As part of Coalesce's commitment to leading with positivity and delivering sustainable, impactful change on our global communities, a team of employees from across our European offices will lead our next volunteer trip to Peru on the 11th June 2022 to help with ongoing building work to extend a children's refuge in Las Laderas. The additional accommodation that our volunteers will help build is desperately needed to enable people at the refuge to continue to house, feed, care for and support more children for longer so they can stay in school and have a real chance in life and break the poverty cycle in their local community.
COVID has decimated the region and there are more children than ever who are desperately in need of the safety, shelter and love provided by the refuge which sadly lost two amazing staff members to the virus who had been House Mothers for the children for many years. The refuge is funded entirely through charitable donations, and the ABCT - our Group Charitable Trust - has supported its ongoing operating costs for over 10 years. The refuge provides a safe place to live and learn for vulnerable children from impoverished families and often tragic and heart-breaking circumstances. It is run by registered charity Project Peru, and is entirely staffed by local Peruvians and international volunteers. It relies entirely on donations as it receives zero government support or funding.
We have developed a close relationship with the staff and children at Project Peru's Refuge and have seen first-hand the positive, sustained impact they have on the lives of the children they look after - our employee volunteers stay and help at the refuge whenever we send volunteer teams to help with our projects in Las Laderas, and the 2022 team are really looking forward to becoming the fifth volunteer team from our Group to do so in June!
Lack of space and resources currently means that tragically teenagers are having to leave the refuge as young as 14 years old with nowhere to live, no chance of staying in school and limited prospects. The new refuge building will create local jobs for builders, tradespeople, teachers and refuge staff, whilst also ensuring more children can complete their education and gain meaningful employment. All of which will contribute back to their local economy and community... a positive, sustainable cycle of impact on children's entire lives and the wider community of Las Laderas.
Thanks to the generosity of our Group employees and supporters, through the ABCT, we have built 101 houses and two soup kitchens in nearby Las Laderas - a desert shantytown in the foothills of Lima - as well as funding hundreds of care packages of essential items every Christmas.
Unless you've been to Las Laderas, it's hard to grasp the extent of the poverty and need, but to get an idea - and by contrast, what a wonderful place Project Peru's Children's Refuge is and why it's so important we help them to extend the support and care they provide - we encourage you to check out some of the projects we've supported there over the years here.
The company is funding much of the building work, which has already started! But, we still need to raise an additional £10.5k to complete the work. Can you help us to hit our fundraising target to complete the project to enable the refuge to house more children and young people, creating a sustainable positive impact in their lives? Every penny raised will go directly to the project as the company covers all overheads.
Donate via our Donorbox here: donorbox.org
or scan the QR code:
We're running a fundraising raffle and auction on the 20th May, so if you want to donate a prize or service, or to buy tickets for the prize draw please contact our People & ESG Director, Natasha Crump.