Street Action - Committed to street children through action and partnership

On Friday 11 September British Airways staff and their guests dusted down their old 70s gear and enjoyed a 70s music and comedy night at the BA Concorde Club to raise money for Street Action’s partner Umthombo Street Children in Durban, South Africa. Hosted by Shane Ritchie and entertained by the Bay City Rollers, over £6000 was raised on the night that will go towards Umthombo’s Safe Space. A big thank you to the Community Relations team at BA for their hard work and commitment to organising this event.

Joe Walker, director of Street Action UK and USA will be in San Francisco in October. He will be joined by Tom and Mandi Hewitt, founders of Umthombo Street Children. Street Action USA in partnership with the USF Umthombo Club and the USF Masters program in International Studies will be hosting an event called ‘2010 – an opportunity or crisis? On Wednesday October 28th. To find out more click here.

As the 2010 Football World Cup approaches, our South African partner Umthombo Street Children fears that the authorities will continue to round-up children from the streets. Watch this short film from the BBC
click here.

Street Action USA has launched its summer appeal. An important part of our investment into our partner’s works is ensuring long-term sustainable funding which will grow according to need and the development of the work on the grassroots. Through encouraging people to give monthly this enables New Generation in Burundi and Umthombo Street Children in South Africa to plan for the future, providing a crucial base of funds to invest in the immediate needs of the project. To find out more click here

For the work of Street Action and our partners to happen, we can't get away from the fact that financial support is really important. An important part of our investment into our partner’s works is ensuring long-term sustainable funding which will grow according to need and the development of the work on the grassroots. Through encouraging people to give monthly this enables New Generation in Burundi and Umthombo Street Children in South Africa to plan for the future, providing a crucial base of funds to invest in the immediate needs of the project.

Street Action USA and the University of San Francisco are collaborating on an internship for students entering Senior year. The goal of the Street Action USA Internship Program is to offer USF students an opportunity to improve their skills and knowledge as well as the experience of working for an international non-profit organization. Students work will be in exchange for academic credit.

The University of San Franciso’s (USF) motto is ‘educating minds and hearts to change the world’. The USF Umthombo Club reflects this ideal and has just been awarded the ‘Student Club of the Year’ award. Street Action is proud to work in partnership with the USF Umthombo Club, which played a significant part in the recent launch and development of Street Action USA.

Former England footballer, Gary Lineker kicked off a game with a difference on Thursday 19 March at the launch of the Street Child World Cup at the Cinemon Club, London. Street Action is part of a global partnership of organisations with the Amos Trust, Consortium for Street Children, Momentum Arts, Global Goals, Child Rights Information Network and Umthombo Street Children, who are providing key expertise and support to the campaign.

Street Action USA will be formally launched on the 6th April in San Francisco, California. This will be an exciting development for Street Action as we focus our attentions on expanding and growing the support to our existing partners in South Africa and Burundi. Working in collaboration with the UK, Street Action USA will be building a wider network of links through relationships with government bodies, civil society, the business and corporate sector and an active contributing community of supporters.

Last year Street Action was involved in a research project focusing on the physical and psychosocial health of street children in Durban, including a focus on the HIV prevalence rate amongst the existing children living on the streets. Funded by the British Government's Department for International Development (DFID), it was conducted in partnership with the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal and Umthombo Street Children. The aim of the project was to provide objective data to describe children's experiences on the street and to describe the range of services (or lack of) directed at them.