Sponsor a Child’s Education

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Becoming a sponsor will give you a chance to build a unique connection with a child in Uganda. We have children that either need day school, boarding school or vocational sponsorship.

You could also choose to support children’s education by giving to our Education Fund which covers all of these types of schooling.

Day school sponsorship

Our day school programme supports children who have been resettled home with a loving family member to attend a local day school close to the family home.

This programme is designed for children whose families are able to provide for their basic needs and give them lots of love and care, but where the family are not currently able to support the child’s educational costs. Many of the children we work with come from families living in poverty, who often struggle to afford basic necessities, let alone school fees.

We always work with the family to see what they are able to provide in order for the child to return to school and what they need us to provide. We believe that it’s important that the family show some commitment towards supporting their child’s education, even if it’s just providing them with some pencils.

Once a child is back in education, we also work with the family to see if they would benefit from joining our Family Empowerment programme. Our dream is that one day, these families could be in a position to take over paying for their child’s education fully, so that S.A.L.V.E. (with your help) can then support another child in need.

Day school sponsors are asked to pay £20 a month (66 pence a day) for a child in primary school and £25 a month (or 82 pence a day) for a child in secondary school.

A child in our day school sponsorship will receive some of the following based on individual needs:

  • School fees (in a day school close to their family), uniform and shoes
  • Books and pens
  • A team of well-trained social workers to care for them and follow their progress with their family
  • A safe space to stay at our Halfway  Homes if ever required
  • Medical care if needed

They will have a S.A.L.V.E. social worker come to check on their progress at least once a term to help to talk with them and their family and school to see how they are doing and if they have any problems they need to talk through.

Boarding school sponsorship

Our boarding school sponsorship programme is designed for children whose families are unable or not willing to take care of them at that time, or whose families live in very remote areas where they are not close enough for the child to travel daily to a school.

The child will attend boarding school and stay with their relatives in the school holidays (if it is safe for them to do so) and have the S.A.L.V.E. Halfway Home as a back-up in case of family crisis. Once a child is in our boarding school sponsorship programme, we work with them and their family to help them try to rebuild their relationship through home visits and family counselling (or identify alternative family members) so that eventually they will be able to be fully resettled home.

Boarding school sponsors are asked to pay £40 a month (£1.32 a day) for a child in primary school and £50 a month (£1.64 a day) for a child in secondary school.

A child in our boarding school sponsorship programme will receive:

  • Uniform, school shoes and other clothes
  • School fees and school and boarding requirements
  • Books and pens
  • Transport
  • A loving home when needed and medical care
  • A team of well-trained staff to care for them and offer them regular counselling and advice

Our aim is that eventually a child in boarding school sponsorship would be able to return to live with their families full-time and drop down into day school sponsorship if possible.

Vocational training sponsors

Vocational training sponsors are asked to pay approximately £35 a month (£1.15 a day).

The amount will vary depending on the type of course. Vocational courses tend to range from £35-£50 a month, due to the nature of the training on offer. Vocational courses typically take one to two years, depending on the course.

For some children, academic schooling is not the right choice. Some young people have been on the streets for so long and missed so much education, that to return to academic education would see them not graduating from primary school until well into adulthood. In these situations we work with young people to identify their strengths and interests to pursue vocational training.

Some young people will attend a training course at a vocational training centre, others will train as an apprentice with a local business. This is usually decided on a case by case basis, depending on the course, the child’s academic history and the family situation.

A child in our vocational training programme will receive:

  • Course fees and requirements (i.e. tools/ training materials/ books etc)
  • Boarding fees where required (if training at a vocational institute)
  • Lunch on their training days if not training at a vocational institute
  • Transport to their training if not boarding or local enough to walk (or sometimes we may buy them a bike so they can get there easily)
  • A graduation package to provide them with the materials to allow them to work once their course is finished – eg hairdressing scissors and equipment, mechanic tools etc
  • Careers guidance

Want to know more?

Please download our Child Sponsorship information pack or, if you have any questions, contact us and we’d love to talk through the best option for you.

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