IFL make landmark donation to SOS Children UK

The International Friendship League - British Section (IFL) has supported SOS Children for over 30 years, and they currently sponsor a village in Nicaragua. Last Thursday, the IFL presented SOS Children with a cheque for £965,000, and 100% of this extraordinary donation will used to set up a new Children’s Village in Chipata, Zambia.

The International Friendship League was founded in 1931 in Peacehaven in Sussex by Noel Ede, to provide friendship, understanding and service for all nationalities following the conflict in World War 1. Many branches throughout the UK and Europe were the result. In 1950 the IFL decided to buy a property in West London to provide inexpensive accommodation for visitors of all nationalities. As a voluntary organisation the IFL could not take out a mortgage so a limited company was set up, called Friendship Centres Ltd. The property was named Peace Haven, after the home of the founder. Many IFL members at home and abroad spent many years of hard work making the building habitable and fund raising to equip the house and to pay off the mortgage and the Centre was very successful for many years. It was the increase in Government regulations with regard to the running of guest houses which prompted the decision to sell. A portion of the monies raised from this sale was what was given to SOS Children last Thursday.

Andrew Cates, Chief Executive of SOS Children UK (pictured, centre), accepted the cheque on the charity’s behalf. “Ten per cent of Zambia's children are orphans, due mainly to the AIDS epidemic. In Chipata, life expectancy is only 38, due to one quarter of adults being HIV positive. Over 70 per cent of households in Chipata are caring for orphans. Many families simply cannot cope. The donation from the IFL could not have come at a better time; without it the new children’s village could not be built and the children could not receive the love and support they deserve. We are very grateful to everyone at the IFL for making this donation happen.”

Construction of SOS Children’s Village Chipata will begin in Autumn 2009 and should be complete by Spring 2011. It will care for 180 children in 15 family homes. We are also building an SOS Nursery School and an SOS Medical Centre for the community, and an SOS Family Strengthening Programme will support the most vulnerable families in Chipata with food, healthcare, income generation and education.