Child to Child won the ‘Social Impact Award’ at our annual Asian Voice Charity Awards, powered by Charity Clarity.For nearly 40 years, they have partnered with and trained the world’s leading agencies to equip children with the skills to stay safe and healthy and achieve their potential, no matter what life throws at them. Here is an excerpt of our interview:
Tell us about some of your current projects?
We have been commissioned toimplement a life-skills programme in Kisumu, Kenya, in communities with high rates of drugs and alcohol abuse. We have also been commissioned by the Oak Foundation to build the capacity of grantee organisations in applying the six principles of its Child Abuse Programme to their own programmes. Our Pikin to Pikin Tok project has just been selected by the World Health Organisation, with a case study to be published in the British Medical Journal and presented at a ministerial-level meeting in Delhi in December 2018.
Give us your best example of the way you’ve seen your organisation’s work make a difference?
One of our flagship projects has increased on-time enrolment as well as academic performance. Adults are now seeing the potential of their children (including girls!) and the importance of education. In Ethiopia, the project was extremely well-received and taken to scale by the national government, which identified it as one of the most promising approaches to provide cost effective and efficient interventions especially for marginalised or deprived populations. It is now one of the four pillars of their national framework for early childhood care and education, having benefitted more than 500,000 children.
How fulfilling is it to have come this far?
Hearing from parents how they have seen their children blossom in our programmes or knowing that we have kept children from dropping out of school, be it in Sierra Leone, Pakistan or London, is amazing. After learning about the dangers of teenage pregnancy, one of the girls told us how she taught this to her friends to prevent them from getting pregnant too young.
How can someone engage with your charity?
You can visit our website www.childtochild.org.uk, follow us on Facebook (@childtochild.org.uk) or Twitter (@ChildtoChild) for updates. By donating, you can be assured that your money will go a long way and actually ends up with the children that need our help. Keeping overhead costs as low as possible, we make sure that every donation counts.
Why did you choose to nominate your charity for the Awards?
When we heard about the Charity Awards we immediately thought we should apply, since we strongly believe in the incredible impact Child to Child has on different communities. With us being in a period of transition, we knew that the recognition of winning the Social Impact Award would further inspire us to continue to make a difference.
How fair do you think was the judging process?
The judging process seemed really fair: we like that it enables both small and big, newly-established and longer standing to compete in a fair way. We also think it is great that the judges have different backgrounds, which means they will focus on different areas.
It would be helpful if there was a bit more information on the Charity Clarity rating process – especially on what your rating is and how to improve it.
What are the areas of opportunity for your organisation winning the Award?
Winning the Award will give us the opportunity to get consultancy advice to better develop our business model, raise our profile and work on our marketing and fundraising. For a small charity like Child to Child, these tools can make an enormous difference.
