The UN marks International Friendship Day in recognition of the vital part friendship plays in securing peace and harmony.
“Our world faces many challenges, crises and forces of division — such as poverty, violence, and human rights abuses — among many others — that undermine peace, security, development and social harmony among the world’s peoples.
To confront those crises and challenges, their root causes must be addressed by promoting and defending a shared spirit of human solidarity that takes many forms — the simplest of which is friendship.”
The children who come into our care have difficult and complex early lives. Living in poverty is lonely. Every day is a struggle to survive. Friendships, the chance to relate, share and experience the comforts of a proper childhood are an unknown luxury.
We structure our schools around friendships. They are a vital part of ensuring the wellbeing and development of our boys and girls during their time in our schools.
When we welcome boys and girls into our schools around the world they are cared for in family groups of 35-40 children. The family group allows our children to meet new people, find common interests, make new friends, grow in confidence and thrive.
As well as helping to develop social skills, the friendships formed between our children create bonds that last a lifetime, giving them a sense of belonging, support and a community long after they leave school.
Birthday Celebrations 2022
On Monday 15 August 2022, every boy and girl in our schools celebrated their birthday and received a small personal gift. The day was full of fun, games, joy and love and all thanks to our friends and supporters.
Celebrating Every Child’s Birthday – Archbishop’s message
Today on our children’s birthday we received a special encouragement for our boys and girls from Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster.
Water Well in Guatemala
Guatemala Zona 13 Girls’ School struggles to access clean water all year round. We are working to raise funds to equip a new water well in the School with a submersible pump and filtration system to extract clean water for drinking, sanitation, cooking and cleaning.