Soroptimist
International celebrated reaching its £1million fundraising target for Hope and Home for Children’s lifesaving work
with women and children in Sierra
Leone. The roof
nearly flew off the Dome Theatre in Brighton at the Soroptimist International Great
Britain and Ireland annual conference when the news was
announced on October 28 2011.

Soroptimist International works to transform the lives of women and girls
across the world. Hope and Homes for Children works in ten countries across Europe and Africa, supporting the world’s most
vulnerable children and families.  It
took Soroptimists just four years to raise £1 million for the charity, with the
funds being spent in Sierra Leone on joint venture entitled, ‘Project SIerra: a Family and a
Future’.

 

SI International President Alice, Joe Glackin (Hope and Homes), SIGBI Past President Liz Morgan Lewis, SIGBI Project Liaison Anne MacDonald, SIA President Pat Donahue, SIE President Kathy Kaaf

The hangover from Sierra Leone’s bloody ten year civil
war in the 1990s – in which amputation and rape was the rebels’ trademark – has
all but crippled the West African nation. A legacy of poverty is
destroying thousands of lives, homes, communities and families every year. By providing healthcare,
counseling, education, vocational training and access to childcare, Project SIerra is improving
the lives of some of the
most deprived women and children in Sierra Leone.  

On presenting a cheque for £1
million to Hope and Homes for Children, Soroptimist International’s President Alice Wells said:

“Congratulations must go
all Soroptimists world-wide for the dedication, time, money and support they’ve
given to Project SIerra during the
past four years. Visiting Sierra Leone two years ago was an
incredible, rewarding experience for me. To hear a
young woman say ‘you have changed our lives’ was truly heart warming."

More than 70 per cent of Sierra Leone’s population are unemployed and live below the national poverty line –
surviving on just 52p a day. Life expectancy for women is 48 and nearly a third
of all children die before their fifth birthday. In
partnership with Hope and Homes for Children, Soroptimist International’s Project SIerra is
tackling the country’s problems head-on.

Alison Sutherland, the
International Project Liaison for Soroptimist International Project SIerra, lives in Sierra Leone. Alison said: “I have seen firsthand how Project SIerra has made a real difference to
the lives of so many women, children and their families
in need. Reaching the £1 million target was an amazing innovative fundraising effort.”

Anne Macdonald, Project SIerra Project Liaison for Soroptimist
International Great Britain and Ireland, added: “We have
travelled an amazing journey during the last four years and we are thrilled
that many thousands of vulnerable families are now able to live in a stable
family environment.”

 

Thanks
to support from organisations like Soroptimist
International, Hope and Homes for Children had a positive impact
on the lives of more than 26,000 people across the globe in 2010. Joe Glackin, who oversees Hope and Homes for Children’s work in Sierra Leone, accepted Soroptimist International’s cheque for £1million on behalf of the charity. Joe said:

"Project SIerra is a sustainable programme that’s transforming thousands of lives and we’re eternally grateful to all Soroptimists for helping to fund it. It has enabled us to empower vulnerable young women, strengthen families at risk of breakdown and help young children living on the streets return home. The huge fundraising effort we’ve received from Soroptimist International has made an unquantifiable difference to vulnerable women and children in Sierra Leone".

For more information about Project SIerra, visit www.projectsierra.org or the dedicated Project SIerra page on the SI website: www.soroptimistinternational.org.

For more information about Hope and Homes for Children, please visit www.hopeandhomes.org.

If your club would like a full copy of this press release and photos, please contact hq@soroptimistinternational.org with ‘Project SIerra Press Release’ in the subject line.