Soweto slum, on the outskirts of Jinja, Uganda is home to 4,000 displaced people. Here, HIV prevalence is high, child headed and grandmother headed households are common and malnutrition is a chronic problem. There are no health or education services and the main industry is alcohol brewing which stifles the community. Children here are exposed to a number of vulnerabilities, including child sacrifice.

Last year Rachel Bentley, our director at Children on the Edge,  made a connection with an organisation called ADSN (Adolescent Development Support Network) who do fantastic work with street teenagers many of them originating from the slums. These slums are home to 85% of the city’s population and found on the periphery of Jinja. ADSN want to develop a preventative programme to target younger children living in the slums to give them the necessary support and skills they need to avoid ending up on the streets. They have asked Children on the Edge to help with this.

The problems in Northern Uganda have become well known and in the past few years the media and aid agencies have flocked to the area. What is less well known is the sheer volume of people displaced internally by the conflict and troubles of the North. Not only are these people facing displacement, but the AIDS pandemic has created a huge number of orphaned children, child headed households and elderly headed households.

Soweto is one of 8 peri-urban townships surrounding Jinja and identified by ADSN as the neediest slum. It’s 4,000 inhabitants are all cramped within 10 acres. The majority have been displaced from Northern Uganda with additional numbers having fled from Rwanda and Sudan. Conditions in the slum are appalling. There are no health centres or schools, houses are built from mud and people eat once a day if they are lucky.

Often unattended and with no place to go throughout the day children are exposed to a number of vulnerabilities. Brewing and distilling alcohol is Soweto’s primary economic activity. Many small children are given the dregs of the brew and the toxins from the shack breweries run through the streets where they play. Child abuse is common with continual exposure to inebriated men and prostitution leaves children vulnerable to abuse and HIV.

Children in Soweto have little hope,  there are no sustainable livelihoods open to them or their families and malnutrition is rife. There is heavy dependence on witchcraft as people use it in a desperate bid to escape poverty. Consequently child sacrifice is a growing issue, especially for these children left without care.

In partnership with ADSN, Children on the Edge aim to establish a child friendly  space in the community providing essential services for these children. This will be a safe place to receive help and protection and will give them a chance to simply play and be children. An important component to this project will be an agricultural programme to provide an alternative to the alcohol industry that reaps such destruction.

Please help us make a difference to these children who really are ‘on the edge’. Watch this space to see what develops and if you think you can help with raising or donating money then please do get in touch. 

Pupils in Wargrave House, one of the boarding houses at Eastbourne College in Sussex, completed their 24 hour non stop 'Eastbourne to Dakar Challenge' on Sunday 12 February.

Rowing across the sea and cycling across the land (virtually), to reach Dakar, Senegal, without stopping, each pupil completed at least one row and cycle – both consisting each of 10 minutes - in a relay form style throughout the night to raise a whopping £2342.50 for our work with vulnerable children across the world.

Our community fundraiser (also a former housemaster at Eastbourne College), Euan Clarke, thanked the boys and staff for their outstanding commitment to raising funds for our work. Current Housemaster Nick Russell said: 'I am delighted we managed to exceed our expectations and that the boys have been able to make such a magnificent contribution to the work of Children on the Edge'.

If you or your school would like to find out about fundraising for Children on the Edge, please get in touch. 

Howard's House, Hurst Prep School, may not yet lead the House Points Competition, but their big hearted generosity raised £1128.86 for Children on the Edge in their annual charity day on Tuesday 13th March.

Throughout Howard’s charity day the children in the House created and ran their own stalls including bobbing for marshmallows in a bowl of flour, nail-painting, cream egg and spoon relay racing and a treasure hunt. One of the most successful competitions was ‘Beat the Stig Goalie’ where a mystery person was dressed as the Stig in front of a football goal and prizes were awarded to any competitor that scored. Everyone enjoyed taking part, especially those who were covered in flour for the rest of the day!

When presenting the certificate, Euan Clarke thanked the pupils for their outstanding contribution to supporting COTE projects.

Inspirational head, Heather Beeby, praised the pupils, parents and staff (particularly house mistress Alexandra Albury) for their tremendous efforts at the charity day.  In addition Mark Travers and his team of musicians orchestrated a wonderful Jazz concert to raise £250 for vulnerable and marginalised children around the world.

