Living in poverty can mean an orphan child is without basic essentials such as warmth, food, and shelter. The recent cost-of-living crisis is increasing and more frightening every day, putting even more pressure on families that were already struggling to buy food and heat their homes.
Many families around the world struggle to survive with no opportunities to work, unable to break free from the spiralling cycle of poverty in which they are trapped.
For just €195 a month, you can help entire orphaned and vulnerable families with their essential needs. We believe that each family knows best what they require, and we aim to help meet their basic needs so they can live more of a dignified life.
You can help support an orphan family that has a minimum of 4 children within it. Your monthly donation is allocated directly to the head of the orphaned or vulnerable family, a mother, grand parent, or carer to help them cover their basic needs.
Together we are building stronger families, with our innovative solutions we are reaching out to those in need, strengthening communities and building skills and resilience – improving the chances of bright futures for orphaned and vulnerable families.
For the purpose of the Family Sponsorship Programme, we define a family as a group consisting of 2 parents and a minimum of 2 children, living together as a unit under 1 household.
We look to cover the most basic needs of the family, mainly in terms of nutrition, health and education. The cash transfer empowers the family to use the funds for their immediate needs.
From every £1, 80p of your donation goes directly to your sponsored family. The rest is used to provide social support to families through our dedicated staff on the ground. We pride ourselves on transparency and we ensure that your money goes towards the project you intended – we know that we are accountable to you, our beneficiaries and ultimately Allah. Every year Islamic Relief prepares financial accounts, which are audited by independent accountants.
The donations are received by the family on a quarterly basis, quarterly payments throughout the year are distributed in March, June, September and December.
Sponsorship will continue until the family are able to support themselves and no longer need to rely on the sponsorship. We will assess the family’s situation regularly to ensure the neediest families are supported.
You will receive an initial report providing some basic information on your sponsored family, usually within X weeks after the first payment has been received. We will then aim to provide an update on the family’s situation annually, focusing primarily on their health, nutritional needs and children’s education. Please note that on some occasions, there may be delays to reporting back on the family you are supporting, due to the situation in the countries where the families are residing.
We request that you give us 3 months’ notice before cancelling to give us time to find another sponsor. If this notice is not provided, you will be required to make a payment to cover the 3 months. We are certain you will agree that we need to ensure your family continues to receive support to minimise disruption to their life. However, if you are unable to do this due to exceptional circumstances, the family will be supported by Islamic Relief for a further 3 months until another sponsor is found.
Islamic Relief sponsor any families regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, background or belief.
If donations are missed for 3 months in a row and not repaid, Islamic Relief will have to cancel the sponsorship and find a new sponsor for the family to ensure support is continued. Donors will be informed as soon as a monthly donation is missed, this could sometimes be due to technical issues. If the donor arranges for the missed donations to be made the sponsorship will continue.
Islamic Relief has a duty to ensure that all our sponsored orphans are receiving their donations, and this can only be done when the income is received. We have a duty of care to those we serve and can only do this with the support of the donor. Should any changes in circumstances occur for the donor, they should inform Islamic Relief as soon as possible
Simply sign up as you did when first registering after informing the Islamic Relief office. Islamic Relief reserves the right to refuse to accept a donor onto the Orphan Sponsorship Programme who has previously shown their lack of ability to make regular donations, such individuals are encouraged to donate to the Orphan General Fund instead.
Please read the following statements from our Child Protection Policy
– Islamic Relief upholds the protection of life and dignity of those they serve and are confident that our donors share the same values of protection and safety for the orphans under our care.
– Islamic Relief will not publish the contact details of the sponsored orphan or their family in order to protect their safety and preserve their privacy.
– Donors can contact their sponsored orphan through letters and emails via Islamic Relief who will review the suitability of the content. The orphan may reply, however they are under no obligation to.
– Donors can visit their sponsored orphan, however this will be at their own cost and risk. The visits are limited and are situated in the Islamic Relief office, with a welfare officer present. The office will need a months’ notice in order to accommodate the visit and no unannounced visits are permitted. The safety and wellbeing of the child is paramount.
– Photos are for the purpose of passing on relevant information. Photos are not to be copied or distributed without the permission of Islamic Relief.