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SPONSORED CHILDREN AND BURSARY FUND
There are currently 34 children being sponsored through SEDCU at the two primary schools which are the main focus for SEDCU (KDS and MCJS) as well as three secondary schools, five colleges and universities plus two vocational institutes. This chart shows the distribution of the children by class and by school/college. As time goes by, we must expect that more of our children will move up to secondary or tertiary education, with a consequent increase in fees and other costs.
When SEDCU started in 2012 all the sponsored children were in Primary School. Ten years later this chart shows how many of them have progressed to Secondary or Tertiary education.
There are some large well established charities operating sponsorship schemes in Africa. Without doubt they do excellent work but they are relatively impersonal and donors never know how much of the sponsorship money reaches the actual child, how much goes into related community projects, and what is spent on fundraising, marketing and administration back in the UK.
SEDCU’s approach has been to establish relationships with the head teacher and key staff at the schools which we decided to support in 2011 when the charity was founded. The schools have subsequently, with community leaders, identified children with the most acute needs. Those who have the potential to benefit from sponsorship have been referred to SEDCU in the hope that sponsors could be found for them. For sponsored children, SEDCU makes direct arrangements to transfer the relevant funds to the schools themselves. The school keeps SEDCU and individual sponsors informed of the progress of the children through end of term reports, photographs of special school events and other updates. SEDCU’s founders have returned to see the children, their schools, their teachers, and some of their parents and grandparents in October 2013, October 2015, November 2017 and October 2019.
As to the financial arrangements, each school gives us a statement in December of the costs involved for each child for the coming year. The school year starts in late January/early February. Apart from school fees, in almost all cases there are boarding costs and costs for uniforms, books and lunches. The typical cost is in the region of £350 - £500 per child per year at nursery and primary level. As children move to secondary schools the cost increases to typically £450 - £850 per year. Our bank transfers funds to school banks during January and we get verification of safe receipt. Sponsors may pay a lump sum annually or monthly by standing order.
We are registered with HMRC and use the Gift Aid we recover to pay the bank charges for transfer of funds to Uganda and any other essential administrative charges. 100% of donated sponsorship money will reach the child's school. Any visits we make to Uganda are at our personal expense.
If you are interested in becoming a sponsor or would like more information please complete the form under ‘Contact us’.
As SEDCU has developed, so too have the sponsored children. At the outset, all of the children being sponsored were at primary school and the vast majority were under 13 years old. With the passage of time, a number of children have taken and passed their P7 leaving exams and have progressed to secondary schools or to vocational college. Of these, a number have progressed to tertiary education in colleges or universities. For children in secondary or tertiary education, the fees can be considerably higher and they also typically need additional funds for textbooks, computers, and other scholastic materials. Some sponsors have been happy to meet the extra costs involved but we recognise that this can be a big ‘ask’. To reduce the potential burdens on individual sponsors, the SEDCU trustees have decided to build a Bursary Fund from others’ donations as well as from recovered Gift Aid. This fund has already been employed to meet the needs of some older children and has supplied the following: a sewing machine, a computer, scientific text books and equipment and examination fees. The plan is that children at secondary level or higher will in future be able to request funding on the bursary fund to SEDCU through the relevant teacher or community leader who will confirm that the need is valid and arrange the financial transfer if approved by SEDCU. Donations to help us build this new Fund would be greatly appreciated.
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