It’s Nia here, the Fundraising Officer at Kids Club Kampala, where I have the privilege of leading our Child Sponsorship Project alongside our incredible Ugandan team. My love for this project has grown from the moment I saw the first photo of a sponsored child, read the first letter, and wrote the first report. Since then, it’s been a joy to help facilitate the impact of over 180 sponsors changing a child’s life - children who, without this project, would not be in school.

We are delighted to share that Kids Club Kampala has been named Leading Children's Empowerment Charity 2026 - East Africa at the Acquisition International Global Excellence Awards! This recognition celebrates the impact of our work supporting children and families across East Africa. We are incredibly honoured to receive this award, which would not have been possible without the dedication of our supporters, teams, partners and volunteers. One of the most vital aspects of o

For years, our Football Project has given young people in Naguru and Namuwongo a safe place to play, learn, and grow. Until now, that space has mostly belonged to boys - in 2025, 64 boys took part in our weekly sessions across the two communities. This year, we're changing that. We've launched our first ever girls' football team, supported by the construction of brand-new changing rooms. In this blog post, we'll explore some of the barriers girls in these communities face and

Our Football Project provides teenagers in Kampala’s slum communities a safe space to belong and support each other. Through weekly football coaching and mentoring from trained volunteers, children are supported to improve their confidence, self-esteem, football skills, teamwork and discipline. Our Football Project is part of our wider Child Protection Programme, which aims to create safer communities for children by combining a range of targeted activities with a community-b

For International Women's Day 2026, we are reflecting on the meaningful impact our community-led projects have achieved so far. Here’s a closer look at what we give in order to help gain gender equality.

Growing up, the start of a new school year brought excitement. The anticipation for timetables and catching up with friends, the frantic trying on of uniform to check it still fits, the embarrassing level of excitement I had to try out my new pen. Growing up in a society where this annual pattern is the norm, it’s easy to forget that other children and families are missing out altogether. In this blog I will be giving a brief overview of the current educational landscape in

Every child has the right to grow up in a safe environment, surrounded by care and protection. Yet for many children in Kampala’s slum communities, this right is not guaranteed. Our Social Justice Project, part of our wider Child Protection Programme, aims to create safer communities for children in the long term, whilst also ensuring children in need of emergency support receive immediate protection. The challenge In Uganda, 55% of children under the age of five are depriv

In today’s shifting global landscape, international aid is undergoing a significant transformation. The USAID shutdown marked a pivotal shift in the U.S.'s role in global humanitarian funding, and similar reassessments are underway across Europe and the UK. These developments have placed increasing pressure on donors (trusts, businesses, and individuals alike) who are now inundated with funding requests. As someone leading income generation at Kids Club Kampala, I often hear

At Kids Club Kampala, we believe no child should go hungry - and the school holidays are no exception. In May, we launched our Community Feeding Project with the goal of bringing hope and nourishment to children during the school break. With the help of our generous supporters and dedicated volunteers, we turned a time of uncertainty into a holiday of health and happiness. The challenge For many children living in Kampala’s slums, the school holidays are not a time of respit

At Kids Club Kampala, we’ve been running our Child Sponsorship Project for over a decade. It’s a key part of our mission to make education more accessible...

Over the last 16 years, Kids Club Kampala has stood side by side with children and families in Kampala’s slum communities, ensuring that every child has the opportunity not just to survive but to thrive. Our projects have always been driven by the voices of the people we serve, and as our work has grown, so too has our commitment to understanding how we can improve. That’s why we welcomed the findings of our Independent Evaluation—a rigorous review of our impact, coherence, a

The slums of Kampala are alive with the energy and determination of young men and boys striving to overcome immense challenges. In these communities, poverty, gang culture, and societal pressures create barriers that often feel impossible to break through. For many, the weight of becoming family providers, while battling limited opportunities, only adds to the pressure they are under. Yet, amidst these challenges, our Programmes are offering hope - transforming lives and buil

Kids Club Kampala is making a huge difference in the lives of children and families living in the slums of Uganda’s capital. Our mission? To help children thrive through access to education, child protection, and family strengthening. Through these programmes we advocate for children’s rights, ensuring that children can access basic needs like food, education, healthcare, and a safe environment, which are essential for their development. In Uganda, with high rates of poverty

Play is more than a way for children to pass the time; it's a crucial part of their development. For children living in our communities in Uganda, finding time to play when living in extreme poverty can be a real challenge. We run a series of projects that are focused on play, and giving children some space away from their difficult home lives to focus on being kids. From games, to football, to creative storytelling, play serves as a foundation for cognitive, social, emotiona

If you caught my last blog, you would have seen that this year, a very generous supporter has made an incredible pledge: if we can boost the number of children sponsored through Kids Club Kampala by 10%, they will personally sponsor 10 additional children. To achieve this in 2024, we’re aiming to find sponsors for 17 more children, and we need your help. We’re just 3 sponsors away, so today I wanted to write about one of the ways of sponsoring a child; joining forces and spon

This year, an extremely generous supporter has pledged that if we can increase the number of children that are sponsored to go to school through Kids Club Kampala by 10%, they will personally sign up to sponsor 10 more children themselves. This means that in 2024 we need the help of our supporters to sponsor 17 new children to go to school. When we started our Child Sponsorship Campaign on the last day of July, we needed eight more children to be sponsored to reach our target

Fostering is a relatively new concept in Uganda. Up until now our reintegrations have always been with family members or relatives ...

Our Saturday Kids Clubs are where our projects first began, hence our name, and they are still at the core of what we do. When Olivia, Sam and Corrie first began working with our communities, they started by offering a safe space for children to come and just enjoy being children, without the pressures of their lives outside of the club. Every Saturday throughout the year, up to 1,000 children gather together across 10 different slum communities to play, be cared for and just

Education is vital to breaking the cycle of poverty. But in Uganda, school is not free. Our child sponsors make a huge difference to the lives of children who may be vulnerable, through the gift of education, giving children hope for a brighter future. Families living in poverty have an impossible decision to make between sending their children to school, putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads. Child marriage, teenage pregnancy, and school fees keep m

More than 8 million children in Uganda are considered to be vulnerable to harm (UNICEF). Violence, exploitation and abuse in all forms put children’s physical and mental health and education at risk. More than 4 in 10 children live in poverty (UNICEF, Annual Report, 2022), with 59% of girls and 68% of boys having experienced physical violence that threatens and halts their development (UNICEF). Our Child Protection Programme combines a range of targeted activities for childre