To help us on our mission to find every child in our local area an activity they love, we are launching our El Rio Games crowdfunding campaign for 2023! Every £6 donated = 1 hour of JOY and education through one of our 20+ weekly sports and arts clubs :)
‘I honestly cannot pin point the amount of joy and fun these activities brought to the kids… Every activity has such an impact. It’s giving a safe space for children to come and be themselves, to be supported and cared for and they have the ability to talk to an adult about anything that is troubling them and know they are in safe hands. I will always remember the faces of the children so excited to do the activity.. and the smiles and pure joy on the kids’ faces at every session :).’
- Chenaye, Foundation Activities volunteer 2023.
Unfortunately, there is very little funding in the Colombian education system. In fact, there is not enough money for teachers and as such, classes often have to sit and wait for a teacher to become available. Given the lack of core school funding, there is very little to no money for anything else.
Sport and art are sadly neglected in-school and there is also almost no provision (only sporadic football opportunities) in the community. Children, who also didn’t go to school for nearly two years over the pandemic, still have huge gaps in their education and struggle with key life skills such as communication, confidence, empathy, problem-solving, team-working and concentration.
Schools also really struggle to provide the additional support many children need. Children with significant challenges in their home lives have very limited options for accessing external advice or support. We therefore have a full-time member of staff, our Foundation psychologist, who works with individual children, our teaching team and their parents/support network to create tailored plans for our pupils with the most challenging behaviour. The sports and arts clubs have been particularly important for these children.
The impact of our El Rio Games programme has been absolutely amazing. Children have made incredible progress across the board and they also absolutely LOVE the activities. Attendance is high and their average enjoyment rating is 9.8/10 :) :) :)
Unfortunately, our main El Rio Games funder Viva Air went bankrupt last year, leaving a gap in our funding for the programme. We would therefore be extremely grateful for any donations towards any club in particular.
The choices are: Art, Basketball, Cinema, Circus skills, Cricket, Dance, Football, Multi-sports and Ultimate Frisbee (across several communities)
Every £6 = 1 hour of JOY for any of the activities above. On average last year we had 20 children attend each session :)
All and any donations are hugely welcome. If you work for a company whose CSR team might like to sponsor a club or a community or any other of our educational programmes, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
A short video intro to our 2023-24 projects is available HERE and our Educational presentations overview is HERE.
Thank you very much indeed. Volunteers are also welcome year-round on the North Caribbean coast of Colombia! Please get in touch – foundation@elriohostel.com.
* Charities pay a small fee for our service. Find out how much it is and what we do for it.
