Chair of the UK Board, Oliver Westmancott shares…
2025 has been another positive year for Hands at Work in the UK. We celebrated the onboarding of two new partnerships, including our first formal partnership in Northern Ireland – a new and exciting development for the UK. We also rejoiced as the community of Chilando in Zambia began caring for children for the first time. It has been a privilege for Hands at Work UK to walk alongside them in these early days.
Our UK Gathering in St Albans was another highlight, our best-attended Gathering ever, drawing together partners, volunteers and friends from across the country. Together we reflected on the Ministry of Servanthood that runs through every layer of the Hands at Work model – from local Care Workers to our role here in the UK. It was a rich and encouraging time of unity and shared purpose.
2025 was also a year of change within Hands at Work, with possibly the most significant changes since it was founded as Masoyi Home Based Care in 2002. In Africa, co-founders George and Carolyn Snyman have fully stepped down from Hands at Work ministry and Levy and Prag Mwenda have had their first full year in leadership, surrounded by a strong team of leaders. There is inevitably a settling-in time when leadership changes, where people and organisations get used to the new environment and plans for the future start to take shape.
In Africa, the International Board has been working with the leadership teams to review and improve the clarity of responsibility, and to ensure that the governance and accountability is fit for this new chapter of growth ahead. There is a definite sense that 2026 will be a year to regroup, embed the change, and set firm foundations on which to build. In the last 20 years, the regions and needs of the communities where Hands at Work work have changed dramatically. It’s the right time to ask the questions about whether we are working in the right places and providing the right support, and to ensure that we’re actively pursuing our calling to look for and serve the most vulnerable.
In the UK, the Board and Hands UK Coordinator, Becci, met in January to take stock and look at the year ahead. We identified two critical priorities which require time and energy to move forward:
1) To restructure and strengthen the Board and operational teams with clearer roles and responsibilities.
2) To increase committed giving in order to build resilience and enable us to support the needs in Africa.
We’ll be talking about both of these priorities as we go through the year.