EAST AFRICAN PLAYGROUNDS “Children have the right to rest and leisure, to engage

in play and recreational activities”

Article 31 of the United Nations, Convention on the Rights of the Child

Help us to create prosperous futures Give young men and women the training, jobs and opportunity to escape poverty and empower themselves to develop their skills, their families and their countries.

Be part of a child’s development Enhance a child’s opportunity to develop and grow by being creative and expressing themselves through arts and play.

Be part of positive change in Africa Transform empty spaces into vibrant, exciting and creative playgrounds for all to enjoy across East Africa.

Our background East African Playgrounds was founded in 2009 by two UK students and two Ugandan builders with the

aim to provide safe, fun and creative playgrounds for the children of East Africa. Since 2009 we have

grown from a team of volunteers building one playground a year into an international charity that:

- Has given over 30,000 children in Uganda access to 66 fun, safe and high quality playgrounds - Has a full time Ugandan building team of 30 - Provides arts and play programs - Builds 30 new playgrounds a year

We believe that children have the right to a childhood and that young adults have the right to training

and employment. Through our playgrounds the children can develop whilst the young adults who build

them can have a bright future and help their families, communities and Uganda develop.

We work alongside local communities and other charities to provide them with a playground that is

tailor made to their community and that provides endless benefit for the long-term. Our playgrounds

follow international safety guidelines and standards, use local materials and are designed by our

professional designers to represent and empower the play history of the community.

Our aims East African Playgrounds aim to enhance the lives of children across East Africa by developing children’s

learning opportunities and environments whilst providing valuable training and employment for young

disadvantaged adults. Through this we provide:

- Children with free access to a safe place to play and develop

- Children a space to develop their creative and inter-personal skills

- Young men and women the skills to have a prosperous future

Arts and Play Our arts and play program has been designed by Ugandan teachers, UK play workers and art therapists to allow children to express themselves in a creative manner. The program works in schools and hospitals, allowing the teachers to engage with the children in a more free environment and showing them the importance of arts and play in children’s personal and education development. Through running the arts and play projects in schools and children’s hospitals across Jinja district we have trained over 25 teachers in a more creative way of teaching.

Workshop Quality training and employment opportunities for young adults are vital to East Africa’s development and bringing people out of poverty. Alongside the playgrounds that we build we have also changed the lives and futures of over 30 young men and women in Uganda by training them as playground builders in our two workshops in Jinja, Uganda. We run a training program for teenage street children to give them the chance to gain invaluable experience and to join our apprentice programs. It is only through empowering East African’s that East Africa will be able to develop and grow.

Playgrounds From UNICEF to teachers, academics and children, it is agreed that play is a vital and necessary component in child development, education and childhood. A playground is a positive asset for any community, accommodating an array of opportunities in terms of child development and community cohesion. Our playgrounds give children, who otherwise live an adult life, the chance and the space to have fun and encourage children to think for themselves, thus gaining vital problem solving skills, which are often missing in classroom teaching.

We are now in the research and fundraising phase of expanding and opening up a brand new

playground building workshop in a second country in East Africa. In doing so we aim to give an

extra:

5,000+ children access to vital playgrounds by building 10 playgrounds in their new workshops first year

10,000 children access to vital playgrounds by building 20 playgrounds every year thereafter

10 young men and women the opportunity to become highly skilled, full time employed playground builders

3 young men and women the chance to train to become administrators, play workers and play consultants

By building playgrounds in a new country thousands more children will benefit and more young

men and women will be given the chance to develop themselves, their families, their

communities and their own country themselves through the empowerment of play.

Future Aims EAP has started to gain recognition for its work, being a finalist in the UK Student Union RAG

charity of the year 2014, winning the vodafone world of difference award 2013 as well as being

in talks with War Child, VSO and UNICEF about the impact that EAP is having across Uganda and

the potential for future growth.

What can you raise money for? We feel that it is important for any company funding us to be able to choose what they are funding and see the end results of the money they have raised. You and your company can choose to fund any of the following:

- A playground to be built as part of EAP’s expansion, these playgrounds range from £3,000-£8,000

- Funding to train one of our young welders or builders, this costs approximately £2,000 per year

- Contribute towards the set up costs of our expansion to a new country, allowing us to double our impact, the total cost is approximately £51,000

What can you raise funds for? We can help with any ideas or plans that you have for fundraising. If you are short on ideas then we are here to help too. Runs, challenges, events and dress down days are a few things companies have done in the past. You and your team are also welcome to come out to Uganda for anywhere between 1 and 4 weeks to help our team build the playground that you have funded.

Your company and EAP There are quite simply lots of ways you and your company can get involved with EAP and the work we are doing; from raising funds, doing research, through to volunteering with us in Uganda. EAP is a small charity with a big impact. We are clear, transparent and we keep admin costs to a minimum making sure that as much of the money raised goes directly to our projects in Uganda. We are also able to be flexible and give our supporters a personal connection to the impact they have had, along with the difference they are able to make to children’s lives. The founders, Carla and Tom, still run EAP and are involved with all funders. They love coming to talk to teams about the work EAP does and how they can get involved.

Contact us We would love to chat to you about getting involved, please get in contact with:

Tom Gill – Founder and Director OR T: 07775742009 E: tom@eastafricanplaygrounds.org

David Spencer – Fundraising Co-ordinator T: 07982670609 E: david@eastafricanplaygrounds.org

Unit 4 Fernleigh Business Park, Blaby Road, Enderby, Leicester, LE19 4AQ

www.eastafricanplaygrounds.org East African Playgrounds is a UK registered charity in England and Wales (1129244)