06 September 2012
One of the ways you can help some of the world’s poorest people help themselves out of poverty is to donate to a charity that works in developing countries.
If you donate to one of the charity appeals listed here, your donation will be matched pound for pound by the UK Government, allowing these organisations to double their results and change even more lives.
This is because these appeals have been awarded UK Aid Match funding, which means that any donation received during the appeal from a UK individual will be doubled by UK aid, in response to the generosity shown by the public.
Currently match funded appeals
Opportunity International UK - City AM Christmas Appeal 2012
Opportunity International UK, in their second Christmas Appeal with City AM will continue to provide people in sub-Saharan Africa with the financial services they need to build their own sustainable businesses and create 330,000 jobs. Announcing the match funding, Justine Greening, Secretary of State for International Development said,
"I’m delighted that for the second year running we’ll be matching pound for pound all public donations to this appeal. That means Opportunity can create jobs and provide loans, insurance and savings schemes for hundreds of thousands more of the poorest people in sub-Saharan Africa, letting them take control of their own lives."
OIUK gives you three good reasons to donate:
- Multiply: your donation will be matched by the Government pound for pound so we can we can reach twice as many people in poverty.
- Mums: 84% of our clients are women, the economic powerhouses of Africa.
- Microfinance: using financial services to defeat poverty. 98% of our loans are repaid and recycled so your gift keeps giving.
Follow the appeal at www.cityam.com/appeal and read more about OIUK and its clients here. Donations will be matched until 14 February 2013.
PEAS 'Back to School' Appeal
With public donations doubled by the UK Government from 14 September to 13 December 2012, PEAS' appeal aims to change the lives of over 16,000 children in Uganda by ensuring they get a quality secondary school education over the next three years. Their aim is to make PEAS schools the best free and low-fee schools, giving students the academic and vocational skills they need to pursue further study or work and ensuring that teachers are well trained to meet their pupils' needs.
Education is transformative:
- Every extra year a girl spends at secondary school adds 15-25% to her prospective future wage
- Girls with secondary education are three times less likely to contract HIV
- Children born to educated mothers are more than twice as likely to survive beyond the age of five
You can follow and find out more about PEAS and their appeal in the News Statesman during October, and on their website http://www.peas.org.uk/back-school-appeal/about-appeal
Retrak, a Manchester based charity, believe that the number of kids living on the streets in Africa should be ZERO. With the money they plan on raising through their ZERO appeal, they will help street children get safe homes, education, training and healthcare to ensure they have a better future. With every pound you donate doubled by the UK Government, Retrak will be able to help even more children get off the streets, away from violence and illness, and into a safe environment where they can thrive. Retrak will be working with the Manchester Evening News and staff from the Manchester Fire Brigade and Police Force to tell the story of the street children and why they need your help.
To find out more and donate, please visit http://www.retrak.org/Zero/
Action Against Hunger 'Love Food Give Food' Appeal
Action Against Hunger's annual campaign for foodies and restaurateurs across the UK will this year have its public support doubled by match funding from the UK Government. From 1 September to 30 November, the public can donate in many ways - from choosing special dishes on the menus of their favourite restaurants, adding a pound to their food bill or hosting their own dinner party, to name a few - and every pound will be matched by the UK Government. The funds will help AAH not only help save the lives of malnourished children, but to provide sustainable solutions to hunger in Liberia, Niger and Burkina Faso so even more families can help feed themselves.
To find out more, visit www.lovefoodgivefood.org
Previously matched appeals (now closed)
Islamic Relief 'Every Second: Counts' Appeal
With funds raised through their Ramadan appeal, Islamic Relief will carry out a wide range of projects around the world, with a particular emphasis on strengthening communities to resist the impact of climate change. Droughts, floods and food crises are becoming more frequent and severe as climate change bites, and it is countries of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia that are suffering most.
The Government matched donations from UK individuals, doubling the impact of projects to strengthen community resilience to climate change.
Details on the appeal and the livelihoods, food, water and emergency work that public donations and UK aid will support can be found at www.islamic-relief.org.uk.
READ Foundation 'Adopt a School' Appeal
The UK Government match funded all public donations to READ Foundation's appeal throughout its Ramadan appeal. With proceeds from the appeal READ will upgrade schools and improve the quality of education for over 11,000 of some of the poorest children in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PAK). It will also provide school places for a further 1,000. Funds will be used to provide classroom furniture, books, and other teaching aids, as well as toilets and clean water.
Education is the key to lifting people, especially girls, out of poverty, and to empowering them to help themselves. To find out more about READ, the fundraising activities taking place, and to donate, visit www.readfoundation.org.uk
WaterAid 'The Big Dig' Appeal
WaterAid helped transform lives across rural Malawi this summer, and will continue to do so.
Through their Big Dig appeal, WaterAid aimed to help bring clean, safe water to over 134,000 people in Malawi. Every pound given was doubled by the UK Government. Viewers were able to watch a team of diggers as they drilled new boreholes into the earth meaning that residents of Bokola and Kaniche were brought clean, safe water for the first time. The wells will have a profound impact on the health and quality of life of the people there, and ultimately, save many lives. You can witness that moment at the Big Dig blog, www.thebigdig.org.
