fund the charity’s operations until the end of the year. Anything you can donate, however small, would be most appreciated.

Jude is also doing lots of fundraising through his school, including cake sales, a school disco, car-washing, dog-walking, waffle making and pulling a truck filled with scrap metal along Hove seafront in April. Someone his mum has been drafted in to help with the last task!