For the last 24 years Hands at Work in Africa has been advocating for and supporting those living in the most vulnerable communities in Africa who are often without consistent access to food, education or basic health care. Our vision is to see the local Church, backed by the International Church, empowered to care for these children in a holistic and sustainable way, so that they can thrive within their own communities.
In the communities we partner with, our commitment is to ensure that every identified child has access to the 3 Essential Services (3ES) of food, education and basic health care, provided through local Care Workers and effective Life Centres.
In the UK, we always start the year with a gap between the known income we’ll receive and the actual cost of supporting the communities we partner with in Africa. Each year we close that gap through generous one-off gifts and, when necessary, relying on funds we have accumulated. Neither of these solutions is sustainable long term and the issue is becoming more acute.
What’s happening this year
This year, one-off gifts have been low, and this means that overall giving is down by about 12% on the same point last year. By definition, one-off gifts are unpredictable and may come in at any point, but if the current trend continues, we will struggle to meet our commitment to Africa beyond August of this year. It will also mean that, rather than increasing our supported communities in 2027, it is likely we will have to reduce the number of communities and children we support.
We don’t often ask for more money. It was six years ago in 2020 that we increased the cost per month per child from £15 to £20, approximately a 30% increase. The £20 per month, per child, figure is still the right number, but we need that for every child we support, and at the moment only 80% are fully supported by regular giving.
We’ve set a target to close this gap during 2026, and we are asking you to help.
Put simply, we’re looking for an additional £4,600 per month in committed giving. Whatever you can commit to regularly as an increase will reduce this gap – every pound makes a difference. We’re not expecting one person to step up, rather we need the help of lots of small but generous increases – they all add up. As we look ahead, we’re asking those who are able to consider whether they might increase their giving, recognising that each of us gives according to our own circumstances.
We are deeply grateful for the faithfulness of so many of you who already give regularly and sacrificially to this work – your support is what makes this care possible today.
There are a few different ways you can respond, depending on what’s right for you:
If you already give regularly, then we’d love you to consider increasing that regular gift amount. You can do this by changing your standing order with your bank, either via online/mobile banking, telephone banking, or in-branch.
If you currently give irregularly or don’t support Hands at Work financially, then we’d ask that you consider setting up a regular standing order to help us better plan and resource the work in Africa.
We understand that not everyone will be able to commit to regular giving at the moment. If you can’t commit, but are able to give a one-off gift, then these are still desperately needed. These gifts are used every year and support 3ES and also projects in Africa, such as building new Care Points. There are always more projects ready in Africa than we are able to support.
All charities in the UK are being encouraged to build resilience to protect their work from disruption and harm that comes from not having enough money. Our objective is for 100% of our committed community support to be covered by committed giving, enabling us to use one-off gifts to meet one-off needs.
You can see the impact of the great work happening in Hands at Work in Africa here.
If you want to read more about what was achieved and how money was used last year, then you can read our Annual Report here.
Your giving enables children to be fed, to receive basic education and stay in school, and to receive care from people who know them by name and walk alongside their families. It strengthens local communities and equips the Church in Africa to care for their own most vulnerable. Thank you for supporting Hands at Work, and for the commitment and generosity you continue to show.
Thank you!
If you do plan to increase your giving, we’d really appreciate it if you can let us know so that we can track our progress towards closing the gap. If you drop an email to give@uk.handsatwork.org it will get added to our systems. We’ll be feeding back later in the year when we know how we are doing.