Until Christmas 2011 every time you buy one of the 100% natural, Roll-on Lip Oils from The Body Shop, the store will donate 50p to one of the four ‘Child Friendly Spaces’ we have pioneered for vulnerable children across the globe. 

This new product has only been available from July and each of the five flavours are made entirely from natural oils and ingredients. The oils not only give a natural sheen and moisturisation for lips, but now give something back to some of the most vulnerable children worldwide. 

Our Child Friendly Spaces are structured and safe environments where children can meet each other to play, learn to deal with the risks they face, be involved in educational activities and relax.  It gives the children a sense of safety, structure and continuity amidst overwhelming experiences.

Money raised through the sale of the lip oils will be going to Child Friendly Spaces in East Timor where children post conflict have had the opportunity to be children again and to Indonesia where communities are re-building their lives after the Tsunami. It will go Moldova where employment is so scarce that many parents migrate to find work, leaving their children at risk of trafficking. 

Funds raised will also go to Bangladesh where poverty levels are at a level where many children have to work alongside their families to survive, instead of gaining an education. Each afternoon we give these children a safe place to break from work and to learn, rest and play with their friends. 

Ben Wilkes, our Head of UK says “We’re incredibly grateful to have this support from The Body Shop, it’s fantastic to think each time someone buys a lip oil it will fund one of 750 children for a day attending our Child Friendly Spaces”.

The roll-on lip oils are available in The Body Shop stores across the UK, online and at any Body Shop at Home party. They’re fantastic to slip in your bag when you’re on the move, or slip into someone’s stocking this Christmas!

Yee Win’s day began like many others at the Children’s Crisis Centre in Mae Sod, Thailand. Rising at 6.30 in the morning, she wiped the sleep from her eyes and glanced out the small wooden window next to her bunk bed. “I couldn’t believe it” she said “Our garden was gone. There was only water. Everywhere I looked there was water.”

Over the past three months, Thailand has endured its heaviest rainfall in a century.  With 75% of the country facing unprecedented levels of flooding, the situation has reached crisis levels. The government reports that the floods have claimed 281 lives this year, many of the victims have been children. Rising waters have inundated homes, shops and schools, directly affecting over 19 million people and causing an estimated USD $5 billion worth of damage.

Children on the Edge’s partners with an organisation called Social Action for Women (SAW) who have have borne the brunt of floods here directly. Stores of dry food like rice and beans have been contaminated straining already tight budgets. Piles of books and stationary at the nearby SAW migrant school have been ruined as well.

With most of the major roadways under water, usual supply lines are cut causing the price of staples to rise dramatically in rural areas. Vulnerable groups, such as migrant children, are the first to feel the effects of the crisis. With limited resources available to them, they have little choice but to make do with what is available. 

With your help, Children on the Edge would like to assist those affected by flooding in Thailand. Supplies of food and clothing are in acute need. Furthermore, numerous schools and shelters for children have been seriously damaged. 

Please help us intervene in this crisis by making a donation today. Text HELP FLOOD to 70080 to give £3. This small amount can buy three textbooks, or replenish 3 days worth of food for a child at the crisis centre. Thank you.

By November this pile of wood will be transformed into a primary school for 84 Chin children in Burma who at present have no chance of getting an education. 

The Chin people in the tiny village of Tilum in Burma have been the target of persecution and oppression for many years. The Chin Human Rights Organisation describe how the Chin people in Burma have had to endure “decades long violation of the rights of women and children, forced labour, political suppression, racial discrimination religious persecutions committed by the Burmese military regime”. 

Tilum is situated just 3 miles from the neighboring village of Tibual where one of the main Burma Army Battalions are posted. These soldiers force tax, labour and food from the Tilum villagers and consequently many people have left the village. 

The remaining 19 households (which consist of 3-4 families sharing the same house) are those who lack the money or capacity to leave the village or those who are too afraid to settle in other communities. Many families cannot leave as they rely on jhuming cultivation, growing rice or sweetcorn in order to survive. 

There is no transportation out of the village so the children remaining in Tilum have no chance of an education. This is why it’s so vital for us to support the community and build a primary school. 

Children on the Edge are paying for the building of the school which will have four teachers and give an education to 84 children. Materials have arrived and building works have started, so come November we should be reporting on the opening of a brand new school. 

Find out more about our work with the Chin people of Burma or donate to our projects.