This hasn’t been a normal year for any of us. At the peak of global lockdowns, 90% of the world’s children were out of school. For some, schools are starting to reopen. But this is limited, and many children haven’t been to school since March. But the most marginalised children, too often girls living in poverty whose education is still less valued by society and children with disabilities who need extra support, are being cut off from their education.

Every child deserves an education, but COVID-19 is threatening to take away their futures. With your help, we’ll make sure it doesn’t.

We’re taking part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge between midday 1st and 8th December. When you donate to our campaign page during this time, it will be automatically doubled! Here’s how it works:

The Big Give Christmas Challenge is the UK’s biggest match funding campaign. This year, we’re aiming to raise £20,000 which will be automatically doubled to £40,000 by our pledgers and our champion funder, the EQ Foundation. Will you help us hit our target to help more children get the education they deserve?

It’s been 8 months since schools closed, and many children still haven’t gone back

Your support has meant that we’ve been able to keep supporting children with their education through school closures. While some schools have now reopened, this is often limited to certain age groups. In Rwanda and Ghana, for example, many children are still out of school. And some risk not going back at all. For example, in Uganda’s refugee settlements, entrenched beliefs that girls don’t need an education mean families are preventing them returning to school. Children with disabilities also face new barriers. Before the pandemic, 15% of children out of school had a disability and those who were in education and need extra support have been missing out on learning at home.

By supporting our campaign and doubling your donation, together we can reach out to marginalised children and support them and their families so they can go back to school and have the future they deserve. Your vital support will also mean we can continue to offer vital services, from the Deaf School in Rwanda to training Learning Support Assistants to help children with disabilities learn in mainstreams schools across DR Congo, Kenya and Rwanda.

If you were planning to make a donation this Christmas, please save the date and double it through the Big Give Christmas Challenge! To take part visit our campaign page between midday 1st and 8th December.

We’re very grateful to the EQ Foundation who are our Champion Funder for this campaign.

All donations raised through the Big Give are unrestricted, which means that funds will be spent where the need is greatest to help ensure that no child is forgotten.