In August I wrote about one of my ‘Charities of the Year’ DENS – Dacorum’s homelessness charity.
This month it is the turn of my second charity – ‘Hope for Children’.
‘Hope for Children’ does outstanding work supporting a diverse range of projects both in the UK and overseas. It works in 10 main countries and I am proud to say that it has its headquarters locally which is how I ended up selecting them as one of my ‘Charities of the Year’.
Anyone who is a parent will know the joy of watching a young child grow up full of hope and enthusiasm for life, safe in the knowledge that they have parents to care for them and guide them on their journey to adulthood. Sadly, though, that is not how it is for many children in this world. Charities such as ‘Hope for Children’ can fill some of these gaps, providing practical support for children.
For example, in the UK that can mean respite care or provision of specialised equipment for disabled children and in Bulgaria, the charity supports a Centre for Disables Children forgotten by society and a street children’s centre.
In South Africa the charity offers support to women who open up their homes to care for abandoned children, AIDS orphans and children with disabilities. These women are usually very poor themselves and house their growing “families” in corrugated iron shacks or plastic shelters.
Imagine the difference a prosthetic leg would make to a young landmine victim? Although it may be hard for us to imagine the lives many of these children lead, it is not difficult to see the difference that ‘Hope for Children’ is making.
http://www.hope-for-children.org/
DENS – Tug of War
My other ‘Charity of the Year’ is DENS – Dacorum’s homelessness charity and on 6th September, I put my expertise as Captain of the House of Commons tug-of-war team to good use when I kicked off the DENS Charity Tug of War Challenge at the Red Lion.
This was a great fund-raising event and the competition was again won by the team from the Pub.
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