Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. This is my thirteenth fundraising campaign (we've raised over £69,300 together MA, you AMAZING people) and it's just as important as ever for me to ensure the money I ask you to donate is fully spent on those in need.

A HUGE thanks to everyone who donated and helped me raise over £10,300 in March to buy 20 large tents to house 20 families of four people in Syria, in North Idlib / Jenderis / Afreen. THANK YOU!

I know this is the second fundraising campaign I've set up in just two months, but when I was writing my novel, Kicked Out, my friend Alex connected me with a charity he used to work for which supports unaccompanied young people and I wanted to support the brilliant work they do in any way they needed.

Many parents send their precious children out of their country in the hope they’ll have a better, safer future. 89.3 million people were forced to flee their homes by the end of 2021. Of these, 53.2 million people had to move within their own country and 27.1 million moved to another country in search of safety. Almost half of displaced people around the world are children and they deserve the same access to food, water, housing, and education that we would want for ourselves, were we to find ourselves in that position.

Each year around five thousand children arrive in the UK alone seeking refuge without their families, having fled their home country and many often been trafficked. Each year Baca serves 50 young refugees, each one has lost the only life they know and has overcome all the odds to reach safety. Their courage is inspiring but without support they are at extreme risk of harm and exploitation.   Baca provide the support they need including a safe home, education and therapeutic care – working alongside social services, local authorities and other frontline services to enable the young people develop independence.   

Recently Baca has expanded and they now have the space to house 39 unaccompanied young people in Leicestershire.

At the moment they need laptops to deliver specialist educational lessons at Baca College. These lessons are essential to helping young people to make progress in their disrupted education, yet they do not have funding for them.

They need at least three laptops. By donating a laptop or money towards a laptop, you will be more than gifting a device, you'll be giving access to learning and ultimately hope for a better future for them in the UK.

Here is the breakdown of costs per laptop:

Lenovo Laptops (with i3 or i5 processors) £470 + Microsoft Student Package at £119.99 = £589.99

For three laptops: 3 x £589.99 = £1767.97

Here are the facts about the charity in their own words:

"The charity provides a safe home, education, training, legal and medical guidance and social and emotional support – inspiring hope and enabling the young people to develop independence and overcome deep trauma. To deliver these services, it works alongside social services, local authorities and other frontlineproviders.   Since beginning work, Baca has looked after almost 500 child refugees, enabling it to constantly learn and develop highly specialist expertise. The charity exists because whatever their circumstances, it believes every young person should have a safe place to heal and the freedom to build a better future.”

You can learn more about what they do here: https://www.bacacharity.org.uk/

Your money can also go towards the following if you would prefer to donate to one of the following. Please state this in the comments if you decide on any of these instead of a laptop:

£5 could pay for an Education Starter Pack

£25 could pay for a meal together for residents at a new arrival house

£30 could pay for a complete set of bedding

£50 could pay for the setup costs of a room for a new arrival

£50 could pay for new crockery for a house

All my best wishes are with you and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for joining me in supporting a great cause once again.

Much love, peace and blessings to you all,

A. M. Dassu

xxx

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

And you can also OPT OUT OF THE FEES IF YOU WANT TO.