Chance for Childhood was established originally under the name ‘Jubilee Action’. Our mission was to advocate for awareness of child rights abuse, notably the Candelaria massacre in Brazil, where street children were killed by the police. We also campaigned against children being held illegally in prisons in horrendous conditions in the Philippines.

Street Child Africa was established by Father Patrick Shanahan, who had lived and worked in Africa for the past 35 years. Its aim was to support African organisations working with street children.

Over these years, we started working in D. R. Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

We rebranded and Jubilee Action became Chance for Childhood as we needed a name more reflective of the work that we did. Since then we have become an award-winning charity, recognised for our expertise in justice for children, social protection and inclusive education.

Street Child Africa merged with Chance for Childhood

As two organisations supporting vulnerable children across Africa, we saw a huge opportunity to maximise our impact, and help more children whilst reducing our administrative costs. Each charity brought different strengths and expertise, but both shared the same approach of working extensively with local partners. The merger has made us more effective and efficient, saving us over £185,000 on staff and office costs.

In 2016 we raised the most money in our history!!

2016 We raised our highest ever income in a year – £1.6million – allowing us to create even bigger change for the thousands of children we support and the communities we work in

We were awarded the Collaboration award at the Bond International Development Awards (the ‘Oscars’ for charities working in overseas aid!) for our Right2Change project in Uganda.

Watch our entry video.

Our Rwandan office

2018 marked a big milestone for Chance for Childhood as we opened our first office in Africa in Kigali, Rwanda. The office not only provided a base for our team in Rwanda but was a big step in our commitment to shifting the power to the countries and communities we work in.

Glad’s House UK merged with Chance for Childhood

Glad’s House UK became part of Chance for Childhood and we were thrilled to welcome the team at Glad’s House Kenya as a key partner! Glad’s House works in Mombasa to support street-connected children and young people, and we saw a fantastic opportunity to achieve even more together as one organisation, creating a lasting impact among the communities we work in.

Our 2025 Strategy

In 2022 we launched our latest strategy to reach 150,000 children in vulnerable situations by 2025 so that they can play, grow, learn and thrive.

Today

We are still working harder than ever to support children in the most vulnerable situations in Africa, such as street-connected children, children experiencing disabilities, and children affected by conflict. Read more about our impact.

Tomorrow

We will fight for every child to ensure access to inclusive education and safe spaces so that children in Africa can play, grow, learn and thrive!