If you or your school is interested in raising money for our projects, please do get in touch. 

In February of this year we set up a new kitchen garden at the Children’s Crisis Centre that we support in Thailand. The Centre helps children who have fled Burma and have lost or become separated from their parents. It provides food, shelter, education and trauma counseling for those who have been through traumatic experiences. It is vital in the protection of children who are otherwise extremely vulnerable to trafficking, exploitation and abuse.

The kitchen garden was set up to meet a number of needs and in the last few months it has really taken off. One of the primary needs is food. It costs £30,000 to ensure all the children receive adequate nutrition for the year and this is a way for the centre to start to provide for themselves in the long term. It cost just £3000 to set up and run the kitchen garden including the rent of the land, employment of a skilled gardner and the purchase of tools and seeds. The aim is that the produce from the garden will reduce the Centres’s food bill by 20% each year.

In addition to this, the garden project is a fantastic opportunity for the children who work in groups of five and use the experience to learn about responsibility, nutrition and basic agricultural skills. Each year both the staff and the children will be getting specialist agricultural training where they can learn about the land in their area and how to get the best out of it.

Yeye Win (the director of the Centre) described how the program has given many of the children a great creative outlet during this month's summer school break and thinks it will be really helpful for preparing them with skills for their future.

John Littleton, our Asia Regional Manager says “The children are very enthusiastic about the project and considering they have plowed and planted almost 3 acres of land in 3 weeks and helped dig a well, I’m pretty impressed!”

So far the children have planted eggplant, chillies, tomatoes and pumpkins, and they expect to get their first crop in 2-3 months time.

Feel free to find out more about our work in Thailand and consider donating to the project. 

In December, pupils from St Christopher's School in Hampstead voted to support Children on the Edge as their charity project for the term.  Spurred on by enthusiastic staff at the school, 186 girls skipped until they dropped (and the younger girls dressed up in support) to raise the astonishing sum of £5772.

On his visit to the school our community fundraiser, Euan Clarke thanked pupils and parents for 'lending a hand' (the chosen assembly hymn of the day) to help vulnerable children around the world. Susie West, the dynamic head said: “I am very proud of these generous hearted girls for supporting such a wonderful project with their enthusiasm and their energy”.

If you think your school would be interested in fundraising for our work then don’t hesitate to get in touch. 

The Brighton Marathon is a gruelling event and training on cold winter’s mornings has never been a comfortable part of the journey, but 12 intrepid souls collected faithfully in Preston Park on a cold but sunny April Sunday morning in COTE running vests.

Sadly two of our runners had to drop out through illness or injury before the event, but the rest of the team finished safely and a full bevy of supporters bellowed support from strategic points around the course.  Here’s what the runners had to say:

Production Coordinator Izabela Mayne, one of the 3 Musketeers from Wileys, said: ‘I can certainly say that I have absolutely loved every minute of the marathon.  It was without a doubt one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life (so far!) and one which I wish to repeat again….. I certainly plan to support COTE by running further marathons, plus we are open for any other mad suggestions’.

Christine Binns, Maths teacher from London said: ‘Thank you so much for your support during the race. Any bawling at me would have only helped me along!! It was lovely to catch Euan in the Charity Village after the race - I can only apologise for my slightly cathartic state and inability to form a sentence longer than about 3 words. We went and had fish and chips on the beach which instantly brought life back to my legs!’

Keith Jamieson, Managing Director of an electrical company said: ‘calves and quads still sore, but no lasting effects. As I ran the last 800 with my son Jack we had to get back to the family, so no pampering I'm afraid but I very much appreciated your support and will always do my bit for Children on the Edge.

Body Shop CRM Manager Julie Cromwell said: ‘Thanks so much for your cheering from the sidelines – it was great! Hopefully I can convince a few more laggards to send some more – so hopefully by the end of the week, we should have a final total, but we’re pleased we’ve been able to smash our target of £1,500’.

Our wonderful COTE Heroes and Heroines have raised over £7000 as a result their magnificent efforts and we want to say huge congratulations and a very big thank you.

The fifth Joe Way Paddle for life is riding a wave towards the Newquay event on Thursday 21st June at Newquay harbour.

