Orphan care - Sponsor an orphan

Inflation and the dramatic increase in the cost of living over the past few years has caused a major impact on people in many parts of the world. This has had a substantial effect on orphan families and their ability to cover even essential needs. To accommodate a higher cost of living globally while remaining true to our values of excellence and sincerity, Islamic Relief has to increase pricing and to ultimately make a greater impact for orphan families.

In addition to the increased cost of living, we consult regularly with our frontline orphans teams; these case workers are in regular contact with sponsored orphan families and the need for a price increase was a primary concern.

Our previous prices are no longer enough to sustain the orphans we support. They are struggling now more than ever to afford the essentials.  For the sponsorship to truly support the child with their basic necessities, such as food, health, and education — the amount being provided to the family needs to increase. This helps to better account for their unmet needs, ensuring your sponsored orphans can attain quality food, continue their education and afford rent.

Based on needs assessments conducted on the ground across regions and thorough research conducted by our programmes team, the new price of £59/month was determined to be sufficient to give orphan families the supplemental income required to cover essential needs while remaining affordable to our donors.

To our knowledge, Islamic Relief is perhaps the only charity to offer a true one-to-one orphan sponsorship program, where the donation continuously goes to the same orphan. This allows for the life of the same orphan to be continuously transformed long term, which means that the change isn’t short term but they are able to truly rise above their circumstances, gain the opportunities they deserve, and build a better life for themselves and their families.

It is a common practice of some charities to direct orphan sponsorship funds to support groups of orphans as a whole through communal programming. This allows for lower prices that help supplement the needs of orphans and provide uplifting programming, but do not offer the opportunity for transformative change for individuals.

This is the first time we have reviewed the sponsorship prices in over 20 years. While the pricing has been relatively constant during that time, the cost of living in all countries has increased considerably. We found it increasingly difficult to meet the basic needs of the orphans’ families in most countries with the previous pricing model. Considering the impact of inflation and soaring costs worldwide, we felt this was the right time for increases.

The three-tier system was first rolled out over 20 years ago, and was based on the cost of living at the time. Over the years, it became clear that there was a preference to sponsor orphans in the lower tier, leaving many orphans in the higher tier unsponsored. To correct this, we have introduced a fixed rate for orphan sponsorships across all available country options.

Furthermore, the cost of living has increased across the globe, and therefore, the costs that were relevant at the time of inception are no longer applicable. More and more, what we have seen is that orphans across all regions will benefit from the increased support. Developing a unified price handle allows us to support the most needy orphans, and uplift them with a value that can truly cover their basic necessities, and more.

The amount directly received by the orphan is typically 80% but can be impacted by fluctuating exchange rates.

The operational expenses entail the extensive field office work Islamic Relief conducts to ensure best practices are in place for your sponsored orphan. Orphans are monitored through both regular home visits conducted by our social workers, and group gatherings, to ensure that they are receiving the full benefits of sponsorship. We are able to use monitoring gatherings for awareness sessions on the sponsorship process, how to maintain good health, the importance of education, and various other topics.

If you have a UK bank account, you can continue to sponsor a child through Islamic Relief UK. However, if you no longer have a UK bank account, but move to a country where we have a presence, you can continue to sponsor a child through that Islamic Relief office. Do let us know and we will assist with this transfer.

If you move abroad whilst sponsoring a child, you should contact Islamic Relief UK who will put you in touch with the relevant team at Islamic Relief Worldwide or the local Islamic Relief in the country to which you have moved, so you can continue supporting the same child. Islamic Relief Worldwide or the local office would need to register you as a new donor and set up your payments.

Yes, please contact our supporter care team on 020 7593 3232 to arrange this.

You can send letters and photographs to your orphan via our website or by sending them to: [email protected]. We will check the letters are suitable, remove contact details and forward to the relevant field office. Responses depend on your sponsored child. In some cases, the child or guardian may respond straight away; others may take several months to respond or may choose not to respond at all.

Donors can contact their sponsored orphan by sending a letters and photographs to their orphan via Islamic Relief UK’s Orphans Team. Our team check the letters are suitable and then forward them onto the relevant Field Officer who is responsible for directly checking on the wellbeing of our Sponsored Orphans. The Field Officer will ensure the Sponsored Orphan and Guardian receive the letter.

You can do this online.

We also recommend that you keep your sentences relatively short and simple. Please bear in mind that only a few sponsored children speak English, so your messages will need to be translated into their local language by our field staff. Children like to know more about you, your family and friends, where you live, what the country is like, what pets you have, what animals are in the country, what sports you like – anything that makes the connection more personal.

It is possible to do this, but there are strict parameters: the guardian needs to give their consent; then the child and their guardian need to come to the local Islamic Relief office – and the donor must cover the transport costs of getting them to the office. The call must be made to the office; it can last a maximum of one hour; and it can only take place once a year.

It may be possible to organise supervised visits after gaining agreement from the local Islamic Relief office, the child, and their guardian. Please note that visits cannot be made directly to the orphan’s home in line with our Child Protection Policy, so the meeting is likely to be held in the local Islamic Relief office. Any UK-based individual requesting a visit will have to be Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) approved. You may only visit your sponsored child and their guardian once a year.

You would be responsible for your own travel arrangements at your own expense and risk and for providing evidence of a DBS check. You would also need to pay for the travel, accommodation, and food costs of the child and guardian if they had to travel a long distance and stay overnight in the location of the Islamic Relief office.

If a child wants to send the sponsor any correspondence, this is sent to us electronically via the field office. We then forward it on, but the child is not obliged to do this. There may also be comments from the orphan directed to the sponsor in the annual progress report. We are working to make improvements to what we can offer to sponsors.

Yes, you may wish to increase the amount of funds your Orphan receives. This can be a continuous extra cash gift if you are paying via direct debit, or can also be a one-off extra cash gift on a special occasion such as Eid or any time in the year. All you need to do is call us or visit our website. Please have your Orphans ID number to hand.