Overseas Aid & Development Charities

Improving the quality of life for millions.

That is, ultimately, what Merlin does.

By providing vital medical aid to people caught up in natural disasters, disease outbreaks and conflict. By staying on, beyond the crisis, to train health workers so that sick men, women and children have qualified care when they’re most in need. And crucially, by working within existing health services and finding ways to make them more readily available, more efficient and more likely to stand the test of time.

Merlin helps more than 15 million people in up to 20 countries every year.
We act fast and operate in some of the world’s most challenging environments – as you read, our teams are on the ground in Darfur, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Afghanistan, working hard to prevent even greater loss of life. In Darfur for example, we’ve re-established two vital hospitals and recruited expert medical staff. Old wards have been refurbished and new clinics and counselling centres built. Every month, our team there treats over 30,000 people who, without Merlin, would have to battle to find qualified, medical care.

Fundraising for Merlin plays a crucial role in helping us to save lives. And it’s fun! To find out more about us and how your support can make a real difference, please call Gayle Nixon on 0207 014 1707, drop her an email at gayle.nixon@merlin.org.uk or pay us a visit at www.merlin.org.uk. Thank you.

Registered Charity No. 1016607

Christian Aid works with the world’s poorest people in over 50 countries, regardless of race or faith. We tackle the causes and consequences of poverty and injustice. Inspired by our values of hope, justice, courage and honesty, we are committed to seeing a just world - Now. Not just in the future. We believe in life before death.

We have three essential aims:

To deliver real, practical benefits on the ground regardless of ethnicity, nationality or religion, whether through providing emergency relief or long-term development.
To speak out where there is injustice
To campaign for change

The friendly events team at Christian Aid have years of experience of managing challenge events and can give first hand advice on everything from preparing and training for an event to raising your sponsorship – we have advice and a smile for everyone! Contact us today on 0207 5232248 events@christian-aid.org.

Challenging violence against children worldwide.

ChildHope is a small UK charity working in Africa, Asia and South America to challenge violence against vulnerable children. These children are typically living on the streets, imprisoned or abused by the police, forced into hazardous work or sexual exploitation, orphaned, or lacking access to education and medical care.

The situation of street and working children could not be more shocking. They are raped, forced to carry drugs, attacked or imprisoned, worked as slaves, or infected with HIV/AIDS. Girls are arrested through false allegations just so they can be abused by the police. The worst of adulthood is imposed upon them as young as 4 years old. But the children’s extraordinary resilience, and the dedication of the local overseas organisations that we work with, mean that these horrors can be reversed.

There are 4 major groups that our work regularly brings us into contact with:

Children living/working on the street
Children affected by HIV/AIDS
Children involved in dangerous forms of child labour and exploitation
Children who face abuse, injustice and are in need of protection

Registered Charity No.328434

ActionAid is a unique partnership of people who are fighting for a world without poverty, in which every person can exercise their right to a life of dignity. We work with poor and marginalised people to help eradicate poverty by overcoming the injustice and inequity that cause it.

Registered Charity No.274467

The mission of Mercy Corps is to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people all over the world build secure, productive and just communities.
By working hand in hand with those who seek to build a better future for their families and their communities:

	We renew hope
	We find solutions
	We leave a legacy of change

With support from donors worldwide, over 2,000 staff and volunteers change lives every day, reaching more than 5 million people every year in 30 countries torn by poverty and conflict throughout Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas.

Registered Charity No. SCO1593

Humanity at Heart was set up in 1990, its object being to relieve the suffering and poverty of people in Romania and elsewhere and to effect this by giving aid, support and training where appropriate, either directly or through the agency of other charities.

Initially the charity concentrated on sending aid to Romania, but as the needs of the Romanian people have changed, so our response has been to invest in long-term development projects, working with partner organisations in Romania to target the economic and social needs of the very poorest members of society through social centres, crisis support, self-help initiatives and training programs.

Registered Charity No.1042937

Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society (EMMS) was established in 1841 and today, as Emmanuel Healthcare, is still involved in primary healthcare programmes in India, Nepal, Malawi and Israel as well as supporting students, with grants for their electives, and providing medicines to mission hospitals in many countries throughout the world.

EMMS was one of the pioneers of sponsored bike rides. In 1992, along with the then Ravenswood charity, the first ever sponsored bike ride was run, in Israel, from Dan to Beersheba – the length of the old Kingdom. Since then a bike ride has been organised in the Middle East in November each year, with the profits going to support the work of the Nazareth Hospital. Emmanuel Healthcare also organises regular bike rides and treks in Israel, Malawi and Nepal to raise funds for healthcare projects in those countries.

Bike Rides and Treks are not only a tremendous way of seeing the countryside close at hand, and meeting local people, but are also a real challenge for the mind and body and an unforgettable spiritual experience.

Registered Charity No.SC032327

Youth unemployment remains one of Africa’s biggest challenges, leaving young people prey to poverty, disaffection, criminality, drugs and disease. Friends of Africa helps young Africans develop sustainable livelihoods through programs that provide skills training and encourage enterprise, leadership and self-reliance.

Ours is a business-led approach, aimed at promoting self-sufficiency. In close collaboration with our partners, we help set up enterprises that meet a need in the community, provide training and employment for young people and a source of operating income. This enables our partners to reach more young people with effective training and welfare programs and reduces their dependence on support from outside.

We have successfully developed projects with partner-organizations in five countries: Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Uganda. We currently plan to develop new projects in Tanzania and Zambia.

Registered Charity No.1079522

Although Project HOPE remain committed to worldwide long-term programmes to realise the vision of Health Opportunities for People Everywhere. Project HOPE UK's main objective for the next five years is to “Empower African Women” to lift themselves out of poverty through Project HOPE’s village health opportunity programmes. Through this programme women receive health messages that are pertinent to their needs and the messages learned are used by the women to enhance their family and their village’s well-being. The women also receive many other types of support such as business issues and family welfare which, are directly at the women’s request. The women can also receive a small loan to enhance or create a business, thereby increasing their family income by at least 20%. This extra income allows them to purchase nutritional foods, medicines and pay for their children’s education thereby sustaining a healthy lifestyle for their entire families.

To find out more about our work, please visit our web site: www.projecthopeuk.org.

Registered Charity No.1039457