Cecily's Fund

Cecily's Fund is a UK-based charity that enables impoverished children to go to school in Zambia, with a particular focus on those orphaned or made vulnerable by AIDS.

Cecily's Fund
TypeCharitable organization
Founded1998
HeadquartersWitney, Oxfordshire, UK
Websitewww.cecilysfund.org

The charity is registered at the Charity Commission for England and Wales as The Cecily Eastwood Zambian Aids Orphans Appeal.[1] The charity also operates in America as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization called "American Friends of Cecily’s Fund."

Founding

Cecily's Fund was established in September 1998 in memory of Cecily Eastwood, who died in a road accident whilst working with AIDS orphans in Zambia. The charity's logo is based on the signature from Cecily's letters to her family.

The charity was created by her parents as a necessity, in order to fill the gap in education funding for children in Zambia who could not afford to attend school.[2]

Programmes and influence

As of November 2009, working in partnership with local non-governmental organisations, Bwafano, and CHEP (Copperbelt Health Education Project) the charity enabled over 9,500 children to go to primary and secondary schools by paying their tuition fees and purchasing supplies like uniforms and books.[3] In June 2010 it was recorded that 11,000 people are being funded or have graduated as a result of Cecily's Fund, with the charity having an annual turnover of £400,000.[4]

It also funds a Peer Health Education Programme, run by CHEP, that educates young children about how to prevent the spread of HIV, and funds Hodi to run a Teacher Training Programme that sends school graduates to local teacher training institutions. As of March 2010, the charity annually funds 36 people to train as teachers, and 50 to work as peer health educators.[5]

Awards

The charity has twice won Online Charity Accounts awards for online transparency from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and the Charities Aid Foundation. In 2009 it won first prize in the category "charities with income between £100,000 and £499,999" for its 2007/08 annual report and accounts,[6] and in 2008 it won second prize in the same category for its 2006/07 annual report and accounts.[7]

See also

References
  1. Charity Commission. The Cecily Eastwood Zambian Aids Orphans Appeal, registered charity no. 1071660.
  2. "Interview with co-founder Basil Eastwood CMG for the British Diplomatic Oral History Programm" (PDF)., Cambridge University. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  3. Linking Zambia (Cecily's Fund), Zambian Economist. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
  4. CAF helps Cecily's Fund to support children orphaned by AIDS, Charities Aid Foundation. Retrieved 2010-06-08.
  5. Zycko's MD singlehandedly raises over £13,800 so far for Zambian orphans, TMCnet. Retrieved 2010-06-08.
  6. Charities Online Accounts Awards | Winners 2009, ICAEW. Retrieved 2010-06-08.
  7. 2008 Charities' Online Accounts Award Winners Announced Retrieved 2010-06-08.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.