SOS Children's Villages is one of the largest organisations in the world caring for orphaned and abandoned children. In 131 countries, over 47,000 children are being given the best possible substitute for the family they have lost, based on the simple idea that every child needs a mother, a family and a home.



To make a credit card donation or send a cheque please contact:
SOS Children's Villages UK / Motivate-u
32a Bridge Street
Cambridge CB2 1UJ
Tel: +44 (0)1223 365589
Fax: +44 (0) 1223 322613
e-mail: info@sos-uk.org.uk
Registered charity no 1069204.

Who are SOS Children’s Villages?
SOS Children’s Villages is one of the largest child welfare organisations in the world, providing care for orphaned, abandoned and destitute children by giving them a mother, a family and a home until they become independent. Non-governmental and non-denominational, SOS Children’s Villages is funded mainly by voluntary donations.
Founded fifty years ago in the ruins of post-war Europe, SOS Children’s Villages is now active in 131 countries providing a home for more than 47,000 children in 423 SOS Children’s Villages and caring for over 500,000 vulnerable children and families in associated health, welfare and educational facilities. There are no SOS Children’s Villages in the UK or Eire.

What is an SOS Children's Village and how does it work?
SOS builds groups of ten to fifteen family sized houses, usually with a kindergarten alongside and probably a social and day care centre. If schools and medical facilities are not available nearby, then these are also provided which helps the whole community as, like the kindergartens and day care centres, they are open to local people. Each house is home to six or eight children who grow up together like brothers and sisters, in their own cultural traditions and faith, all cared for by a specially trained SOS Mother until they can stand on their own two feet. This is an SOS Children’s Village. They are homes for children, not children’s homes.
Children are cared for until they are independent, and this means education and vocational training facilities are needed too. 270 schools and vocational training centres throughout the world give young people the opportunity to acquire the education, skills and trades that will provide them with a future.

What about "emergency aid"?
SOS is not an emergency organisation. However, where the situation arises and where SOS is already active, they are forefront in providing aid and relief, such as in Gujurat in India and El Salvador following the recent earthquakes.
The work is long term. They stay when the film crews have moved on. For example, in Somalia, SOS went on working throughout the civil war providing medical care, the only agency to do so. In Belarussia, a medical centre has been specially built alongside the SOS Children’s Village which treats around 200 children every year who are still suffering from the results of the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986.

Where does the money come from?
One of the main sources of income is sponsorship of a village or a child. It costs £20 a month, which is around 65p a day. All sponsorship money goes directly to support either the child or the village. No deductions are made for administration, which is financed by Gift Aid and general donations. Funds are also raised for capital projects and special requirements such as new villages, vocational training and emergency relief programmes.

Our journey will take us through SOS Children Villages.
For further information visit the website www.sos-kd.org