“If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich”
John F Kennedy

The COINS foundation receives sponsorship for all of its costs from COINS. This means that 100% of the money you raise goes to our project partners.  Thanks to your efforts, the foundation made its first round of grants in September 2008 to the following projects:

Habitat for Humanity received £125,000. This money will build almost 100 new homes for orphaned and other vulnerable children. Nearly 500 young people across Zambia, Uganda and Mozambique will no longer be homeless thanks to your efforts. In addition, this grant will fund 20 young people to gain apprenticeships in construction skills enabling them to be future contributors to their local communities and economy. But the best bit is that thanks to matched funding from USAID – all of the above is doubled!

PEAS (Promoting Equality in African Schools) receive £92,500. This charity aims to increase the number of young Ugandans who receive a secondary education. (Currently only 20% of children who attend primary school have the opportunity to further their education.)Your donation will build a school on the banks of the Nile just north of Lake Victoria for over 600 pupils. Almost 100 of those places will be free to the most impoverished children in the area.

CURE International received £77,000 to build a new Orthopedic Surgical centre at their recently-opened BEIT hospital in Lusaka. The new Orthopedic Centre will provide day surgery for up to 400 disabled children and those with minor injuries every year. In addition, the centre will provide increased training opportunities for Zambian Health workers and will create greater capacity in the main hospital wards for critical admissions.

CARE International tackles the underlying causes of poverty so that people can become self-sufficient. They run approximately 1200 projects each year in over 65 countries and reach more than 50 million people in poor communities. The COINS Foundation will continue their support of CARE this year. Although specific projects have yet to be identified, the Foundation will award CARE in the region of £50,000 towards projects in sub-Saharan Africa.

Paul Thompson a COINS employee raised £6,000.00 to support the work of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and the COINS foundation was pleased to match this sum.  About 1 in 2500 babies in the UK is born with cystic fibrosis. It is a debilitating hereditary disease which primarily affects the lungs and digestive system. Cystic Fibrosis is a life-limiting illness - there is currently no cure. In the 1960’s life expectancy for a child with Cystic fibrosis was just five years. Thanks to the work of the Cystic Fibrosis trust, it now stands at 31.

Sarah Mukasa was granted £11,000.00 to pay tuition fees and expenses.  Sarah is studying for a degree in Physiotherapy. This is her final year after which she will return to Kampala to work with the Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Ugandan at a hospital in Kampala. The COINS Foundation has granted Sarah £11,000 to pay her tuition fees and expenses for her qualifying year.

Congratulations and enormous thanks to everyone who did so much to raise the funds to support so much amazing work. Just look what you achieved! The Foundation would like to develop our relationship with our funding partners to do even more good work, but we need your continued support.

For an update on last year’s 3 Peaks Challenge and details of how you can become involved in 3-Peaks 2009 click here

“ . . . as long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest. . . Do not look the other way; do not hesitate... Act with courage and vision”

Nelson Mandela