Padstow bar owners back £66-a-day appeal for Ugandan children

Ten children in Uganda go to school because of a bar and restaurant in Padstow. Now its owners want to help keep the charity behind that schooling going for another three years.

Hamish Sander and Tracy O’Neill, who run PW1 bar and restaurant in Padstow, are among the long-time supporters of Alongside Africa. The UK-based charity provides care, schooling and apprenticeships for some of Uganda’s most vulnerable children and young people, and it has launched an urgent appeal to protect its work.

The £72,000 appeal

Alongside Africa is aiming to raise £72,000. That would secure its care and education programmes in Uganda for the next three years, which works out at £66 a day.

PW1 is the centre of Hamish and Tracy’s fundraising. Their existing sponsorship already pays for ten Ugandan children to go to school.

Why the money is running short

Global economic crises have pushed up the charity’s operating costs in Uganda sharply. Existing donations are increasingly falling short of the monthly bills for food, essential medical care and running its programmes.

Those programmes include sponsoring children from severely disadvantaged backgrounds through primary and secondary school. Without that support, they would receive no formal schooling at all.

“One of the toughest economic situations”

“Alongside Africa has been working with communities in Kabale for nearly 20 years, and this is one of the toughest economic situations they’ve seen,” said Hamish.

“Whilst global economic shocks affect everyone, they disproportionately hit the most vulnerable and those in deprived areas. Uganda’s rising cost of fuel has been a key concern as the remote rural locations of the communities the charity works with mean that essential equipment and supplies need to be transported in, and they are solely reliant on their own vehicles to get children and young people to hospital in an emergency.”

Monica Titterton co-founded Alongside Africa with her husband Lawrance and spends much of the year at the charity’s centre in Kabale. Speaking from there, she said: “Despite the fact that we’re a small charity and use every penny donated to us on the ground here in Uganda, the current global economic situation means that we are struggling to cover essential costs. Sadly, without immediate additional donations to secure the future of our work for the next three years, the survival of some of our most important programmes is at risk.”

What £25 can do

Tracy has seen the charity’s work close up.

“I’ve seen first-hand the huge benefits that Alongside Africa’s work with children and young people brings to them, their families, and their communities,” she said. “It would be heartbreaking if any of this had to stop or be curtailed due to a lack of funding.”

“With so much need in the world, I know that it can be difficult to decide who to help, or to feel that your donation will have marginal efficacy, but even a small amount, such as £25, has a profound impact on the vulnerable children and young adults we work with.”

Donations can be made through Alongside Africa’s urgent fundraising appeal page.