Riders for Health
Riders for Health launched their new appeal at the MotoGP™ Day of Champions at Silverstone, where they raised an incredible £254,989 as MotoGP™ riders helped spread the word. Their appeal closed with a grand total of £526,111, of which £317,385 was eligible to be doubled through UK Aid Match.
When equipped with a motorcycle a health worker can reach more than five times as many people as one who has no transport. With the money they raised and match funding, Riders for Health will help many more people in rural African communities get access to vital healthcare through provision of reliable transport.
World Vision West Africa Appeal
The Government doubled all public donations towards World Vision's long term programmes in West Africa that aim to help people build future resilience against food shortages. Due to the worsening crisis, donations and matched funding will also be used to save the lives of children who are at immediate risk of dying from acute malnutrition. To find out more, make a donation and have it matched, visit http://www.worldvision.org.uk/
Soccer Aid for UNICEF
An England team of actors, popstars and football legends beat an all-star Rest of the World team 3-1 in ITV1's Soccer Aid celebrity football match at Old Trafford on Sunday 27 May. The match was to raise money for UNICEF's livesaving work for children around the world, and every pound the public donated to Soccer Aid was matched, giving them a record breaking total of over £4.9 million, which will allow them to help save the lives of even more children.
Read more about the match, and what UNICEF will achieve at http://www.unicef.org.uk/soccer-aid/
Christian Aid Week 2012
Britain’s longest running door-to-door fundraising week, organised by Christian Aid (13-19 May 2012) had its first £5million matched funded, to enable the charity to help more people in poor communities around the world work their way out of poverty. The money will be used to support poor communities in Sierra Leone, Sudan, South Africa, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Burma to improve access to healthcare and build sustainable livelihoods.
Andrew Mitchell, Secretary of State for International Development, said: "For over half a century, the British public has shown its support for Christian Aid’s work to ensure people in poor communities around the world get a chance to work their own way out of poverty. In recognition of that fantastic generosity, we’re looking to match pound for pound the first £5 million donated during Christian Aid Week to help the charity reach over one million more people.
"In Gbap in Sierra Leone, for example, that means working with local organisations to provide seeds and farming tools so people can grow and sell their own food, help in getting a fair price for their produce and a new school for their children. Our match funding means that Christian Aid can multiply that life changing support to reach some of the poorest people in Africa and South East Asia."
To find out more and donate, visit http://www.caweek.org/
Trócaire Northern Ireland Lenten appeal
This year, your gifts were worth double to Trócaire’s Lenten campaign which focuses on communities in northern Uganda who are trying to rebuild their lives after 20 years of war. On match funding donations from UK individuals to the appeal, International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said, "Matching public donations to Trócaire’s appeal means tens of thousands more people will get help in securing their land rights, along with ploughs, seeds, training and support to help them grow enough food to feed their families, get a fair price for their produce and ensure a brighter future for their children. This is also an extremely good deal for the UK taxpayer - by matching the generosity of the Northern Irish public in its support for Trocaire, we can ensure that the impact of UK aid goes twice as far." To find out more, visit http://www.trocaire.org/lent
CAFOD Give it up! for Lent appeal
From 17 February to 17 May 2012 public fundraising activities and donations for CAFOD had double the impact. One in eight people in the world still don’t have access to clean water. Every twenty seconds a child dies because of dirty water. With your support and UK aid, CAFOD aims to provide clean water for thousands more people. They will provide water in places where women and girls are being held back by the burden of fetching water. Providing clean water frees up their time so that girls can attend school and women can earn a living, which in turn, helps their communities thrive.
Sport Relief 2012
The £10m raised this Sport Relief by the public towards its work in African slums was matched pound for pound by the UK Government.
This means that Sport Relief will now have £20m to spend on the vital work needed to improve the lives of people living in African slums. They will provide clean water, toilets and basic health care; make sure kids get a better education; create real jobs, especially for women; and help slum dwellers get the legal rights they need to build or rent their own houses instead of living in tin shacks.
To find out more, visit the Sport Relief official website.
Opportunity International / City AM Christmas appeal 2011
The total funds raised by the City AM appeal for Opportunity International will provide basic financial services to people in rural areas of Malawi – bank accounts, microloans – enabling them to start small businesses to support their families. To find out more about their work and donate, visit Opportunity's website.
Sightsavers / Financial Times Seasonal appeal 2011
The Sightsavers appeal raised funds to help them provide treatment and operations to improve or restore sight in developing countries. The appeal was also match funded by Standard Chartered, meaning that for every £1 given by a UK individual, the charity received £3! Sightsavers’ work featured in the Financial Times as its chosen charity for its 2011 Seasonal appeal, and became the FT's most successful ever appeal, raising a record £3.3m, meaning that even more vulnerable people can be reached.
Save the Children / ITV Born to Shine appeal, Summer 2011
Last year, the Born to Shine ITV series raised over £2.1 million for Save the Children's charity work with the help of UK aid and the generous British public. Born to Shine was the first charity appeal to receive UK Aid Match funding. The money raised throughout the series will help save thousands of children's lives around the world by treating and preventing childhood diseases.
This page will be updated as new appeals open and existing ones close.