Kenyan Orphanage 100% of donations really gets to them!

superflygal

Hi MSErs,

I looked through this board, as the Mum of a friend, Kerry Watson has just opened an Orphanage in Kenya. She volunteered over there in 2007, and through personal experiences she decided to raise money to open an orphanage up to our standards (Kenyan orphanage standards are horrendous) She's given up her life to dedicate herself to these kids. She's amazing.

The website looks really professional, but they really need help! They only have 1 corporate sponsor and depend entirely on goodwill. I sent a jiffy bag full of free lego that I collected last year from the papers (Kerry told me they love that, and dolls with hair-that's my next mission) the parcel weighed 300g and via surface mail cost £2.65.

Anyway! If anyone does want to help others, where the money goes entirely to the charity doesn't go through a rip off organisation (I too was shocked at Air Ambulance, but heard this years ago from a charity worker), and likes the thought of helping Kenyan orphans, here is the website:

http://www.footprintsorphanage.com/index.php

There is a UK contact if you prefer to deal with the UK fundraiser on the contact page. They do use a charity donating whatsit, but I'm sure Kevin could bypass that.

Thanks for reading and happy fundraising!!

SFG x

fengirl_2

Charity reg number:
1126967
It would be useful if they could get their first year's accounts submitted soon-ish.

superflygal

Hi Fengirl,

Excuse my ignorance, but what do you mean?

SFG x

fengirl_2

What do I mean by what?

rammy007

This is genuine and i know kerry and i agree with the OP http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/News/First-children-arrive-at-Footprints.htm

Savvy_Sue

sfg, charities registered in the UK have a legal obligation to provide certain information to the Charity Commission (see here), and as Footprints was registered at the end of November 2008 it's reasonable to assume that a set of accounts have been prepared for the first year. However, these are not shown on the Charity Commission website, because fengirl a) checked this was a UK registered charity and b) tried to look at the accounts, which weren't there.

It's possible that the charity doesn't have to send them to the CC, if income was less than £10,000, but they must still be prepared and made available to anyone who asks for them.

And they're not yet 'late', because they're not due until 10 months after the end of the year, which would be September. But if they're ready, no reason not to submit them sooner, for people who like to check these things out.

If they don't have to be submitted to the CC, then the easiest way of making them generally available would probably be via their website.

Because it's all very well to say

superflygal wrote: »

where the money goes entirely to the charity doesn't go through a rip off organisation

but it's only by looking at an organisation's accounts that the general public can see how well a charity uses its money.

fengirl_2

Sue is correct.
If it is true that all the money raised 'goes to the orphans' I would be quite concerned as there must be a cost in administering these funds correctly, eg in some kind of professional admin and accountancy fees.
I was not doubting the fact that this is a kosher charity, but it is usual to post the charity number on here....and as this is a moneysaving site, its a good idea to check that the charity actually needs your donation.

superflygal

Hi folks,

Thanks very much for the replies. I posted on here as people were saying on other threads that they wanted to give to a charity where most if not all of the money helped the people concerned. That's entirely what I wanted to do too.

Fengirl, I didn't actually quote 'all the money goes to the orphans' I said 'Kenyan orphanage 100% of the money really goes to them' Them being the orphanage, as I didn't say 'orphans' in the title. As you quite rightly said, there are costs that need to be covered and i expect some charitable money pays for the facilities.

I am only raising awareness of this amazing person who has opened this sanctuary for children, I am not involved with the management of the charitable organisation in any way.

Happy fundraising and have a good weekend!

SFG x