Charity No. 1131446 and Private Company Limited by Guarantee No. 6794508 . Registered in England and Wales
Asecondchance (AC), formally Childopportunity, is a UK based international development agency founded to support children and their families; it derives its work from the needs of poor people in developing countries where it works
History
Asecondchance started its operations in East Africa in 2005 and registered in the UK in 2009. It has supported disadvantaged children and young people (especially young mothers and girls) in East Africa to reconstruct their lives and realise their potential, a second chance in life.
AC directly supports children and their families, and indirectly supports their communities.
We are independent, with no religious, political or governmental affiliations. We are currently working in East Africa and launching our programmes in Essex, United Kingdom.
Vision
A world in which all children and their families realise their full potential in societies that understand, respect and advance their dignity and livelihoods.
Mission
To achieve lasting change in lives of children living in poverty in developing countries of East Africa, and Essex, UK through processes that are participatory and inclusive of the marginalised groups communities.
Strategic Goal
To improve the quality of life for marginalised women and children and young persons by promoting their right to survival, health and development.
Strategic Objectives
To focus on issues affecting marginalised women, young persons and girls, we reviewed our strategic objectives building on the lessons learned over years and our comparative advantage in terms of existing capacities amongst the trustees and volunteers.
What we do
Asecondchance (AC) works with poor children, their families, communities, and local NGOs to implement programmes that better lives in child protection, health and child survival, education, women and girls' equity and empowerment.
We ensure that children participate and have a voice in all aspects of our programmes, working with their families who contribute to change.
We protect and promote children's rights, helping children to drive their own development.
We create space for women and girls to have a voice and take an active role in their own development.
We want to make change in the lives of disadvantaged children, women and their families in the following critical areas:
Education
Education is a fundamental right and crucial for long term change and development. Many children do not have access to education and therefore live in poverty throughout their lives. We shall work with children living on the streets, children who are at high risk of becoming street children, orphans, young carers, children living with disability and other disadvantaged children.
HIV/AIDS
AC supports children living with HIV/AIDS and their families to mitigate the effects of HIV/AIDS. We support children living with HIV and AIDS virus to realise quality life.
Health and Child Survival
Asecondchance works to improve the health of malnourished children to see their fifth birthday. Partners with local communities and healthcare institutions to help improve healthcare and medical care of children under the age of five and pregnant mothers.
Facilitates participatory health education to increase knowledge and change attitudes to improve child survival.
Works with expectant and lactating mothers to prevent pre- mature death of children.
Promotes prevention and treatment of malaria, tuberculosis and other childhood diseases to prevent child mortality caused by preventable childhood diseases.
Promotes access to clean water and better sanitation to reduce waterborne diseases and create a healthy environment for children and their families.
Child Protection and Violence Against Children
Promoting child protection and participation practices among children living on streets, communities, schools and local institutions. Facilitate access to information and opportunities to advance their lives.
Equity and Empowerment of Women and Girls
Women and girls are vulnerable in communities where we work, no meaningful change can happen in a society where women and girls’ rights are denied and have no opportunity to advance their livelihoods.
We promote equity and empowerment through strategies that promote women’s rights, attack domestic violence and enhance women and girls’ access to education and financial services.
We support young/teenage mothers and girls to gain practical vocation skills and employment skills.
We work with grassroots women led organisations, women forums and girls in communities and schools to promote their leadership and communication capability.
Where and how we work
East Africa
Asecondchance directly supports children, their families and local organisations in Kenya and Uganda. We plan to work in 4 other countries in the region.
Work in the United Kingdom
We are launching our programme in Essex in the United Kingdom. We hope to significantly contribute addressing challenges in learning, disability and young people's lives.
The operations in UK will include mobilising resources; building capacity of local partners; raising awareness of development issues and championing the rights of children and women in the North. We will work with other organisations in UK to develop awareness on issues that increase deprivation in Essex.
How we work
AC work is carried by making grants to partner organisations. Project proposals are subject to approval by the trustees to ensure they are in line with our aims and focus. All projects are subject to monitoring process during their life cycle and disbursement of grants is subject to satisfactory monitoring reports. AC programme Officer visits projects to monitor and provide support to local partners.
AC has a 3-year strategic plan 2018 – 2021. During this strategic period, AC will launch programmes in the UK. Work in the UK will be carried by volunteers and AC staff.
AC team
AC is operated by volunteer staff and governed by five trustees who also provide their expertise on voluntary basis. They bring a wide range of international development skills and technical expertise to the organisation.
We are a small charity, so your donation makes a big difference to our growth and the children we work with
How you can support our work.
We have opportunities for your support and would be pleased to discuss any of our projects with you. Our dedicated team will work with you to ensure that we meet your organisational objectives.
Whether you choose to support us with a one-off grant or prefer to be involved in a multi-year project, we are here to ensure that your grant is brought to life and its value fully realised. Your grant, whichever size will change lives of many children.
Change lives!
Sponsor a child living on the street or a teen mothers
Be a sponsor today and support our work to change lives. Sponsorship supports long-term community development projects, helping us continue our vital work.
As a sponsor, you'll get regular updates about our work in the country and community where the child you sponsor lives. You can also enjoy a unique cultural exchange, by writing and receiving letters.
Sponsor a child with £15 per month. On average 96% of AC’s annual expenditure is on activities.
Donate
Your one-off donation will support our work to help children and their families realise their potential
Volunteer
Volunteers to support to change the lives of children and make a difference in the lives of marginalised women, girls and their families
Corporate partnerships
Join AC as a corporate supporter to help a child get basic education, help a child to see a fifth birthday, help women and girls to realise their full potential help all from domestic violence.
Reporting back
If you support our work, we will keep you informed of any developments in the project you have supported. Each project is monitored by our staff. We work with our partners and beneficiaries to produce progress reports such as:
a) bi- annual reports
b) annual report
c) project completion reports
d) case studies
e) significant change reports
We are more than happy to meet you, present and discuss our projects in more detail.
To deliver our promises to marginalised children, adolescents, young persons, women and their familires, we are supported by trusts, foundations, institutions and individuals.
If you or the organisation you are associated with is impressed with our work or is willing to pattern with us in fulfilling the promises we have for marginalised children, girls , women and their families, please feel free to contact us to discuss potential partnership and the impact of your support by sending an email to admin@asc-uk.org
Although we strongly prefer contact by email, you can also contact us by post
Complaints
We strive for excellence in everything we do, but there may be occasions when we do not meet our high standards. If this happens, we really want to know about it, so that we can investigate the issue, address your concerns and ensure it does not happen again. If you would like to raise any issues, please contact us at: admin@asc-uk.org . We promise to take all complaints seriously, and to deal with them quickly, efficiently and fairly.
Note:
Our operations are managed on purely voluntary basis and thus we may not respond to our telephone calls on daily basis. However, emails will be acted on within 24 hours.