The original Paddle for Life started after lifeguards from Fistral Beach held a Joe Way memorial paddle to raise money for charity in 2008.  Joe is the inspirational little Newquay boy who touched people's lives around the country and beyond.

The 2011 event last September saw over 180 paddlers of all ages and abilities taking part to do their bit to raise money for their chosen charities. Team Joe and its supporters have raised over £98,000.00 for a great variety of charities including Children on the Edge.

The event which has normally been held in September has been moved to June to encourage more families, schools and surf clubs to take part, as well as allowing the event to run later into the evening with more light and warmer seas.

Paddlers and swimmers ages start from 5 years upwards and the entry fee is £10 per adult and £5 per child (under 18’s) which is paid on the day with everyone also getting a certificate, free prize ticket and a discount voucher for food. The event is about family fun and everyone helps each other along.

Matt Way Joe’s Dad said “It’s a great evening with loads to do on the beach, games for the kids, food stands and the amazing Titan the robot who is a huge crowd pleaser. We just want Joe’s story to inspire new people who then grab a board and paddle for charity”.

To read about Joe’s story, and find out more about taking part in the Joe Way Newquay Paddle for Life 2012 go to www.joewaypaddle.co.uk 

The 'Chi Half' is a challenging yet beautiful half marathon through Chichester city centre and the South Downs that aims to raise vital funds for our projects.

The route, which includes a mixture of road, cross country and cycle path terrain, will start at Chichester College and take in the historic sites of Chichester, including the Cathedral and the walls. It will then lead up to the pinnacle of the Downs before wending its way back down Centurion Way.

Children on the Edge is organising the event in conjunction with Chichester District Council. Due to take place on the 14th October 2012, the event is expected to be hugely popular and is already being supported by local running clubs. The main sponsors of the race are Montezuma’s Chocolates and Store Property with other locals firms including Harwoods and Evans Weir lending their support.

The marathon will be a fantastic way for local people and those runners further afield to raise funds for our work. By paying an entry fee and running the ‘Chi half’ participants will already be helping us as a little really can go a long way in the places where we work. Better still any runners can set up a just giving page and get sponsored for their efforts, or purchase a Children on the Edge T shirt or running vest with proceeds going to our work.

The race will take up to 1,000 runners and is open to all entrants whether you’re an elite athlete or jogging around dressed as Elvis.

You can register online at Race Timing Systems or call the Children on the Edge office for an entry form on 01243 538530. There is an Early Bird rate for applications received before June 30th of £20 (affiliated UK Athletics Association) and £23 (non-affiliated). After June 30th, the cost for athletes is £22 (affiliated UK Athletics Association) and £25 (non affiliated).

Please keep updated on news and tips on our Chichester Half Marathon page, ‘like’ our facebook page or follow @Chichesterhalf on twitter. 

We had a fantastic time at our eighth annual Easter Trail on Saturday where over 350 children joined us in learning about our work and collecting delicious Montezuma’s chocolates along the way!

The Graylingwell Park Partnership – Linden Homes, Affinity Sutton and the Homes and Communities Agency – sponsored this year’s Easter Trail, which raised a fantastic £3,500.

Natalie Flint, sales director at Linden Homes Guildford, says: “We’re very proud to have sponsored the Easter Trail for the second year running.  As ever, everyone had a great day out and Children on the Edge is an extremely worthwhile charity helping the most vulnerable children around the world.”

During the event families not only enjoyed the trail itself but took part in fete games, bouncy castle bouncing, craft and face painting.  We also announced the winner of the Montezuma’s ‘Design your own Easter Egg’ competition and the winners received a full size egg with their own design on it.  Congratulations to winners Jena Juggins, aged 6 who made a pink egg face and Leo Tregear, aged 8 who created a spring landscape.  Both Jena and Leo are from Fishbourne primary.

We also had a visit from the Mayor, Councillor Tony French who did a little tour of the stands himself and said "The Easter Chocolate Trail is a wonderful example of the community of Chichester District coming together to help a locally based charity."

Thank you to all those who came along, our generous sponsors and as always a huge thank you to Montezuma’s Chocolates for coming up with the idea in the first place, supporting us along the way and providing such wonderful chocolate.