What’s the process?

When you join Karis Kids you partner directly with a family in Uganda, whose needs are unique to them. For this reason you can expect a commitment for around 5 to 10 years.

As the years progress, our strategy changes to help the family support themselves, which is known as our “Finishing Well” programme. We budget for this in your monthly donation from the beginning.

On average, there are five children and one carer (typically the mother) in each Karis family. However, there are lots of different types of families in the slums. Some have two parents. Some carers are aunts. In one instance, a carer had taken in 13 nonbiological children when we came across her. Many of the children are orphans, having lost parents to HIV.

Whatever the reason, it’s not a problem. Ideally the more months notice you can give us, the more flexibility you give us to find new supporters. However, the bottom line is Karis Kids will take responsibility to ensure there is continuity of funding until a new donor is found.

To support an entire family costs £100 per month, plus Gift Aid for taxpayers.

However, you can also support a family along with others with ‘Group Funding.’ Our team will internally connect your funds with other donations, so an entire family is supported. Options for group funding start at £10/month.

With UK taxpayers, Gift Aid helps fund the Karis Kids team in Kampala who deliver our services and coordinate events.

Explanations of our terms (i.e. ‘Finishing Well’) are answered below.

£71 • Family support (healthcare, primary education, supplementary food, training)
£29 • ‘Finishing Well’ fund and Further Education (for the Focused Child)

Please also refer to ‘Where Your Money Goes’ section on the ‘Our Model’ page to see all things your monthly donation covers.

Fundraising

We fundraise within our link churches and supporters for Summer Camp (held every 2 years), the Christmas Celebration (yearly). The UK Link Churches directly fund the Church Community Mobilisers (CCMs) in Uganda.

‘Finishing Well’ is our programme to help families become self-sustaining and, in due course, no longer need your financial support.

Find out more about our “Finishing Well” programme.

A ‘Focused Child’ is the child chosen to receive further education after primary education. This includes secondary education and, depending on their chosen course, practical vocational training or university.

Only one child in the family is guaranteed this support through Karis Kids because of the higher expenses of further education. This child will be supported through to employment in any way possible so that the family can be self-supporting and finish well.

At the appropriate time we will tell you the costs but you only contribute if you want to. Sometimes the carer of the family is in a position to help or cover all the costs.

Secondary education, vocational training and university costs vary depending on their chosen path. Typically it’s around £15–30 per month, but this depends on your family’s needs. Some of that cost will be subsidised from your family donation.

To date, because of additional generous donations, every single child who has wanted to pursue further education has been able to do so.

A 4-day summertime camp we hold every other year for Karis Kids children between the ages of 9–19. The Summer Camp, held in Kampala, involves prayer, worship, mealtimes, crafts, games, sports and time learning from the Bible… as well as a great deal of fun!

Many of the children say the camp is the highlight of their year and often forms a pivotally important part of the children’s faith journey.

In 2022, we hosted 280 children and our theme was ‘Hope alive - no matter what!’ (Lamentations 3: 21-23) and we wrote up a comprehensive report about what happened including many stories and experiences.

Every December, all the families come together as one big Karis Kids family to have fun and celebrate the birth of Jesus. Many letters and gifts are received by the Ugandan families from the UK.

Yes, small gifts can go via the Karis team in Kampala to be delivered to the families. We especially love delivering gifts in time for the Christmas Celebration in December. We will be in touch in November each year with a few suggestions.

All gifts and correspondence go through the Karis Kids office in Kampala.

Also known as a, Church Community Mobiliser. Community Workers work for both the local churches and the Karis Kids team in Kampala.

Our community workers visit each family, collect reports, deliver letters and provide ongoing pastoral support.

Yes! There are opportunities to travel to Kampala and meet your family. This could include getting involved with our Summer Camp (every two years) or during another celebration. Please get in touch with Julie Winning at julie.winning@kariskids.org if you would like to discuss a visit.

It would be ideal to communicate 2–3 times a year. Communicating with your Link Family plays an significant role in developing the relationship between the Karis family and their UK link. From experience, we’ve seen how deeply the Karis families treasure the letters and photographs they receive. It doesn’t have to be pen on paper, you can type an email which we’ll print for them or even send us a short video which we’ll play to them.

We’ll be in touch to remind you when. You will likewise also receive regular letters and messages from your family in Kampala.

Karis Kids produces updates on each family from time to time but your letters from Kampala will tell the story of how they are doing. Emergencies, such as health issues, will be communicated to you as well.

Please send us a message through the contact page.

No. While we are a Christian charity and encourage all our Link Families to pray for their family in Uganda, we do not make this a requirement.

We, however, do require you abide by Karis Kids communication guidelines when you communicate with your family.

It takes about 2–3 weeks for us to process new applications and, if successful, a further 3 months (approximately) while your family completes our selection process.